Several years ago I read a book excerpt or possibly an article about what it was that a “real man” did regards to relationship (courtship/marriage). I remember it as coming from a well known source but I’ll be damned if I remember details.
It was the type of narrative that said “real men don’t show emotion to their spouse as they must always show they are strong and ready for anything.” Or something along those lines. I remember it basically talking about how one should be stoic, unflappable, the bedrock of the family. Basically what it was like to be a “real man” and how it compared to “flighty” and “over emotional” woman.
That sort of thing.
It was from around the 50s (based on one of the illustrations at least - classic man in suit and tie and fedora - that sort of thing).
I’m trying to make a point about changes in social perceptions and expectations and I’d really like to pull either this or something similar out as an example.
Anyone?
I saw a book like that that was originally published in the 1930s at our local library’s book sale. It had all sorts of illustrations and it was meant to be a joke rather than taken seriously. It was still pretty damn misogynistic. The beginning had a little poem with the lines “a real he-man forgoes seduction and heads straight for rape” or something to that effect.
In the late 70s/early 80s, there as a book entitled “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche”. For no particular reason, it was a hit, and single-handedly trashed the market for quiche, which had recently become popular.
There were a whole bunch of take-offs, and jokes based on the “Real Ment Don’t…” template. A typical example:
Q: How does a Real Man tell if his girlfriend is having an orgasm?
yeah I remember the quiche one, and it’s possible that one is colouring my perception of the one I speak of, but the book/article I saw was meant to be serious. A sort of primer for men to become productive members of society sort of thing. May not have been QUITE as bad as I made it out to be, but it was definitely misogynistic.
Wish I had more to go on than this as it would make things easier, but…
Q: How many real men does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None - real men aren’t scared of the dark.
The book had an interview with one Flex Crush, a truck driver who decried the movie ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ starring Dustin Hoffman, which featured a divorce and custody battle.
Flex wasn’t happy with the casting: “The Duke would’ve just slapped the broad around, and shipped the kid off to military school”.
There was also a marquee showing a real man’s movie lineup:
Rocky
Rocky II
Rocky III
Rocky IV
(this was a lot funnier when the book was published, before there had even been Rocky III).
The book was definitely tongue-in-cheek - the author’s name (if that was his real name) was a really obvious clue.