"They Killed Masculinity", CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD's Anthony Mackie Comments On Raising Boys

"They Killed Masculinity", CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD's Anthony Mackie Comments On Raising Boys

Anthony Mackie speaks to the The Pivot podcast to talk about his more traditional methods of raising his boys while dealing with the fame of being Captain America.

By ChandlerMcniel - Mar 15, 2025 10:03 AM EST
Source: The Pivot Podcast

Anthony Mackie, the star of Captain America: Brave New World and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s one and only Captain America currently, has spoken with The Pivot on the struggles of parenting, especially the struggles of parenting when you’re a movie star. 

He spoke on his methods of keeping his children humble even when their father is obviously quite wealthy. 

“I keep my boys humble. Like my boys have never had a pair of Jordans. My boys don’t do all that internet fly s**t. I could be the biggest star in the world. Do not let me catch you being stupid. My oldest gets it, my 15-year-old. He tell the other ones, he’s like, ‘Yo, don’t make dad mad.’ Once you get one that’s right, he’s going to straighten the other ones out.”

Mackie then said that, in the current American landscape, “...In the past 20 years, we’ve been living through the death of the American male. They have literally killed masculinity in our homes, in our communities for one reason or another. But I raise my boys to be young men. And however you feel about that, you feel about that.”

Mackie continued to speak about raising his sons to be polite and respectful. He follows the traditional methods of having his sons open doors for women and take care of and protect their mother. He’s been doing this, he says, since they were two years old or younger. “Every time I left for a job, I tell my 15-year-old, ‘You’re the man of the house. You make sure these doors are locked. Every night this alarm is on. You text me or you call me every night before you go to bed and you wake up.’ I love that because we’re men.”

Mackie continues onward to speak about his role in his house. He says that none of the fame he achieves or the money he earns matters if he’s never at home to raise his sons or protect his family. 

"Because we're men. If I'm not there to protect, he got to be there to protect. Because you can have all the money in the world, if a motherf---er climb through the window, that money means nothing. You can have all the ‘celebrity’ in the world, [if a] motherf---er jump through the door, that ‘celebrity’ means nothing. So you got to have a little guard there."

"It's just that.” He continued “That American male masculinity is something I think is very important for boys, because now, our little boys are afraid to fail, so they don't try,"

Mackie’s traditional methods may not sit entirely well with everyone, but he’s clearly open to sharing them and being subject to criticism or praise. 

Captain America: Brave New World seems likely to end its box office run as one of the lowest grossing Marvel movies. It’s predicted to land between 400 million dollars and 450 million dollars despite sitting at a 79% Popcornmeter fan response on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing, but the 48% Tomatometer for critic response likely isn’t helping. 

The movie features the debut of several Marvel characters including Red Hulk, Sabra, Sidewinder, and more, but still hasn’t managed to match the financial success of Captain America: The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier, or Civil War.

Captain America: Brave New World stars Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, with Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford.

What did you think of Captain America: Brave New World? Is the movie being under hyped, or is it about as good as critics say? Let us know in the comments below!

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Will End Its Global Box Office Run Among The MCU's Lowest-Grossing Movies
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CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Will End Its Global Box Office Run Among The MCU's Lowest-Grossing Movies

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harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 3/15/2025, 10:19 AM
They also Killed the MCU
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/15/2025, 10:51 AM
@harryba11zack -

🪦🪦🪦⚰️🪦🪦🪦

MCU
Marvel
DC
DCCU
Star Wars
Female only places
Female only sports
Star Trek
Doctor Who
Indiana Jones
Willow
Middle-earth
Harry Potter
Movie theaters
Men wanting to ask out women
Good music
Good art
Beautiful women in video games
Safety and beauty and sanity in large cities
Rpendo
Rpendo - 3/15/2025, 11:20 AM
@MakeAmericaGrea - You seem like you have a lot of time on your hands.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/15/2025, 11:27 AM
@MakeAmericaGrea - pretty sure they also took away muh freedom, muh guns and muh eggs now too.
BigPhilbowski
BigPhilbowski - 3/15/2025, 11:38 AM
@MakeAmericaGrea - get a job ya waste of space
fanboy03191
fanboy03191 - 3/15/2025, 1:01 PM
@Rpendo - That’s over half the users on this site.
Evansly
Evansly - 3/15/2025, 10:20 AM
Very good points. It really shows that parenting is about the effort and qualities you teach your children. Yes kids have a lot less manners than when I was growing up, but do mine? Hell no, I put in the time to ensure that those values were ingrained in them. I will always put in the work to make sure they have the qualities and values that I believe in.
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/15/2025, 10:53 AM
@Evansly -

