My boys love Calvin and Hobbes, and throughout the day the household is inundated with dialogue lifted from the pages of the complete collection they ravenously read.
Ironically this came about from an attempt especially during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s to make the world more accommodating to Calvins. As a result a lot of Susies ended up on the Calvin track and proceeded to destroy it. So now we have people mindlessly chanting "I'm a very unique individual" in unison.
I couldnt disagree more. OP references "one size fits all", and is correct. You will be an NPC or a domestic terrorist, no middle ground.
I cannot vouch for the accuracy of OP's descriptions of the comics, but the point being made is valid. Free-thinking masculinity not welcome. Anywhere.
As a dad I tried very hard to encourage my son to be male. The neighnorhood boys his age hung out some here growing up and I only intervened when shit got out of hand.
> Free-thinking masculinity not welcome. Anywhere.
Oh "Free-thinking" is still welcome, in males, females, or any gender, especially if you use your thinking to come up with a creative original gender to be.
Another way to think about this: it is considered normal to look at a picture of the mid-20th century and see men in suits and hats and women in dresses, and think, "Blech, how conformist."
And we can easily imagine how a Calvin might be constrained in such a world. There was no shortage of Ms. Wormwoods in that world. And some of the old folks had legitimate grievances with that world, even if most of the ones in my family have grieved for its loss.
Our contemporary world also has some amount of soul-crushing conformity built into it. But unlike the old world, the way it plays out in reality is sort of schizophrenic. Which might work out better or worse for you, depending on the circumstances. Your teacher won't rap your knuckles with a ruler for talking during class, she won't force the lefties to write right-handed, but she may urge your parents to medicate the misbehavior out of you.
In the 1940s a Dead White Man reviewed the propaganda being served to young men. His alarm call was heeded - briefly. One generation later the call came to cancel the writing of all Dead White Men.
“In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.”
An interesting take. We live in a time where virtually all male behavior is demonized and suppressed either with social stigma, coercive threats or drugs. It's a hell of a position to be in. This is why so many young men are simply dropping out. Turns out the powers that be can force you into a little conformist box, but they can't force you to do anything useful while you're in there. So drop out and let it all rot form the inside. I think you'd be hard pressed to find any one happy with the state of culture or politics in the West. Those who are the most angry are those who are the best equipped to fix things and prevented from doing so.
We're not going to see improvements until the current social system and near-soviet levels of surveillance and bureaucratic over-reach can be replaced with something better. If the left will permit it, then a changing of the guard can happen peacefully. But a lot of the Susies of the West grew up into purple-haired hyper-conformists. They live lives as miserable and violent zealots. It's a strange time.
I am respectfully requesting more Calvin poasting. You perfectly understand this comic. I am glad your boys are interested in it, I think this comic helped shaped me into the man I am today.
I was the father of a 1st-grade son not long ago. He started 3rd grade yesterday.
I have been a slavish Calvin and Hobbes reader since I myself was a first grader. My collection of anthologies was among the first books we sat and read together, after he had gotten through the Bob books and could string sentences together.
When I was young, I was Calvin. Now I am Calvin's Dad. I have learned a lot about fatherhood from Bill Watterson, what to do and what not to do. I owe him a lot.
My favorite tat I saw in the navy was that of a shipmate at service school; Hobbes with a Molotov cocktail!
I too love C & H but am no where near as well read on it. Though, I must say that I find it hard to believe that any fan could write about Calvinist and not mention the snow goons.
Reading this piece makes me sad. After having 4 years of his childhood stolen from him with lockdowns literally, my son now is being forced by his mother to spend every moment in one scheduled activity or another with cram school crammed wherever she can fit it. She makes him bring homework with us on family outings so he can work on it at the campsite, at restaurants or on the train. We argue about this often, but she will not allow him to be a child. Every boy needs some time to be a Calvin.
Perhaps camp? The staff won’t be nearly as motivated as your wife. Another C S Lewis reference:
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
At a summer camp once, maybe 8 years old, we did an activity playing with clay. When the counselor asked me what I was shaping, I answered, "a severed head", lifting it straight from the comic.
This is great. Calvin's conflicts against the uncaring bureaucratic society shows the social suppression of the Heroic. Calvin's imaginary flights all involve him being a hero and adventurer. Susie herself is attracted to this even though social institutions cater to her outward conformity. I would even say, and I think you're alluding to this here, is that Susie is also something of a victim in this system. The institutions reward her for keeping her head down, but they only reward her actions when she submits. Her desire to be with Calvin shows that she knows the "system" is incorrect, but would fear the repercussions of non-conformity.
