It's time someone stand up for the young men of this country.
Despite the negative images of males that the pop culture shoves down our throats, the hearts and souls of America's boys are begging for positive direction. They naturally delight in "guy" stuff like rugged camping and "cowboys" when they are young because they truly want to be protectors - to be the good guys. Anyone who has ever been around a five-year-old boy knows that he desires to be a super-hero who saves damsels, children and the elderly from evil. But as guys age they are constantly pounded by images of lazy or sexually predatory images instead of courageous, genteel protectors - and some grow confused. Radical feminism doesn't help - many teen boys even wonder if they are supposed to be polite anymore. Too many have opened the door for what they thought was a young lady, for instance, only to be screamed at by a suddenly vicious and angry female. Why would they want to take that risk again?
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Turn on the television for 30 minutes and show me how boys and men are portrayed - you can watch just about any station at any hour and the image will be the same. When sit-coms and commercials contain family groups or interactions between the genders, the man is usually stupid, lazy, and doltish.
If our media culture showed positive male images and if we actually put effort back into teaching boys that real men are also gentlemen, we would get more of the behavior our society needs to survive.
What the nation really needs are more Boy Scouts. And I mean that literally.
As a mother of two Eagle Scouts (now ages 20 and 21), I can personally testify about the tremendous positive impact that Scouting continues to have on their lives.
We spent ten glorious, fun years in Scouting working along side other parents who shared our commitment to making sure our boys were well-equipped to deal with anything life would throw at them. In looking through photo albums this weekend with my son who was home visiting from college, my heart was warmed with the memory of the many campfires, pinewood derby races, and badge ceremonies. I'll always be grateful for the image of my husband who was man enough to don the uniform too - green knee socks and all - in order to lead our boys and their friends as a Scout Master.