🤝
UncleHarm1
UncleHarm1 - 3/15/2025, 10:23 AM
Sounds like he's compensating for something
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/15/2025, 10:52 AM
@UncleHarm1 -

What things do you compensate for, comradski?
UncleHarm1
UncleHarm1 - 3/15/2025, 11:55 AM
@MakeAmericaGrea - New article dropping in a few days

"Captain America star Anthony Mackie attempts to walk back comments about the death of masculinity"
BabyLasagna
BabyLasagna - 3/15/2025, 10:28 AM
All I hear is "please conservatives don't hate me"
DarthOmega
DarthOmega - 3/15/2025, 10:34 AM
@BabyLasagna - Because he's talking about raising his sons with honor, dignity, and to protect his home? Hmm... That says more about you than you realize.
Nightwing1015
Nightwing1015 - 3/15/2025, 10:44 AM
@BabyLasagna - he’s always been more conservative in his approach to relationships - not a new thing at all
TheFinestSmack
TheFinestSmack - 3/15/2025, 10:54 AM
@BabyLasagna - nah, it's called doing right by your kids and being a good, present father.
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/15/2025, 10:55 AM
@BabyLasagna -

You should ring up your comrades in your local communist clubhouse and work towards boycotting everything he's in, and canceling him.
Wahhvacado
Wahhvacado - 3/15/2025, 10:57 AM
@BabyLasagna - Being a good parent shouldn't be political
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/15/2025, 11:04 AM
@Wahhvacado -

He may not ever be a parent, it's not something he thinks he should think about for too long.
BabyLasagna
BabyLasagna - 3/15/2025, 11:41 AM
@MakeAmericaGrea - he is not my Captain America, he is not saying this because he believe in our cause, he is only saying this to get people to see his Brand New World movie.

He is not one of us and he will never be, he is a communist and trans


M A R G A
McMurdo
McMurdo - 3/15/2025, 11:52 AM
@BabyLasagna - bit of a stretch here bud
BabyLasagna
BabyLasagna - 3/15/2025, 12:03 PM
@McMurdo - shhh let me have some fun mate
Patient2670
Patient2670 - 3/15/2025, 1:21 PM
@DarthOmega - I think it's great that he's raising his kids with those qualities. I did the same with my sons. They're all admirable qualities, they're just not specifically "masculine" qualities.
DarthOmega
DarthOmega - 3/15/2025, 1:30 PM
@Patient2670 - Unfortunately I don't have sons. I teach my girls to go for the kinda boys Anthony is raising and to avoid the other boys like the plague
TheWinkler
TheWinkler - 3/15/2025, 10:30 AM
Far too often do parents overstep the line of being the one who is in charge with making their child feel beneath them.

Mackie sounds like a dad who is of the highest authority and responsibility in his home, but when he is out, he entrusts some of those responsibilities, in this case, his oldest son and I think that sounds like a fantastic way to raise up a young man.

Kid knows who the boss is, and he knows the importance of the bosses job when he's home, and the boss gives him respect for that.
UncleHarm1
UncleHarm1 - 3/15/2025, 11:50 AM
@TheWinkler - I like what he said about raising his kids to be responsible, but raising them to believe that's a trait exclusively for men is pretty gross. "The death of the American male" is very dramatic and questionable
TheWinkler
TheWinkler - 3/15/2025, 12:17 PM
@UncleHarm1 - I can agree with that!
ANewPope
ANewPope - 3/15/2025, 10:34 AM
I don't know why I expected this comment section to not be miserable even when someone they "supposedly" hate makes a good general point about raising young men.
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/15/2025, 10:58 AM
@ANewPope -

Men are a social cosntruct, comrade.
BabyLasagna
BabyLasagna - 3/15/2025, 11:41 AM
@MakeAmericaGrea - "Comrade"!?!?!

