Intro

The Renaissance was a very traditionally masculine era. Traditional gender roles were prevalent. One notable figure that i discovered today was Leon Battista Alberti. He was an Italian humanist that was the ideal RP man of his time. Aside from absolutely hitting the nail on the head about several points he makes about women and gender dynamics, he was apparently an extremely fit man. He is quoted with saying that he could leap over an entire person and throw a coin all the way up and hit the ceiling of cathedrals. He was pretty damn strong, basically. I’ll summarize the points he makes in the Lessons Learned section.

Body

The character of men is stronger than that of women and can bear the attacks of enemies better, can stand strain longer, is more constant under stress. Therefore men have the freedom to travel with honour in foreign lands (Alberti, Della Famiglia).

Those who are familiar with the Pill will read this and completely agree with it. On the contrary, the Blue Pill will jump at this for being misogynistic. Alberti brings up the inherent strength differences of men and women, putting them in the spotlight here and even reminding us that it typically was men that travelled to foreign lands. Marco Polo, Alexander the Great, and even Christopher Columbus are examples of this.

Women on the other hand, are almost all timid by nature, soft, slow . . . It is as though nature thus provided for our well-being (Alberti, Della Famiglia).

Another excellent piece. Alberti recognizes the inherent and natural differences of men and women, but also acknowledges how complementary these differences are. Women are a compliment to men, but they are not the same as men. Women are better fit to perform certain tasks that men wouldn’t be able to perform, and the opposite is just as true.

Finally, Alberti is quoted with saying that male children should be “steered away from womanly customs and ways.” This is something a lot of feminists will find an issue with. Why would a man want to act like a woman? A man should be acting congruent to his gender - like a man. Men shouldn’t act like women, and women shouldn’t act like men. This runs contrary to our human nature. To be a man is entirely different than being a woman. It’s important to note that he did not mention that male adults should be “steered away,” but that male children should be turned from these customs. It’s vital to the development of the male child that he learn how to act in the manners of a man and not a woman. In the modern day, the Feminine Imperative has so thorough brainwashed the masses that this rarely happens anymore, if at all.

Lessons Learned

1) Men are stronger than women. Strive to be as strong as possible; this is how a man should be.
2) Nature made the genders complementary to each other. Understand that women may not be capable of completing a task that you find easy.
3) Teach your kids to be men. Make sure you instill RP concepts in them beginning as soon as they possible can begin to interpret it. Rollo Tomassi outlines a list of some ideals you can instill in your child in his Rational Male series.