The Civilization of Man

I know, before being told, that treatment of such a topic for such a small essay as will follow is being way too presumptuous. I was taught in graduate school that one must always delimit. But I believe that sometimes one needs to be jolted into consideration of ideas beyond the prosaic before being forced into the mold of delimitation. True, you can’t eat an elephant at a sitting; you have to take one bite at a time over time; but also true, you have to have the elephant to eat it. Good advice that I have tried to integrate into my life is that we must ever keep in mind the ‘big picture’ and not continually get “caught up in the thick of thin things.”

So, ahead with boldness. Consider the task of civilizing man. Not mankind. Just man—I’m talking about the gender ‘man,’ ‘maleness,’ much more so than ‘woman.’ But first, a little background:

I was, and still am—at least in my own mind—a teacher. For much of my life I taught mostly boys. I taught physical education—at least that is what the curriculum guide called it. But I knew that what I really was trying to teach was the whole boy—his mind and heart and spirit—as well as his physical body. I never did teach just ‘football,’ or ‘basketball,’ or ‘gymnastics’ or even physical fitness; these were simply the means, the media, the activities, through which I tried to teach the more important aspects of self-discipline, hard work, respect for self and others, rules on the field and in life; in short, I endeavored to teach character. I knew that boys would need it if they ever hoped to be successful with women, with their future vocation, with society and their place in the world, with themselves, and ultimately with God.

Therefore, here are just a few provocative ideas to get you started regarding man vis-a-vis women and man’s need for civilization. I will simply throw them out with no attempt at closure or even persuasion. That is up to you.

• I believe that the gender ‘man’ thinks fundamentally differently than the gender ‘woman’. Thinkers and writers have explored these differences from the beginning of mankind upon this earth. One example that explores this idea is a book popular probably thirty years ago: Men are from Mars; Women are from Venus (by John Gray, Ph.D). Men view things differently than do women. The earliest example is the response difference between a man—Adam—and his wife—Eve: Adam’s response to his Maker—‘I, me’—as contrasted to Eve’s—‘we, our’. Adam needed Eve to be his ‘help meet,’ meaning his finisher, to help him be fulfilled and complete. They were commanded to be ‘one.’ Adam was to provide and to protect; Eve was to refine and give life. Both were to work together in love.

• Men are inherently more violent than are women. Look at their recreations. Moreover, the proportion of men in prison to women in prison is remarkable. Why is that? I have read the review and heard an interview with author Scott Spencer about his new book, Man in the Woods which apparently addresses this assertion in a very insightful way. I look forward to reading the book.

• The ‘natural man’ (not necessarily, in my own mind, the ‘natural woman’) is an ‘enemy to God.’ I agree with this scriptural concept of indicting fallen ‘mankind,’ but ‘how so’ might this particularly be with the gender man? Could there be a gender difference?

• Governments are needed primarily to keep men in line. Therefore women as well as men are needed in government; their perspective is needed. I’m much in favor of women being men's counselors but not necessarily their head.

“Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man.”
(Alexander Pope)

“Trust not yourself, but your defects to know, make use of every friend and every foe.”
(Alexander Pope)