OWENS: Bring Back Manly Men

Manly men are lacking in the world today — and we need to bring them back. This is something I genuinely believe and often advocate for on my show.

It’s something which, if you’ll remember, I caught fire for saying in response to actor and musician Harry Styles, who wore a dress on the cover of Vogue. 

When was the last time you watched a movie which showed a man who loved his family and went to church regularly? And presented those as being good qualities — not qualities which make him a misogynist or “toxic male,” but an inspiration and role-model? When was the last time you saw any leftist assert the need for strong men in our society at all? 

You can’t remember because it doesn’t exist. Why? Because the Left, which controls all the main levers of society, hates the idea of strong men and the effect they have on their communities.

Because in general, strong men are important for society. Take away good, strong men, and as we’ve seen, the rest of the family begins to crumble. They are the bedrock on which civilizations are built. 

Men in World Wars

During World War I and II, the typical age of the soldier — whether it was Japanese, German, American, or British — was 18 to 20 years-old. 

The typical age for the men storming the beaches of Normandy was age 20. The men in those ships, throwing up due to the tossing of the waves, knowing they would be killed as soon as they landed — they marched on anyway, sometimes using the bodies of others, sometimes by sheer force of will. 20-year-olds. 

Back when my husband and I had Netflix — I hope you’ve all canceled it by now and subscribed to The Daily Wire for the great content and movies we’re in the business of making — there was a docuseries called “World War II in Color.” And it was basically what it sounds like: old footage of the conflict rendered for color. 

The first thought I had when I watched the documentary was how striking it is to truly see how young these men were. You hear it over and over, but then to see it in color makes it more real. 20-year-olds, scared but nonetheless showing a stunning and incredible amount of bravery. 

The second thought I had was how striking it is when comparing this bravery — the bravery of soldiers fighting a true evil in Hitler and the Nazis — to the stunning lack of bravery and cowardice existing in men today.

The Modern-Day Man

There are young 20-year-olds that, when I give speeches, shriek outside the building, upset that I’m being handed a microphone; that I am simply stating opinions they have no obligation to adhere to or even listen to. 

There are 20-year-olds still walking around with masks, scared of a pandemic that statistically barely affected or was dangerous to them. 

There are 20-year-olds who are obsessing over their self-image and who are worried about whether they are man or woman or binary or non-binary, and concerned about the misgendering that might happen if they choose a certain route. 

There are 20-year-olds who refuse to work because they deem it beneath them — they feel they are entitled to wealth. 

And there are manly men who are literally too scared and cowardly — look at who’s speaking up for them currently, a woman — to push back against radical gender ideology and feminism, and assert something which is totally normal and natural; that they are men and they like being men, and they enjoy manly things. 

Are these the men of our future? Are these the men who will build new things, protect their homeland, sacrifice for their loved ones, and raise strong and healthy families? 

The answer is obviously, no. 

The Left’s Anti-Man Agenda

The creation of these sorts of men is not by accident. There is a whole political Left that champions this detachment and dedicates their life to pushing for it — the complete destruction of strong men. 

They know that if there are no strong men, then there will be no strong families, and then there will be no strong free-thinking and brave individuals who come from those families.

Their version of justice and bravery is not heroic self-sacrifice, but a man wearing a dress. Their version of progress is no genders. Their version of the natural is the perverse. 

They hate traditional norms — husband and wife, man and woman — because these norms cut against their ideal world of non-binary, genderless, ruleless, motionless, standardless, ugly individuals. 

Even more than that, the Left knows that more barriers broken equals more easily controlled citizens. The more “gender confused” a person is, the more likely they are to rely on cultural icons and their activist teachers to lead them. The less strong men or strong women who hold Judeo-Christian values of right and wrong, the more citizens that will rely on the government and culture to dictate morality for them.

This is the mission of the Left and, as we’ve seen from the examples of our current modern men, thus far it has worked. 

The Proper Response

Now — I can already hear some conservatives responding with general disengagement at this ideology. That is what conservatives have done for years. Don’t fight the culture war; focus on policy or on foreign affairs, they say. Or simply prescribe the “live and let live mentality” to the whole argument. 

What’s the big deal if adults wear dresses? What’s the big deal if there are a few men who want to be women? Why even engage on such minor cultural items when there are bigger and more adult things to tackle? Who cares if Harry Styles wears a dress? 

The Left will make similarly libertarian arguments when criticized for their radical ideologies. Because suddenly they become less authoritarian and more libertarian in their views when they can’t argue for their position on face value. 

But to answer the question — what is wrong with adults making choices? 

Here’s what’s wrong. “Adults making choices” isn’t the Left’s game. Their game is to destroy cultural standards altogether. Their game is to blow up gender norms. Their game is to oust anyone who disagrees as homophobic, transphobic, or some other “phobic” they conjure up. 

And their game hasn’t stopped at destroying men — they’ve moved well past that. They went from breaking down men and “freeing” women to the now very scary gender-indoctrination of children.

To put it another way, this battle is no longer on the outskirts. It’s no longer silly adults making silly choices — it’s in your home now. 

They are now no longer just teaching grown adult men to ignore gender norms and to play God — they are now teaching your children to do so as well. Their mission has become even more sinister.

This ideology is parents forcing their child to wear a dress because their child happened to don it on an off-day. 

This is teachers grooming children in public schools. 

This is government entities and scientific institutions using language like “birthing persons” in their memos and on their official websites. 

This is schools, even grade schools, emailing parents to inform them that “Mother’s Day” and “Father’s Day” will no longer be celebrated because it’s not inclusive enough.  

This is doctors and trans activists injecting hormones into kids at incredibly young ages — drugs that are sometimes used to medically castrate sex offenders. 

In other words, this has become much more than a celebrity wearing a dress, or a few crazy activists on Twitter, or the destruction of strong men. It’s in your home now and it’s taking everyone it can. 

Don’t believe me? Watch Matt Walsh’s new documentary “What is a Woman?” which is available exclusively to Daily Wire members. Watch as psychiatrists, lawmakers, gender studies majors, and activists refuse to define “woman.” Watch as “doctors” advocate for hormone blockers that destroy children’s bone density. Watch what happens when a whole generation destroys strong men—and therefore destroys gender and the family. 

Ignorance Is Bliss

To ignore this radical ideology is to be a fool. To stay silent is to make the same mistake that conservatives have made for the last 30 years. The only road now — and one which we should have taken a long time ago — is to enter the battle. 

Again, to say that this isn’t a battle or that you don’t like the “culture war” is to ignore what Hollywood and the Left have been doing for years. 

And their tactic is to make you feel like you are crazy, so that you will stay silent. They will call you names and condemn you and say, “Why do you even care?” 

I care because I care about the future of our society. I care about the truth. I care about our children.

It’s time we stopped taking a backseat to the Left’s all-out assault on masculinity — and therefore families. We didn’t start this fight. They did. So jump in, stay alert, be vocal, and bring back manly men.