Perhaps at the end of thousands of years of patriarchy, we see a comeback of supposedly archaic gender roles that are binary, hierarchical, and predetermined. At a time of great violence against nature, this “backlash” holds a paradox: the archaic, “natural” form of masculinity among hunter gatherers was much less gendered and binary than the masculinist ideal of the “strongman”. Masculinism and its rejection of the feminine seems to hold a high degree of artificiality. What would it mean to transform our narratives and embodiments of masculinities?

Jean-Philippe Steeger‍

Modern industries – toy industries, fashion, beauty, construction, or automotive – have understood how to capitalize on the creation of a market split into two categories. Their marketing success: narrating the ideal image of a man and women to sell promises to get there.

As a result, our understanding of what “masculine and feminine energies” are is too often associated to the cultural constructs (“normal” or “conventional” masculinity or feminity) – the narratives, framings, stories, and images - mediated by media, schools, politics etc.

We may have unlearned to relate to what masculine and feminine traits we naturally carry within us – in unique and diverse ways. The Masculine and the Feminine are a natural spectrum, with variance around genetic (e.g. XXY chromosomes), epigenetic, and socio-cultural factors.

Feminism has legitimately deconstructed the artificiality of masculinism. In seeming lack of alternative ways of being and embodying masculinity, many men find themselves disoriented, powerless, and disconnected.

We see record rates of loneliness, depression, and addiction. Reactionary influencers, dictators, and media mogules sell escapes and projections for an inner lack of power, and impact in the world of many, especially young, men.

How can we heal a painful past in relating to the masculine, to father and to authority figures?

Instead of retreating into reductive binaries, and just repeating that men need to be more feminine, which is true, but not enough, we could explore the whole spectrum of masculinity that nature gave us: plural masculinities.

Beyond today’s polarization, that approach enables cultivating a more inclusive embodiment – one that thrives on the diversity of bodies, skin colours, sexualities, and at times shape-shifting qualities of masculinity. Masculine intersectionalities.

Perhaps, we need a masculinity of the possibles, of the “yes and”, of the integration of the feminine to act out the actively protective, clarifying, and enabling types of masculinities.

It is from within a deep, reflective, receptive and healing space of the feminine that, I believe, we can understand the essence of what our personal, and also our collective masculine energy is – what is unique about my masculinity, and what are masculinities that I share with others?

Being radical: what’s at the root of the masculine condition today?

The symptoms of contemporary masculinity culture stem from multiple sources. The narrative of control and command type of masculinity dominates right-wing media landscape, as well as big tech algorithms. That which polarizes, that which imposes, that which is aggressive is incentivized on social media. A rat race for those that claim to be Alpha men – or women.

The American Psychological Association’s guidelines on masculinity have classified traditional masculine socialization as a public health concern, highlighting its connection to mental health struggles, emotional repression, and social isolation.

Studies have demonstrated that adherence to rigid masculine norms contributes to gender role strain, limiting psychological development and fueling cycles of addiction, violence, and depression.
The polarization of contemporary politics often mirrors gendered divisions: thought versus emotion, right versus wrong, left versus right. This rigid dualism not only constrains men’s ability to fully experience their humanity but also contributes to broader divisions.

If masculinity remains an ideological battlefield, then men remain foot soldiers rather than self-actualized shapers of their own transformation.

The History of Narratives on Masculinity

Which big historical turnings points narrating what masculinity is have we seen in human history?
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- Nomadic Societies: The "original man" was embedded in communal structures, sharing responsibilities for hunting, gathering, and child-rearing. Masculinity was not defined by control but by participation in a web of relationships, including nature.
- Agricultural Age: With land ownership came patriarchal dominance. Masculinity shifted toward control of ownership, family, and labour, leading to more hierarchical cultures.
- Civilizational Empires: The "Man as Emperor" model prioritized conquest and governance. Written laws and militarization cemented a masculinity rooted in order and subjugation.
- Enlightenment Rationality: The rise of science and reason transformed masculinity into "Man as Scientist," where knowledge itself became a tool of power.
- Queer and Shamanic Masculinities: Throughout history, liminal figures—shamans, healers, and queer identities—embodied masculinity as a bridge between worlds, embracing transformation rather than rigid categories.

These shifting narratives reveal that masculinity is not fixed, yet there are some natural predispsitions as well as cultural and historical factors. Tapping both into our natural predisposition and cultural possibilities is both a personal, an inner journey of transformation and fulfillment, as well as a collective one.

In this respect, there is probably a need to explore community-building and community-weaving at various masculine intersectionality points (e.g. Men Circles, Mixed-Gender Circles etc.).
Embodying masculinities, and more diverse masculine archetypes, is an opportunity to become more wholesome, and more powerful - not through control, but through community, connection, and expressing our potential as part of something bigger.

On that journey, as I wrote earlier, we may need to develop courage. Courage to explore beyond-binary ways of connecting to our intimacies, vulnerabilities, embodiments, sexual expressions, ways of being in community together, and ways of being part of places and our planet together.


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