Men are not pigs. Men are not the problem with society, and any criticisms of men can usually be criticisms for women. These are things men should telling themselves right about now to remind themselves it is OK to be a man.

The good news for masculine men is women will find you more attractive. According to the PsyPost, a psychology research reporting website, women find masculine men more attractive when they are fertile. New research also found women want men who are masculine in general. According to the study, “the new findings indicate that women’s shifting preference for masculinity extends to behaviors as well.”

It doesn’t take much time on Twitter or Facebook to see there is real man-hating in the world. The hate is usually centered around masculine traits such as aggression, emphasis on physical strength and sexuality. The hate has been going on for long enough to where men are actually listening and starting to become more like women.

There is a word, which when used correctly, more than accurately sums up this phenomenon: pussification. It’s a less-than-eloquent word coined by comedian George Carlin that encapsulates the softness often displayed by the modern American man. Simply put, men have become pussified.

Belittled by the feminist movement that says masculinity is evil, men have been told their defining trait is bad. And it has worked — men have rolled over to this insane ideology derived from nothing more than good, old fashioned man-hating.

We are seeing a cultural shift where more and more men are taking on feminine characteristics and women are, unsurprisingly, remaining feminine. If this seems counterintuitive, it most definitely is. Women want men to put less of an emphasis on their manliness and behave more like women. Women have deemed their biological pre-dispositions superior and far more suitable than that of their male counterparts.

Expecting men to act more woman-like is asinine. Men don’t need to become more like women, and women don’t need to become more like men. It doesn’t matter if you believe in evolution or intelligent design – for some reason, men and women are different and this is a good thing. Just like in nature, females are attracted to males because of their differences. Blurring the line between those differences will cause less women to be attracted to men and vice versa.

At the end of the day, women want masculine men, and they want men to take control sometimes. If you don’t believe me, explain why “Fifty Shades of Grey” has sold over 125 million copies worldwide. I am not advocating for hyper-masculinity by any means. Even though it is not the evil it has been made out to be, hyper-masculinity isn’t the best version of masculinity. Like any good thing in life, too much of it can be detrimental.

However, men are unfortunately still becoming de-masculinized. It is easy for a lot of men to give up these “bad” traits and conform to this gross androgynous view of how men should be.  There is nothing wrong with polarity between the genders. It is like this for a reason. Men don’t ask women to stoop to our level, and they shouldn’t stoop to theirs.

Emphasis on physical strength is a good thing. Men have 50 percent more muscle mass, and utilizing that muscle to do work – almost manual labor is done by men – is a good thing. Someone has to build the infrastructure of our society and country. Men have already done it and will continue to.

Sexuality and aggression are also good things. Women enjoy sex just as much as men, so it doesn’t make much sense as to why they want men to be less sexual. 

Men can be a little too aggressive sometimes, but men have historically taken on the role of protectors in societies and in families. Aggression is a requirement when it comes to protection and is closely related to courage and bravery. Timidity and meekness never saved anyone from a burning building or fought off an attacker.

Men being men is a good thing. We need a society where men are encouraged to be more manly and less feminine. Let’s not to try and override basic biology, because it has gotten us pretty far.

Jacob Maranto is 21-year-old mass communication senior from Plaquemine, Louisiana.