The other day, I woke up to an Instagram reel of a friend of mine. She was filming herself on a morning walk and speculating on what life might be like if the world were suddenly to be one without men.

#No-men-for-a-day was the main hashtag included.

Yes, she’s a feminist–well, I take that back–maybe, I’m not entirely sure. She’s always been very sweet and complimentary to me despite our political/social differences, but she is def-sympathetic to the women-rule-men-drool ideology. And, no, I won’t say her name. There’s no reason. Let her do her thing, she’s not affecting anyone but herself.

Long story short, she said (and I’m paraphrasing) that if she’d love to go a single day without a “straight cis-gendered male–“

I rolled my eyes and exited the video…

I knew where it was going. Straight men are the worst, right? Despite being the ones who literally built everything we see, touch, feel, smell, and taste in the world.

And then my brain did that thing most brains do when quasi-aggressively confronted with an opposing perspective.

“Oh yeah?” I thought, “well, good luck with that because without men…”

And then, I thought of the great Norm MacDonald, and his joke that the whole cis-gender bit was “a way of marginalizing a normal person.” which got me laughing, because, obviously, Norm MacDonald was the G.O.A.T. (Rest in Peace, good sir)

Anyways…I checked my ego, went back and watched the rest of the reel. And while a small part of me was, no joke, intrigued, the comedian in me was like…

“What did this evil, awful man do that would warrant all men disappearing for an entire day?”

Apparently, some dude hit on her. FROM A DISTANCE. (I’m assuming, she gave no details)

But here’s where the story kicks into high gear. The man didn’t just glance at her, no, instead, he looked at her AND did one of those super-slow “comb his chin/beard” movements with his hand. And then the video ended.

Don’t worry, I’ll describe it for those of you still confused.

The unknown dude looked at her with his eyes, palmed his mouth FOR A HALF OR MAYBE A FULL-LENGTH SECOND, then dragged his fingers to his chin as though he were combing his beard or pretending he had one.

The socially-liberal ladies were probably cheering…

“LOCK HIM UP! LOCK HIM UP!”

The male feminists were probably thinking…

“Shouldn’t have done that, bro! I mean, who do you think you are? Sure, nothing happened beyond that and we have no video evidence of you even existing, but we ALL know what you were really thinking about. Boobs, right? And her butt, huh? Exactly…straight to jail!”

The Red-Pill Mgtow bros put the Fresh and Fit podcast on pause and started ranting…

“Men build all the homes/restaurants/hospitals/resorts, they extract and deliver all the oil, they built and maintain the electrical grid, the roads and commercial infrastructure, they keep the pipes intact and the toilets flushing, they fight all the fires, grow all the food, and… should I keep going?”

While most normal men and the country-based traditional women probably thought…

“Wait, what happened?”

That last one was me. That was how I reacted.

And I’ll be honest, it kinda bummed me out. For a bit. Nothing intense. It wasn’t like I was hunched over the comment section ruminating over the perfect mic-drop response like some mens’ rights Reddit troll with a vicious porn addiction and a learned victim-mentality.

My main response was more out of concern. Like “Really? That’s unfortunate.”

And then…something beautiful happened.

I set my phone down on my book shelf/night stand, got out of bed and went downstairs. My 34-year-old younger sister was in the Game Room, playing Smash Brothers with her 4-year-old son, Marcus. His tongue hung out of the side of his mouth and his favorite blue blanket hung over his shoulder like a sash as though he had been declared Emperor of the Family.

Three hard-fought rounds later, which I’m pretty sure he won, they went outside to check the mailbox. A few moments later, the screen door swung open and I heard a young boy’s voice say “Cody, your new phone is here.”

All of a sudden, my ears opened up like the bud of a flower, whispering “that was adorable.”

My brain started playing Metallica… “and nothing else matters.”

My heart turned into the Wicked Witch of the West, screaming… “I’m melting, melting!”

And my inner monologue turned robotic… “Must…protect…him…from…the…world.”

Marcus gave me the package, I complimented his little blue ‘off-to-get-the-mail’ hat, and then it hit me…

These modern-era, socially aggressive, #no-men-for-a-day feminists will probably never get to experience what I just witnessed. And that is unfortunate. It really is, because I know a good chunk of them want families, but can’t due to circumstances beyond their control. Or at least based on their perspectives.

I mean, anything is possibly under God’s protective firmament, but these metropolitan/city-adjacent independent ladies are definitely fighting an uphill battle.

So what’s the point, Cody? You’ve been talking for…way too long (as usual) so if you could…thanks.

My point is…I don’t believe that feminism is natural…HOWEVER, it is a natural reaction when surrounded by weak, docile, and submissive men. Women don’t want to be masculine, but they will if they have to. And in most cases, this unnatural learned-masculinity stems from a failed father (or father-figure), who on some level said “you’re on your own, kid,” and stopped fulfilling his role as head of the household to pursue whatever Babylon (or the kingdom of this world) has convinced them was more important.

My sister was lucky (or blessed) in the fact that she met/married a man who leads properly. Protecting and providing is definitely part of the equation. Leading properly, however, is where a lot of men fall short (myself included), and why feminism is so rampant these days.

In a span of three years, my brother-in-law and his family (which includes 3 kids under 7) have moved from a farmhouse in Murray, KY to an apartment in Louisville, to a house a few miles away, and then all the way back to my family’s basement in Cape Girardeau, MO.

And yes, that was an amazing decision. His words, my sister’s words, and mine 🙂

I’ve seen my brother-in-law stressed beyond measure (something all men go through), but he has never let it pass down to the family, and because of that my sister has been allowed to the opportunity to thrive as a housewife, a mother, an Xbox gamer, an Aussie breeder, a pet vet, a proofreader (of my weird little stories lol), and so much more.

So unless the feminists of the world hit the jackpot or land a wildly-lucrative job that affords them a house and pays off their student debt…OR they meet a man (masculine and driven enough to make them feel safe and stable)…OR they make some serious life changes…that uphill battle will probably continue for the foreseeable future.

So what’s my point?

Have sympathy for the feminist. They’re not crazy, well, some are, but most of them are doing the best they can with what they’ve got.

If all men were moral, strong leaders, that would be one thing, however, in today’s world, a good chunk of men have become soft, immoral, comfort-driven, and feminine…which is not something women want in a man or their offspring.

Sure, feminist behavior may be less than ideal and sometimes they do things that straight-up appear insane, but they are living in a world most traditional women have never and will never experience.

And I say this as a dude who used to blame feminism for an array of societal issues…At the core of every strong, independent, I-can-do-bad-all-by-myself, wannabe CEO boss bitch is an anxiety-ridden inner child doing anything/everything to fill that Daddy-shaped hole in her soul.

When I finally realized that, I didn’t just start rooting for them, it made me think “where have I failed as a man? When did I drop the ball in a relationship? When did I stop leading? What are my weaknesses and how do I sharpen them?” I’d argue that this interspection has made me stronger, more masculine, more understanding, and more purposeful, but only time will tell.

Don’t hate the feminist. They’re stressed beyond belief.

Have sympathy, but don’t let them emasculate you either.