The age of the "Mass Man," that is post-war Boomerism, only rewards the suppression of the Heroic in men (Calvin) and the punishment of women who desire the Hero (Susie). Admittedly, I may be channeling a lot of the SSH and a touch of Evola, but I see it so much in this article. Great stuff here and, like others have said, it will be great to read more.
Exquisite essay. As a fellow owner of all the collections from back in the day, I can say you nailed the vibe of the comic perfectly. One thing I took from it is that life isn’t fair and adults don’t always have your best interests at heart, so you have to figure out some things on your own. The gynocentric worldview you point out had to be intentional on Watrerson’s part. The critique is too perfect to be happenstance.
Man, what quality writing. This is what Substack is about.
If you ever read the Calvin and Hobbes edition with Watterson’s author commentary, he points out the controversial strips where Derkins-type of people got very angry and sent irate letters to the editor. Stuff like “how could you be so cruel to write a comic where Calvin fantasizes about blowing up his school with an air-to-ground missile from a fighter jet?!” And he just said “clearly you weren’t a boy who went to public school.”
I used to homeschool kids. At one point during a class with a 12-year old girl the conversation moved to the topic of empathy. I explained to her that I learned the most about empathy after one particularly nasty fight I had with a classmate. It really dawned on me that the physical pain he felt must have been similar to what I felt. Which was not great.
She responded with: "Wow, it's like boys and girls are two different species."
Both my Grandpas died when I was 6. My Dad was a workaholic who was rarely home and if he was he was working on the computer. I had an uncle who died when I was 11. I really wish I had more men in my life. Didn’t really have women either but think I would have been a lot less lost with some guidance.
"'Everything he does is immoral! Nothing in there teaches proper morals or virtue.' She exclaimed."
Tell me you don't understand boys without actually telling me "I don't understand boys."
My instant reaction was that she didn't understand children's literature. Unfortunately a lot of children's books are written by this type of person.
Most unfortunate. Interested parties who wish to counter this trend have never had a better time to do it with the tools that are available to them.
Ironically this came about from an attempt especially during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s to make the world more accommodating to Calvins. As a result a lot of Susies ended up on the Calvin track and proceeded to destroy it. So now we have people mindlessly chanting "I'm a very unique individual" in unison.
I couldnt disagree more. OP references "one size fits all", and is correct. You will be an NPC or a domestic terrorist, no middle ground.
I cannot vouch for the accuracy of OP's descriptions of the comics, but the point being made is valid. Free-thinking masculinity not welcome. Anywhere.
As a dad I tried very hard to encourage my son to be male. The neighnorhood boys his age hung out some here growing up and I only intervened when shit got out of hand.
He turned out awesome.
> Free-thinking masculinity not welcome. Anywhere.
Oh "Free-thinking" is still welcome, in males, females, or any gender, especially if you use your thinking to come up with a creative original gender to be.
Another way to think about this: it is considered normal to look at a picture of the mid-20th century and see men in suits and hats and women in dresses, and think, "Blech, how conformist."
And we can easily imagine how a Calvin might be constrained in such a world. There was no shortage of Ms. Wormwoods in that world. And some of the old folks had legitimate grievances with that world, even if most of the ones in my family have grieved for its loss.
Our contemporary world also has some amount of soul-crushing conformity built into it. But unlike the old world, the way it plays out in reality is sort of schizophrenic. Which might work out better or worse for you, depending on the circumstances. Your teacher won't rap your knuckles with a ruler for talking during class, she won't force the lefties to write right-handed, but she may urge your parents to medicate the misbehavior out of you.
Hey man, I just wanna be different like everybody else!
We had a saying in our friend group in college: All the non-conformists are doing it
This just put a lot of things into context for me.
(in uptalk: “I’m a unique INDIVIDUAL???”)
In the 1940s a Dead White Man reviewed the propaganda being served to young men. His alarm call was heeded - briefly. One generation later the call came to cancel the writing of all Dead White Men.
“In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.”
From *The Abolition of Man* by C S. Lewis. RTWT.
https://archive.org/details/TheAbolitionOfMan_229
N.b. Thank you for making the connection
"
That may be the greatest book written in the 20th Century. Thanks for bringing it up. Far too few have read it. ❤️
Never heard of it, but just reserved it from my local library. Thank you!
An interesting take. We live in a time where virtually all male behavior is demonized and suppressed either with social stigma, coercive threats or drugs. It's a hell of a position to be in. This is why so many young men are simply dropping out. Turns out the powers that be can force you into a little conformist box, but they can't force you to do anything useful while you're in there. So drop out and let it all rot form the inside. I think you'd be hard pressed to find any one happy with the state of culture or politics in the West. Those who are the most angry are those who are the best equipped to fix things and prevented from doing so.
