Culture critic: ‘Manosphere’ Fears Overhyped
The latest “issue du jour” is the “manosphere,” observes Josh Kaplan at The Free Press, with much worry “over the impact that online creators with extreme misogynistic views are having on young men.” But are they being “seriously and irrevocably damaged”? You’ll find “scant evidence” that the “bigoted and toxic” views of Andrew Tate etc. are actually “having a serious, long-term impact on the way young men behave in the real world.” Notably, unlike “other forms of bigotry,” the “misogynistic rhetoric of the manosphere” doesn’t correlate with increased “misogynistic violence”; indeed, sexual-assault rates have “halved in the U.S. over the last 20 years.” Without excusing “bigotry or violent ideas,” try allowing boys “the space to come to their own conclusions.”
Defense desk: Marines’ Dishonest Commandant
Gen. Eric Smith, now the Marine Corps commandant, “probably will go down in history as the second-worst commandant in recent times,” with his immediate predecessor, Gen. David Berger, retaining the “dubious distinction” of worst, predicts Col. (ret.) Gary Anderson at The Washington Times. Berger “enthusiastically embraced the Biden administration’s ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ policies and created an extensive infrastructure to implement them”; Smith, as his No. 2, Smith “enthusiastically” helped. When President Trump took office, Smith “frantically began dismantling the Corps’ DEI establishment” — but also lied, claiming the Corps had never bought into DEI. “I fully expected him to be fired,” given the “damage” he and Berger did to the “Marine Corps’ combat readiness,” but he has survived, albeit sidelined after a heart attack. Perhaps it’s better he serve as “a bad example than no example at all.”
Rue, Brittainia: Churchill Out, Squirrel In
“If you’re looking for a metaphor for the decline of Western civilization, you could do worse than the news that Winston Churchill, who was often likened to a bulldog or a lion, may soon be replaced in Britain’s public esteem by an actual squirrel,” quips The Wall Street Journal’s Gerard Baker as the UK government opts to replace people on its currency with “wildlife.” Meanwhile, in Northern England, a guide booklet instructs teachers not to ask students to “reproduce images of Jesus, the prophet Mohammed” or other key Islamic figures to avoiding offending Muslims. And a “Muslim-protecting” plumber “became the first Green Party candidate to win a parliamentary by-election.” At what point “does Britain stop being counted as the West?”
Liberal: Dems Falling for New Walz-ian Fakes
Despite Tim Walz’s flop in the 2024 election, some of the Democratic “candidates running in key midterm states have quite Walz-ian profiles,” grumbles The Liberal Patriot’s Michael Baharaeen. Some hope Senate candidates James Talarico (Texas) and Graham Platner (Maine) “embody a ‘new way’ for Democrats hoping to win difficult races” by “cracking the code to winning conservative-leaning rural and working-class voters.” Yet both simply dismiss “cultural issues,” and their support is “concentrated in urban and coastal enclaves” that are “culturally distant from much of rural America.” To gain seats in the Senate and “compete” in the Electoral College, Democrats must “expand their tent to include people who hold more culturally conservative positions.”
Medical beat: Establishment Ducks Trans Truth
Some US “medical associations” have “recently revised their positions” on “medical transition for gender-dysphoric minors,” notes Joseph Figliolia at City Journal. But the American Psychological Association is “attempting a ‘split the difference’ communications strategy”: It walks back its “unambiguous support for pediatric medical interventions” when speaking to a journalist, but “refers to ‘affirming care’ interventions as ‘evidence-based’” when speaking to an activist. This “fence-straddling behavior reflects the uncomfortable position in which the APA finds itself”: “Caught between the desire to placate its own activist members and the need to address” concerns of government and policymakers. It’s a “cynical” strategy of “trying to say different things to different audiences” and hoping no one notices.
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
