To my boys, with love

Some people assume in merely reading the title that Nancy Pearcey’s book, The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes, is determined to claim that ‘toxic masculinity’ does not exist and might suggest that we, as a society, need to roll back the progress in advancing women’s issues of empowerment in order to combat the charges. 
This couldn’t be further from the truth.  Before even opening the book, questions shot forth demanding to know what side the author was on. This fascinates and perplexes me because I don’t see any way to critique ideas before understanding them! How can a person properly critique a book they haven’t read? It seems you’ll scuttle your credibility before any dialogue is ever started. 
The primary reason I picked up this book was because I have two sons who are clearly struggling to understand the world and attitudes toward and around them. This is the second time I have read the book and it hits deeper each time. Not only does the book trace the development of changing attitudes and ideas about masculinity through history, it corrects the view that Christianity feeds toxic masculinity and offers no hope to the conversation. 

Pearcey clearly delineates the difference between what men know to be a Good Man and where and how the secular script derailed that definition into toxic masculinity. For the sake of my sons, who were created with intrinsically good masculine traits and gifts that the world needs, I needed a more robust way to dig into the conversation so that they would not be left feeling guilty and unmoored about the good they were created to be. Pearcey’s research is a great place to start. 

​I love you, boys. You need to know that you are complete in how God designed you, even as you journey into strength, goodness, and virtue. 

Love, Mom