The Cultural Left has no Prescriptive Model of Masculinity

Or in short, leftists have no clue what a "Man" is, and I don't mean that in a transphobic way.

The cultural left-- liberalism, modernism, progressivism, call it whatever technical term or slur you want-- has a clear, well-articulated idea of what a "Adult" is, what they are entitled to, and what their duties are. Voting; due process; caring for children; freedom of speech;... There are behaviors which Adults and only adults are expected to engage in. The system works well, and leftists who characterize themselves as adults live to the standards set by their ideology. (To the extent they can, anyways-- obviously no one is perfect.)

The cultural left has a clear, well-articulated idea of what a "Woman" is, what they are entitled to, and what their duties are. Women support each other through menstruation, commiserate over shared expectations surrounding motherhood, and bond over shared experiences fending off advances or mistreatment from non-women.

But the cultural left has no exclusive conception of what a "Man" is. A leftist can say, "masculinity is treating your family well and providing for them; it's acting with dignity, respecting your fellow citizens, and staying steadfast in your beliefs." And for a second, it looks like they've told you what a 'Man' should do. But this definition of masculinity fails at being exclusive. All of these prescriptions also apply to non-men. They are a list of things you should do as a Person, not as a Man.

People need self-models to live their lives; they need a set of deontological, prescriptive steps to follow so they can maintain their self-confidence and self-image. They need to know they're doing the right thing as a Person, as an Adult, as an American, as a member of an ethnic or racial group, ... and yes, as a Man or a Woman. And ideally, those steps should be efficient at actually improving their lives.

But people will happily choose bad models of behavior over nonexistent models of behavior, when both sides of the cultural aisle agree that gender should be a critically important part of your identity, and emphasize that ad nauseum.

I am not a redpiller. I don't think the ideology accurately describes the world, and I think that, even if it did, its prescribed remedies are at best half-measures. But ideologies like the Red Pill and controversial figures like Andrew Tate do provide a prescriptive definition of what a Man is and should do, and that's what a lot of people, coming primarily from a culturally leftist background, are looking for. These people and ideologies promise an identity, and they promise that that identity will be useful. And the one-two-punch of those promises have ensnared millions.

Leftists call many of the models of masculinity promoted by non-leftists "toxic." And I'd agree. My own model of masculinity follows the definition of my religious sect, and I judge the models of masculinity that advantage meaningless prominscuity and violence pretty harshly. But the cultural right is onto something, which it insults the cultural left as having no masculinity at all.

Debate me in the comments-- I suspect I'm pissing off both sides present here.

edit: redpillers; I don't appreciate y'all dogpiling just to say "left bad" or "women bad" in the comments. That's not the stance I'm taking, as that's the laziest possible way to commiserate. Go argue with the same people I'm arguing with, if you need something to do.