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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 12:59 AM | Comments (5)