A constitutional lawyer, and U.S. senator for the state of Missouri argues that the character of men and the male virtue that goes along with it is a necessary ingredient to a functioning society and a healthy, free republic.
He posits that masculinity is, at once, a biological endowment and a personal achievement ... Like a campaign speech, Manhood is an adventure in impressionistic and impassioned disorganization. Chapter breaks may as well be accidental; most passages could be reshuffled into any section without any loss of coherence ... Insofar as it is possible to impose an organizational principle onto Manhood, the book takes up four distinct projects, though not in any particular order. The first is halfhearted biblical exegesis. The second is wholehearted self-promotion ... His autobiographical forays are desperately folksy ... Hawley’s third fixation is liberalism, defined not as a political system but as an all-encompassing ethos that consists, primarily, of the fetishization of choice ... The final strand of Manhood is standard self-help fare, much of it inoffensive ... Ultimately, Manhood differs only cosmetically from the book that Hawley’s liberal straw man would write. The Epicurean liberals of his imagination are invested in self-gratification, and he is invested in self-improvement. Both are invested in the self.
On the page, Hawley blames “Epicurean liberals” for the failures of American men ... Hawley neglects to mention his source: the second verse in the Book of Ecclesiastes, authorship traditionally ascribed to King Solomon, successor and son to King David. Reflecting upon life as vanity is part of the Judeo-Christian tradition too ... In reaching for Scripture, Hawley is being – surprise – selective ... Hawley is also selective – surprise – about his philosophers ... Hawley protests way too much. He seeks to avail himself of the positive liberty posited by Berlin ... He’s doing fine. He seems to believe, however, that he possesses a God-given right to be heard.
Strange and ineffective ... Like almost everything Hawley does, the book is an epic disaster ... The pre-existing systems, culture, and structures that bind modern men and inform their choices are framed merely as excuses for not doing what’s right ... This culture-warrior perspective on manhood is so bizarre to read, knowing Hawley’s political indebtedness to the consumerist, gimme-gimme, consequences-be-damned MAGA vibe that currently dominates the Republican Party.