Classic communist
McMurdo
McMurdo - 3/15/2025, 11:53 AM
@ANewPope - notice how the criticism has flip flopped.
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 3/15/2025, 10:36 AM
Disney will fire him because of this lolz.
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/15/2025, 10:58 AM
@vectorsigma -

That would be nice.

But they probably value him too much as an asset.

They'll just put him through a struggle session.
DarthOmega
DarthOmega - 3/15/2025, 10:38 AM
Protecting women, showing strength, being decisive, working hard, being stoic, used to be admirable traits. Now it's considered toxic. "Toxic masculinity" has been used by activists and weaklings as interchangeable with masculinity period.

Trust me, you do NOT want to live in a world without masculinity. Literally nothing will ever get done. Masculinity isn't just about physical strength, or conquest. In some cases it has nothing to do with that at all.
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/15/2025, 10:44 AM
@DarthOmega -

🤝

And more people need to talk about toxic femininity.
DarthOmega
DarthOmega - 3/15/2025, 10:47 AM
@MakeAmericaGrea - That's the funny thing. I've never heard the people who yap about "toxic" masculinity even acknowledge that "Toxic femininity" is even a thing. Trust me being toxic isn't gender specific.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/15/2025, 11:06 AM
@DarthOmega - The attributes of the male sexual organs are to go forward and penetrate, masculinity therefore is about aggression and being on the offensive. This is backed up by the scientific effects that testosterone has on people's behaviours.
The attributes of the female sexual organs are to invite others in and to take them on board and protect them and nurture them in a safe environment until they are capable of existing without them. The feminine traits here are obvious.

There's a bad side to both sure, you can be overprotective, you can molly-coddle, you can make someone feel safe when they're not thereby making them vulnerable to the dangers of the world. These would be the dangers of too much femininity.

But the dangers of too much masculinity is aggression, violence, murder, war, stamping life underfoot, slapping concrete over every green field, taking the lifeblood out of every part of the earth and shitting it into the protective terran atmosphere.

That's not to say man bad, woman good. Having one of these two sexual organs means there will be more of the hormones in your body needed to regulate these organs and they can be influential on your personality. But only influential.
Both men and women have testosterone and estrogen and are capable of acting both masculine and feminine. It's best not to go too far either way just because you identify with a gender.
Humperdink
Humperdink - 3/15/2025, 12:06 PM
@DarthOmega @MakeAmericaGrea -

Toxic Femininity IS real...but I'm not sure you know what it means.

Toxic femininity is a form of internalized misogyny that has women behavior in ways that they feel directly appeal to men. That can involve dressing in revealing ways, repressing their own intelligence, speaking in specific tones, etc.

Toxic femininity is directly related to how men negatively view women and their roles in society which causes them to internalize that and lash out at women who don'd do the same.

You're saying you agree that it is real?

If so, that's good because it is. 👍
Humperdink
Humperdink - 3/15/2025, 12:11 PM
@DarthOmega @MakeAmericaGrea -

Just in case you aren't sure, Toxic Masculinity isn't saying masculinity is toxic.

It's saying that society puts pressure on men to behavior in a stereotypical manner that is viewed as masculine. Like being aggressive, hypersexual and emotionally repressive.

It's states that these stereotypical masculine traits stifle and harm men who don't behave that way and forces them to suppress their own personality in favor of the toxic stereotype of what a man is supposed to be to fit into other male groups.

Happens all the time and we've all seen it. It harms men and by extension women.

Gender affects how we exhibit these toxic behaviors because they're both very different.
ToldYaSo
ToldYaSo - 3/15/2025, 2:01 PM
@DarthOmega - Couldn't agree more. Without all this masculinity we would all be stuck in "Rachel Z - Look at me" land. Raising children to be good, centered people who care about family over FAME-ily is not a bad thing.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/15/2025, 10:42 AM
Good thing he didn't have daughters then I guess.
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