According to this Christian Web Site, Authentic Manhood (their phrase) does not include single men or childless men
Maybe I have overlooked it, but I skimmed over this Christian sponsored site about “Authentic Manhood” and see no mention of singlehood or childlessness or being childfree.
I take it that these Christians believe that authentic manhood can be expressed only by a man marrying and/or having children.
I could be wrong about that. Perhaps there is a section somewhere on the Authentic Manhood site proclaiming adult single males as being totally equal to their married counterparts, but even so, I am at turns annoyed by, amused by, and baffled by evangelical, Baptist, and Reformed Christianity’s obsession with defining gender or gender roles.
The top of their home page says,
- A JOURNEY TO AUTHENTIC MANHOOD AS MODELED
BY JESUS IN HIS 33 YEARS ON EARTH
Jesus was a lifelong single celibate. They apparently do not realize that, or do not care.
(Link): Authentic Manhood
About the only positive thing I can say for this site so far is that they have a page or two about male friendship (like (Link): here for instance).
It’s very rare for Christians to discuss friendship or to promote it, because they normally advocate a person getting company and companionship via marriage. So, in Christianity, if you are single, you are hosed in that department. You are on your own, baby.
Skimming their home page, I see an image of a football field – because all authentic manly men love football. Just like ALL (authentic) WOMEN love the color pink, knitting scarves, soppy love poetry, and – well, please see this post.
This is Authentic Manhood’s site’s (Link): Fantasy Football page. Because all men – every last one of them – are into football and are unable to understand any life principle or any topic unless football analogies are used.
There is a section about marriage (Link: Marriage Section on Authentic Manhood site)
Ironically, all the downloads for the Marriage material under the Marriage section om the Authentic Manhood site are called “Single.”
I kid you not. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. Please see the screenshot I took from that page of their site, and look for the orange arrows and orange circles.
Their downloads on their marriage page are dubbed “Single.” LOLOLOL. Oh irony.
There is another section on their site entitled “Raising A Modern Day Knight” (Link to that page). Oh please. These Christian groups need to teach their daughters to be their own “Modern Day Knights.” Why? Because a man is not always in the picture.
I am still single past 40. I do not have a “knight in shining armor” to protect me.
Over my life, from childhood to my adult years, I’ve had to defend myself from abusers, users, rude people and bullies because no man – and other women – would not come to my defense. I was my own “modern day knight.” I had no choice but to be my own knight.
This is their site’s page about (Link): Maturity.
Excerpt
- I turn 30 this week. It’s interesting. I’ve had people say things like, “You are a grown up now.” This is a strange statement. Has 30 really become the age of maturity? If this is society’s expectation, we’re setting the bar very low. Society does itself a disservice when it doesn’t expect men to grow up until they are 30. Enabling men to shirk any real responsibility until they turn 30 is unacceptable.
- … Our world needs young men who will embrace that they are the glory of God. Women should not have to plan out of fear that the man in their life will never grow up. Guys, let’s raise the bar for Biblical Authentic Manhood.
Interesting. Because most evangelical and Baptist Christians define a person an immature adolescent unless and until he (or she) gets married and has children. They set marriage up as being the benchmark at which a person is deemed a real, live “grown up.”
If you are an unmarried woman who desires marriage and all the men you keep meeting are immature boy-men (yes, I’ve met the type), that can be frustrating, and it does happen. However, given this part of the page:
- Women should not have to plan out of fear that the man in their life will never grow up. Guys, let’s raise the bar for Biblical Authentic Manhood.
It sounds to me as though this writer thinks that the only impetus or reason a man will grow up is if he marries a woman; that view seems implied in that statement. Christians need to stop holding marriage up as the event in a person’s life that will cause him or her to be fully considered an adult.
My blog is filled with many examples of married people (even Christian ones) who are still immature, selfish, and ungodly. There is nothing about marriage that can or will make a person mature or magically become more loving, responsible, or more godly. See examples (Link): here.
Here’s another page from their site: (Link): Good Ole Days – in which the author advises Christian men not to look at the past with nostalgia or not to look at the past with fondness. Doesn’t that sort of contradict their other section, that tells fathers to raise their sons to be “modern day knights?”
If you want to prove you are an Authentic Man, you can buy (Link): this shirt from their site. Otherwise, I guess you are a Fake Man.
I could probably spend all day on their site picking it apart and finding things to criticize, but I will call it a day.
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hat tip to Stuff Christian Culture Likes group (link to that) which is where I first became aware of this Authentic Manhood site
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Related Posts:
(Link): Statistics Show Single Adults Now Outnumber Married Adults in the United States
(Link): Brotherly Love: Christians and Male-Female Friendships
(Link): The Rise of the Lone She-Wolf by Charlotte Alter
(Link): Stop Overlooking Singles in Church By Joy-Elizabeth Lawrence