We're not going to see improvements until the current social system and near-soviet levels of surveillance and bureaucratic over-reach can be replaced with something better. If the left will permit it, then a changing of the guard can happen peacefully. But a lot of the Susies of the West grew up into purple-haired hyper-conformists. They live lives as miserable and violent zealots. It's a strange time.
I am respectfully requesting more Calvin poasting. You perfectly understand this comic. I am glad your boys are interested in it, I think this comic helped shaped me into the man I am today.
I wish I could like this twice.
I was the father of a 1st-grade son not long ago. He started 3rd grade yesterday.
I have been a slavish Calvin and Hobbes reader since I myself was a first grader. My collection of anthologies was among the first books we sat and read together, after he had gotten through the Bob books and could string sentences together.
When I was young, I was Calvin. Now I am Calvin's Dad. I have learned a lot about fatherhood from Bill Watterson, what to do and what not to do. I owe him a lot.
God bless Calvin and Hobbes.
My favorite tat I saw in the navy was that of a shipmate at service school; Hobbes with a Molotov cocktail!
I too love C & H but am no where near as well read on it. Though, I must say that I find it hard to believe that any fan could write about Calvinist and not mention the snow goons.
Reading this piece makes me sad. After having 4 years of his childhood stolen from him with lockdowns literally, my son now is being forced by his mother to spend every moment in one scheduled activity or another with cram school crammed wherever she can fit it. She makes him bring homework with us on family outings so he can work on it at the campsite, at restaurants or on the train. We argue about this often, but she will not allow him to be a child. Every boy needs some time to be a Calvin.
Thanks, well written and timely.
What's wrong with you?
Why are you letting this happen?
Come again.
Excuse me?
?
Perhaps camp? The staff won’t be nearly as motivated as your wife. Another C S Lewis reference:
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
Excellent essay, glad Watterson held so strong as well and we haven't seen it brought to screen (yet)
At a summer camp once, maybe 8 years old, we did an activity playing with clay. When the counselor asked me what I was shaping, I answered, "a severed head", lifting it straight from the comic.
That did not go well for me.
This is great. Calvin's conflicts against the uncaring bureaucratic society shows the social suppression of the Heroic. Calvin's imaginary flights all involve him being a hero and adventurer. Susie herself is attracted to this even though social institutions cater to her outward conformity. I would even say, and I think you're alluding to this here, is that Susie is also something of a victim in this system. The institutions reward her for keeping her head down, but they only reward her actions when she submits. Her desire to be with Calvin shows that she knows the "system" is incorrect, but would fear the repercussions of non-conformity.
The age of the "Mass Man," that is post-war Boomerism, only rewards the suppression of the Heroic in men (Calvin) and the punishment of women who desire the Hero (Susie). Admittedly, I may be channeling a lot of the SSH and a touch of Evola, but I see it so much in this article. Great stuff here and, like others have said, it will be great to read more.
A lovely read. Thank you for this.
Exquisite essay. As a fellow owner of all the collections from back in the day, I can say you nailed the vibe of the comic perfectly. One thing I took from it is that life isn’t fair and adults don’t always have your best interests at heart, so you have to figure out some things on your own. The gynocentric worldview you point out had to be intentional on Watrerson’s part. The critique is too perfect to be happenstance.
Man, what quality writing. This is what Substack is about.
If you ever read the Calvin and Hobbes edition with Watterson’s author commentary, he points out the controversial strips where Derkins-type of people got very angry and sent irate letters to the editor. Stuff like “how could you be so cruel to write a comic where Calvin fantasizes about blowing up his school with an air-to-ground missile from a fighter jet?!” And he just said “clearly you weren’t a boy who went to public school.”
The peeing Calvin stickers are all bootlegs. Watterson never licensed any Calvin likenesses.
I used to homeschool kids. At one point during a class with a 12-year old girl the conversation moved to the topic of empathy. I explained to her that I learned the most about empathy after one particularly nasty fight I had with a classmate. It really dawned on me that the physical pain he felt must have been similar to what I felt. Which was not great.
She responded with: "Wow, it's like boys and girls are two different species."
Both my Grandpas died when I was 6. My Dad was a workaholic who was rarely home and if he was he was working on the computer. I had an uncle who died when I was 11. I really wish I had more men in my life. Didn’t really have women either but think I would have been a lot less lost with some guidance.