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June 19, 2011
TV Dads, The Atlantic and "The End of Men".
Ever wonder why young male employees type with a lisp? See in the July-August 2010 issue: "The End of Men". And let's not forget that, apart from the fact that women are far more complex and more intricate than men--they always have been--"women power" is not just a matter of women rising in Western culture and in the workplace. In the last half-century, men, especially white collar men, did not just lag behind women in personal and professional development. Men also lost the notion of being men--whatever that means these days--in a modern world.
Yet women stayed women--and in all the best ways. Bravo.
Everyone loves neutered indoor cats. Consider countless male characters on television over the past 30 years. Most are wimpified beyond recognition: sexless cartoon characters, and suburban robot-peasants. Adult "male" TeleTubbies. Sure, they are kind, sweet and understanding, if goofy. They just do what they are told--by either women or a new egalitarian society that gives them mixed messages, and only confuses them, about how they should now be and act. To some extent, television's male characters--pick almost any male sitcom lead from 1950 on--reflect how we see ourselves.
Do men now hold onto the barest sliver of "male" identity? Granted, in even earlier decades, John Wayne's characters could be ridiculous, short-sighted and small; however, they were never pathetic, or stripped of their core aggression and wildness.
What a tool.
Originally posted June 10, 2010.
Posted by JD Hull at June 19, 2011 12:59 AM
Comments
I think men on TV is a red herring. I read a piece recently by Charlie Brooker where he had interview a programme commissioner who was bemoaning that men, blokes, guys, boys etc, don't watch television, other than the odd bit of sports.
We apparently aren't that interested in TV tend to just wander off to the xbox or pub or some other less passive activity. This has apparently had execs ripping their hair out trying to figure out how to catch the demographic, Footballers wives, probably the worst show ever made, was apparently an attempt to get men to watch more TV over here.
The result being execs have given up on men in TV and now aim almost all their television at women, hence constant parade of the strong sassy lady characters and the moronic male character who should ideally be crammed into a wickerman post haste.
Posted by: Ducan King at June 10, 2010 04:47 AM
Well done. I see your point--but 95% of the actual real-life males I talk to every day are almost as pathetic as the TV versions. They generally think that they are only being the Sensitive New Age Man (SNAG) society wants them to be. They are the kind of men that weaker women at first think they want--and then dump.
Some of our younger male employees even type with a lisp. Amazing.
Posted by: Hull at June 10, 2010 02:46 PM
Dan -- we have to get you back to the Midwest!
Posted by: Peter Friedman at June 10, 2010 07:00 PM
Maybe, Peter. But I was thinking about the Pittsburgh office.
Say, have any of the Midwestern women lost a few pounds yet? Most were big enough to have their own zip codes last time I checked (2 weeks ago).
Posted by: Hull at June 10, 2010 07:35 PM
Posted by: Friedman at June 11, 2010 04:26 PM
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