Reply to White folks, is Tim Walz a "unicorn"? (non-political)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]White woman here but I think this post is really insightful. I've long felt white men as a group (and sometimes individually) are struggling with identity. I also feel this way about white women!

I think one interesting thing about Walz is that he has embraced certain classic aspects of masculinity (football coach, military background, his general vibe) while also being an empathetic and clearly caring person (teacher, champion of children's issues, generally warm person). These things shouldn't be in opposition to each other but many men seem to struggle with it and fear appearing "soft." It's basically the whole issue of toxic masculinity and Walz doesn't seem to have struggled with it. He embraces "soft power" and leading with kindness and warmth.[/quote]

As this poster suggests, when the focus of your life isn’t yourself, but rather serving other people, a lot of the “struggle” people seem to have with identity, purpose, etc., seem to evaporate.

Everybody is so focused on “getting ahead” that we rarely talk about leading a life of service in our country anymore outside of military service, ESPECIALLY for men.  Women are expected to basically serve other people, sometimes to such an extreme that we lose ourselves in the process.  There needs to be balance. [b] Our leaders also de-emphasize service as in choosing service as the purpose of your life.[/b] [/quote]

+1 over on the politics board there are people denigrating Walz for not being rich because he spent his life in service of others. As if not using your government position to get rich is something to look down on or be suspicious of.

There are a lot of men like him quietly going about their lives. My dad was one -- also from MN and I think he'd be so happy to see the Walz getting the spotlight. My DH is one too and we met doing volunteer work. So are many friends' husbands. And my son and nephews. One of my nephews in particular said that he learned how to be a man from my dad. He was the same kind of classic midwestern dad. [/quote]

So Walz didn't "volunteer" for those things. He did them for pay. Low pay. This was not because he gave up some great, lucrative opportunities, nor opportunities to change the world. He did because that's what he was qualified for. Do not kid yourself. Our country provides amazing opportunities for both men and women to make a living by serving in the armed forces, including part-time. Many thousands of people do it. He did it because he was school teacher with a family to support, which he was barely doing, evidently.[/quote]

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