Steering away from cultural stereotypes of wilderness surviving, football playing, car fixing men devoid of any emotion other than jealousy and anger, Pyle points us to a more accurate and biblical perspective right from the start: there is no single template for masculinity (page 19) and that "being a man is not dependent on what one does; rather, a man is a man because he is made in the image of God. Masculinioty does not need to be proved; it needs to be affirmed" (page 25). The same thing can be (and is) siad f women! When we look to Genesis, both man and woman are addressed in the mandates to be fruitful and rule -- there is no gender distinction between the two (page 173). Leaping to Paul in his letter to the church in Galatia, Pyle also points out that there is no gender distinction in the fruit of the Spirit that is indicative of Christians, even though our culture (and churches!) tends to think of most of these attributes as being feminine (love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, gentleness), Pyle notes how faithfulness and self-control are often perceived as masculine (be faithful to your wife/family, and exercise self-control to be competitive and successful) (page 158). This certainly needs to change.
Much of Man Enough is Pyle's own journey from husky childhood to an athletic, adventuresome adulthood and still not "feeling like a man". Which makes this a story to which so many of us -- I know I did, at least -- can relate. American culture demands that men are the bread-winners, that men work while the woman stays home. (Yes, that's a perversion of what Scripture says, but it's so prevalent that it deserves singling out.) I can't count the number of times churches, in an effort to build "men's ministry" have things like flag football. It's a perspective from which so many of us view masculinity.
But Pyle is right -- it doesn't have to be that way. In fact, it shouldn't be that way, if we start with Jesus first.
So this is one book that men and women -- particularly Christian mothers of Christian children -- will want to read and share often.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”