Lions and Lambs by Jack Donovan

I’ve recently noticed that one of my favorite brief writings of Jack Donovan has disappeared from his website and the internet entirely. Here it is, well worth a read in these degenerate times…

Lions and Lambs
by Jack Donovan

Wanting to be good at being a man means wanting to be a lion, and despising in yourself and in other men the nature of the lamb.

Is this truly hatred – to despise the lamb in yourself and in the men of your tribe?

Placing the virtues of the lion above the sentimentality and vulnerability of the lamb is called hatred today.

When applied to women, it is called misogyny.

And yet, men who want to be lions always love and make themselves protectors of the lambs close to them. The hero sacrifices himself for the vulnerable loved one, the one who is not as strong. This is often his weakness, his undoing. He loves the lamb, and would die for the lamb, but he doesn’t want to BE the lamb, and can think of no greater dishonor than to be seen as a lamb.

Is that hatred of the lamb?

Men are frustrated with could-be lions who would rather be lambs – because it is easier to be a lamb. They are frustrated with “flamboyantly effeminate” men who reject, despise, and denigrate the virtues of the lion.

But men love those who are in their protection, so long as they show some appreciation, so long as they don’t denigrate the role of the lion, so long as they recognize that they are lambs and not lions.

This idea that what you love is often the opposite of what you want to be is a central paradox of masculinity.