Is Stoicism, or broicism, bad for young men and society?
A calm and friendly rebuttal of Douglas Giles’s “Calmly resisting the fad of Stoicism”
Douglas Giles is one of the philosophers most worth reading on Medium that I’m aware of. I was reading a very good, recent piece of his on “broculture”: “Problem isn’t men, it’s bros”. I’d recommend this to anyone. So, if you’re a bro wanting a righteous tribal take down, scroll on and stay awesome, friend.
Giles’s article itemises the different species of this new,profoundly reactionary cultural phenomenon we’re experiencing in the age of monopoly tech vulture capitalism: the incel bros, the tech bros, the club bros, the crypto bros …
As Giles identifies, the “masculinity” celebrated here involves “bros”: that of ignorant, arrogant, aggressive, and obnoxious self-assertion, who present themselves as the best thing ever.
As Giles’s article suggests, you don’t need to be Sigy Freud to see that this kind of masculinity is a performance, fearfully covering over any acceptance of human vulnerability. It is “man-child” stuff, comic book masculinity: “men who act out in blatant and uncouth was to express obliviousness and power.”
Many women are voting with their feet as they encounter the growing cohorts of…