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Our last stop, as it turned out, had been Israel.
Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you know that Israel deals with more than its fair share of political complexity. I don't need to go into the details of that for you.
But suffice it to say that because of the way things are over there just about every young Israeli is required to serve in the military, including the young women.
Now, I had heard about how women in the Israeli Army were prepared for real, live combat along with the guys.
But how this plays our in the real world really caught my attention once I got to see the whole phenomenon in action.
It was right by the Western Wall on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, of all places, but there they were. Four women...each appearing to be under 21, and none over about 5'2" tall.
They were chatting and laughing together, just like, well...women. They all had bright, engaging smiles and three of the four had ponytails.
And yet, all four of them were also wearing fatigues, had berets on and had automatic weapons slung over their respective shoulders.
To say the least, I'd never seen a more powerful example of how "machismo" is very, very different than "masculinity".
These women were dressed like soldiers and holding guns because they HAD to. It's WHAT they were doing.
But WHO they were was feminine. There was just no hiding it.
These chicks may indeed be doing more "macho" stuff during a typical week's worth of their training than some guys elsewhere have done in ten or twenty years.
But they were all woman, all the time. It was nothing short of fascinating to behold in person.
Now, I've been telling you for quite sometime that women define masculinity specifically by what creates sexual polarity.
That's NOT to be confused with how much beer you can drink, how much horsepower your Vette has or how big your gun is.
It's all about WHO you are, not WHAT you do.
So here's a truly challenging question.
If a woman can dress like a soldier and carry a gun, all the while charming guys' socks off with radiant, joyful and dare I say playful femininity; wouldn't that mean that YOU can represent yourself as a real man regardless of your surroundings, or regardless of your daily tasks?
Are you a single dad and worried about coming off like "Mr. Mom"? Stop it. You can be Dad, and remain a man in the process. And it will go well for you.
What if you're in a sales job chasing numbers against peers who are women?
What if you're in any other job or doing any other task that's downright "neuter" in nature?
That doesn't at all need to mean YOU are neuter.
Who you are is different than what you do.
Heck, you might even find yourself in a job or a pastime of some sort that's dominated by women.
And yes...you can "disarm" women with your masculinity in that context, even as those Israeli Army gals no doubt "disarm" guys, despite being heavily armed.
Just as a quick example, at one time I found myself working as a substitute teacher in an elementary school. Let's just say I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the break room.
Being the only guy in the whole workplace can be a major plus instead of a major hit to one's ego. It's all how you carry yourself in the context of things.
What I'm talking about here is for real.
But can you believe it can be that way in your life? Can you see others as they see you?
Can you be a real man regardless of what the situation holds?
All I can say is this...if we somehow decide to hold on to the importance of being "macho", then I can show you at least four hot little chicks in Israel who have a massive head start on 90% of most of us.
I say why concern yourself with that? Be what no feminine woman can EVER be no matter what kind of gun she's packing...be a MAN.
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below!