Not every son shines. This is the lesson for young men and boys in the world today. While we still live a primarily male-centric society, sons growing up in this generation have to learn to deal with life in a slightly softer way than boys before them. A few decades ago, the phrase "boys will be boys" got many young men off the hook during a display of excessive rowdiness. In today's politically correct and gender neutral society, boys may be boys, but sometimes they need to be men and other times they may be more like girls. Sons have to learn to cope with this while keeping their manhood intact.
Boys are expected to be manly with a softer side, too. Women tend to want to marry a man who can be their knight in shining armor while at the same time being their best friend. Sons must learn to stand up and take charge from their father, but be soft and kind from their mother. This is turning out to be a tall order for them to fill.
In times past, sons were testosterone factories who manifested aggressive male behavior. The won by intimidation and might. These sons today are put on medications to slow their hyperactivity to a crawl. In order to avoid the medication mill, sons have to learn to suppress their male urges until they seem soft and gentle. For society, this is probably a bad thing in the long run.
Sons need to grow into strong men, especially for nations who want to manifest world dominance. Less civilized nations who allow their sons to become intense and aggressive will eventually rise up and dominate as they have throughout history. Winning is sometimes about intelligence, but it must be supported with strength.
I feel sorry for sons today. They are asked to go into sports venues and let their aggressive nature dominate. However, minutes before and within minutes afterward, they are forced back into difficult place of exercising enormous restraint.
While not espousing a doctrine of violence, it is not hard to see that sons are being asked to be softer today than ever before. Sons are becoming housekeepers and cooks instead of cops and robbers. Teaching sons to be strong and respectful has given way to teaching them to be soft and reticent. A new paradigm has created a time when sons are being raised much more like boy daughters than young men.
