Protector Archetype and January 6, 2021
The male archetype of protector and hero is an ancient one — Zeus, Hercules, Superman. It has been lived for centuries with both beneficial and detrimental consequences. But, that persona has little space to be lived in our modern world. And, while I am not in a male body, and don’t want to presume I understand or can homogenized the male psyche, I have worked beside men in the construction industry all of my adult life. I have seen that persona want to be lived in men — the knight in shining armor.
But without a place for it to be lived in a healthy way, it gets played out in destructive ways — storming the Capital on behalf of a deluded mission. As misguided and deluded as the (mostly) white and (mostly) male tribe was at the Capitol, they mobilized a tremendous amount of collective will, determination and prowess to storm the Capitol and take action that in their minds was to “protect” democracy. They thought of themselves as heroes.
In our modern society, where is the role for men who feel the protector archetype in their blood? Certainly our many recent climate catastrophes we brought them out. We have seen men (and women) come together to save lives; in boats pulling people off their roofs in New Orleans, or sleeping under their trucks for a few hours before going back out to fight the California fires. We are grateful for their strength and determination as first responders. And yet, there is a tragedy even in this role.
Black and brown people of today have many heroes, both men and women, standing for justice for their people and to protect their land, water and way of life.
But these days, it seems the white male hero is the shrewd businessman or politician; the one who can control and manipulate goods, services and information to gain power. Bezos, Trump.
Many ancient rituals of initiation into manhood include facing and conquering an internal and/or external threat. Today, rituals into manhood have become drunken fraternity parities and tests of sexual prowess.
Aside from first responders, there is little available as healthy protector archetype role models for young (or even adult) men. Since the Vietnam War, military service has been a questionable role; war being revealed as a mechanism of imperial ambitions and often an evil in itself. Police work has been influenced by military tactics with questionable motives around keeping the peace vs racist agendas. Iron work and manufacturing jobs under unionized and collective entities have dried up and been sent overseas. And small businesses have been overrun with the Amazons and Home Depots of the world. Sports heroes are a more benign replacement of the ancient protector archetypes but the actual living of the role remains mostly unattainable.
And then, of course, there is the Black cop, Eugene Goodman; a real knight in shining armor.
Without condoning the recent actions, it does not surprise me that we see a rise in white angry men; searching desperately for a way to contribute to society. This past year when gun rights were a hot topic (remember back then?), a man responded to one of my FB posts to tell me that he and others had guns to protect us against the government should it go off the rails. I suspect he was at the Capitol.
We all need to contribute. It is our human nature. The crowd that stormed the Capitol found their purpose in the deluded lies thrown at their unrelenting desire to be needed.
I am reminded of my mother’s anger; a woman of the WWII generation who was given, like all women of that time, some hope of authentic self-expression and real opportunity to contribute to society, only to have it taken away once the war was over. Their jobs, so critical to the successful end of that war, were given back to men. With tremendous governmental propaganda; women were pushed back into housewife-ship as their only source of expression. Some liked the role. Many did not. It is not surprising that the generation after my mother’s fought determinately for women’s rights.
The collective force at the Capitol on January 6 was massive. If I simply view the power without the horrendous actions, I am glad to know that a huge amount of will and determination still lives in American. My mind dreams of what could be accomplished if that collective physical power could be turned towards the changes that are really needed — upgrading infrastructure and, power sources, regenerating and protecting our soil and water through changing farming practices, and so much else. I toss my vision out to the Universe and say a little prayer. May it be so.
