Celebrating masculinity and femininity in the face of woke culture.

"The power of a civilization always matches the power of the religion that legitimizes it," said Michel Onfray. With this quote from the French philosopher, María Calvo opened the presentation of her new book "The power of a civilization is always linked to the power of the religion that legitimizes it".Father and mother in the woke societyThe author explained that she chose a Catholic university for this meeting because she explained that in the face of a crisis of civilization one must "be an advocate of Christian memory," she said, quoting Benedict XIV. The author explained that she chose a Catholic university for this meeting because she explained that in the face of a crisis of civilization one must "be an advocate of Christian memory," she said, quoting Benedict XIV.

Throughout the talk, Calvo insisted on this crisis, in which the beauty of masculinity and femininity is being lost, summarizing his message with a resounding affirmation: "How beautiful it is to be different".

The identity crisis of the human being

"Today we don't know what a human being is," she repeated on several occasions. The teacher recounted that, when she asked her students about this question, "none of them answered with reasonable and objective terms". "It is surreal," she added, "that young people do not know how to answer what a human being is with reasoned terms. For Calvo, this confusion is due to the fact that "the three dimensions of the human being - the biological, the psychological and the spiritual - have been violated, liquefied".

During her speech, the author reflected on the profound meaning of being a man and of being a woman. "What is it to be a man?" she asked. "To be a man is, or should be, a servant of life." Calvo evoked the figure of Hector in The Iliad and that of the great saints, "heroes who give security and protection to men".

Regarding the feminine identity, she affirmed: "To be a woman is to be a welcomer of life. Women can transform the world, because the world is never the same again when they give birth to a new creature". As an example, she mentioned the Virgin Mary: "The most paradigmatic example is the Virgin Mary, since Jesus Christ transformed the world".

Calvo warned of a problem that, according to her, is affecting contemporary society: "We are being masculinized". She criticized the fact that the discourse of female empowerment is leading many women to "lose their maternal side".

In her opinion, social networks show successful women "apparently happy, but broken inside". And she recalled a worrying fact: "Spain is the country where women consume more anxiolytics". For this reason, she insistently repeated: "We must not lose our essence".

The confused man and misunderstood aggressiveness

At the same time, he noted that today's man "has become more emotional, soft, affectionate", something he considered positive, although he warned that "on the other hand, man is being forbidden - and even seems toxic - the attributes that allow him to be a protector of life".

Calvo commented that "in today's culture man's aggressiveness is confused with violence. As he explained, "man is aggressive by nature and must learn to channel this aggressiveness to become a man and achieve marvelous things. When this energy is repressed, he added, "this produces what I call the sadness of the confused man: they do not dare to be men.

The author warned that "confusing masculinity and femininity is dysfunctional, and society can disappear. This is what we are seeing with the fall in the birth rate". In this sense, she stressed the importance of the role of the father and mother as complementary figures: "The father is necessary because he separates the child from the 'suffocation' of the mother".

"We miss the nurturing relationship between the sexes," he noted, and also regretted "having lost the capacity for wonder." "To be amazed by our differences is wonderful," he said.

Cancellation of the debate

Calvo closed his speech with a criticism of the lack of dialogue he perceives in today's society: "Before, when you put forward a reasoned hypothesis with a basis, the other person would argue, give you arguments and that was enriching. Now they say you offend, refuse to listen to you and leave".

In the face of this society, Maria recalled the words of Pope Francis: "We need courageous young people capable of going against the tide". She encouraged the young people in the room to be themselves and not to renounce their masculinity: "locking it up in the subconscious ends up generating a lot of pain," she said.

These words concluded a presentation that, beyond its academic dimension, was an invitation to rediscover -without fear or confusion- the beauty of being different.