I’ve come to realize that masculinity is no longer required for survival.

A man today can live his entire life without ever testing his body, without ever facing danger, without ever needing courage. He can wake up in a temperature-controlled room, sip his soy latte, sit at a desk, click a few buttons, and call it a day. His food arrives in packages. His problems are solved by customer service. His comforts are endless.

Civilization has made masculinity optional.

Once, a man had to be strong — not as a hobby, but as a condition for life itself. Strength, courage, honor, and loyalty were currencies of survival. Now, those virtues are luxuries. You don’t need to protect, hunt, or build to exist. You just need to comply, consume, and continue breathing.

The civilized man can coast through life without ever becoming dangerous, disciplined, or grounded. And most do. They survive — but they do not live.

Because masculinity was never just about survival. It was about responsibility. It was about carrying weight without complaint, confronting fear, and standing firm when everything else collapses.

Ever since the primal environment was removed, men have had to invent new ways to feel masculine. Many try to simulate dominance through mockery and disrespect — even toward their own friends. Modern banter has become a ritual of insecurity, a substitute for true strength.

I’ve noticed how easily men throw insults at one another under the guise of humor, each trying to prove he’s unaffected. Yet behind it all lies a quiet truth: the civilized man can afford to be disrespectful because there is no longer any real consequence.

In Conan: The Tower of the Elephant, Howard wrote that civilized men are often more discourteous than savages — because they can be rude without fear of having their skulls split. The primal man had to earn his words through courage; the civilized man hides behind safety.

Civilization gave us comfort, but comfort took our teeth. The world no longer demands that we be men — which means that to be masculine today is an act of choice, not necessity.

And maybe that’s the test now.
To choose what is no longer required.
To become strong in a world that no longer forces you to be.