Catholics talk about feminine genius. What about masculine genius?

Every Catholic agrees that men and women are different.

But beyond biology, most cannot articulate how.

The Church has spent decades articulating feminine genius while leaving masculine genius undefined. And that silence is being filled by people who shouldn’t be filling it.

So, we need to have more conversations about masculinity.

Here’s a framework to start those conversations.

When I was a youth minister, I was hosting a youth group dinner and one of the girls said, “I always wonder what it means to be a woman instead of a man.”

I asked the other girls if they’d thought about this, too. Almost all of them raised their hands.

Then I turned to the guys. “How many of you have wondered what it means to be a man?” All hands went up. “How many of you have wondered why you’re not a woman?”

They all put their hands down.

The boys looked confused. The question had never occurred to them.

Edith Stein explained this phenomenon. Because of her biology, a woman is constantly reminded she is different from men. From an early age, she experiences emotions and limitations that her brothers will never know. She is made conscious of her femininity every month.

Men don’t think much about their masculinity as opposed to women who do think about femininity. They just are men. This asymmetry causes an interesting disparity in sexual self-awareness where man is seen as the “default human” and woman as the “specialized human.”

Combining this natural phenomenon with our cultural values creates a problem.

Since our culture insists the sexes are basically the same—that women can do anything men can do—we’ve accidentally constructed a world where men are irrelevant. Women can do everything men can, plus bear children. So what’s the point of masculinity?

John Paul II’s Mulieris Dignitatem gave us language for the unique gifts women bring. But there’s no corresponding document on masculine genius. No framework for what makes a man a man as opposed to a woman.

And because the Church hasn’t spoken on this, the vacuum gets filled by what some call the “manosphere.” Men who define manhood by denigrating women. (Much like how many feminists define femininity by degrading men.) The only men talking about masculinity are often the ones who shouldn’t be.

So where do we look for this masculine genius?

Theologian Deborah Savage offers a framework worth considering. She looks back to Eden.

When God created Adam, his world contained only things (what she calls “res.”) It only included material creation, order, naming animals, ruling, and justice.

But when Eve was created, her world included all those things AND a person. When confronted with the personhood of her husband and the clear design of her body to create and bear persons, the res fell into the background. Her focus was on persons.

For Savage, this first experience defines masculinity and femininity. The genius of woman is her focus on persons. The genius of man is his focus on things.

This plays out everywhere. Men dominate philosophy, law, politics, business—the systems and structures that allow communities to function. Women create the communities themselves. Men build the house; women make it a home.

The beauty of the Eden story is that these aren’t hard boundaries. Men participate in the domain of persons (we initiate the act that creates persons). Similarly, women participate in the domain of things. But the participation is auxiliary. We help the other sex’s proper domain, but never take over. This is what the term “helpmate” in Genesis means.

Both domains are necessary for a society to flourish, both are a “genius”, and both need each other.

The domain of things is ordered toward the domain of persons. Law exists for people. Business serves families. Philosophy seeks truth so persons can live well. The masculine genius supports the feminine genius, and vice versa.

Men need to have conversations about what it means to master the domain of things.

• What things do I have mastery over, and how can I get better?

• How am I supporting my wife’s responsibility to the domain of persons?

• Am I mastering things or letting those things master me?

The Church articulated the feminine genius thirty years ago. It’s time to articulate masculine genius.