< R. Lee Ermey > Noooo shit. < /R. Lee Ermey >
Manliness, however, still has societal utility because so many men AND women buy in.
The Red Foreman quote is from a sitcom, but it’s a hollow laugh at best because there is so much truth in it. And not just for men. Mature, responsible adulthood is in large measure a matter of a rat race well run.
I don’t think that’s true at all.
It’s contextualized as hell by the producers of the shoe, yes, and they’re often hamhanded with their “message”. People have a hard time letting art happen, so often the think they have to guide it or force it.
But genuine stuff slips through anyway. Like that boy with the black fingernails from the last show, he was SUCH a treat, I loved that kid.
The Rednecked Daddy from a few weeks ago dropped a gem. He was upset because Career Mom wasn’t able to keep the house as clean as his wife did. I think part of his reaction was real love and respect for his wife’s household. He said “Karen cleans this house like the President lives here.”
Those are pretty much my thoughts on the functionality of the prejudice. I remember being so pissed off at Upham because he let down his squad mates. I empathized with his point of view on being a decent human being and not killing the German prisoner they took, but that incident made him irredeemable to me.
On the other hand, like a lot of others have said, Real Men don’t care too much about what other people think. They just get stuff done. Harping on what other guys do is a sign of insecurity, as is being overly conscious of criticism.
I got teased a bit when I was in high school because I read a lot, was in the “egghead” classes, and didn’t like or even care about team sports. It bothered me a bit, but it didn’t take too long to realize that I was more of a tough guy than most of the jerkoffs who were criticizing me.
Now, if someone tried to tell me that I’m a sissy because I don’t watch sports, or because I know a bit about wine, or because I like to dress well, well fuck them.
Along with geeky interests like video games and literature, I have learned about medieval warfare, and have actually tried to experience some of what a man at arms had to go through. I do martial arts. There’s not a whole lot that’s more manly than learning the proper way to cut someone’s head off with a sword 
I used to hike and rock climb when I had a decent outdoors to do it in (I swear to Og that there are vending machines at the end of some “hiking trails” in Japan).
After getting lazy and depressed due to an injury, I got back into fitness a few years ago. I work out harder than the sports enthusiasts I’ve met, most of whom look like they’ve never met a case of beer they didn’t like, and haven’t actually played sports since they graduated high school. So, when was the last time you deadlifted twice your body weight, or put close to your body weight overhead for a few reps, huh, tough guy?
Of course, if some meat-head tried to give me shit about not being a real man because I watch figure skating, read about web design, or play video games, I wouldn’t even bother saying most of what I related above. I’d probably just shrug and let them know that I’d give more weight to this guy’s opinion of my character than theirs.
Women, on a very basic and visceral level are not sexually attracted to sissy men.
Ergo, men will try to be the opposite of that.
Machismo will never die.
That’s another thing about that show in particular – those wives are every bit as invested in their husbands’ masculinity as the men are. And then the gals play up the feminine role. Even Axe Mom was a stellar housekeeper.
In fact…it’s sort of the Dom/Sub thing freekalette has been talking about. Apparently it’s more popular and widespread than I’d imagined…and it’s on prime-time television!
It has to be said: that guy on Supernanny who was obsessed with anti-sissyness was very obviously overcompensating for his own effeminateness. He probably hates himself. God, I’d hate to have live in his head…
This isn’t a simple issue.
I can’t abide sissies. Sissy is a state of mind. One thing I do is speedskate. We have a lot of kids who do it, and as you can imagine, there are a lot of opportunities for the application of “if you fall down, get right back up”.
Sorry folks, but I just don’t see a place in the world for the kid who falls on his side, and spends the next 5 minutes crying on the ice, disrupting practice until his mommy has to come out on the ice with her purse to comfort him.
Not when there are 10 more kids that same age who will crash into the boards, face place, collide, and jump back up on their feet and try going faster.
While it may be a macho thing, it’s not a man/woman thing. It’s a weak/strong thing, and not just physically, but mentally.
But, that’s way different than being an ignoramus. I play the flute, for chrissakes (or at least I used to). There’s a great kid who lives next door to me who gets psyched to show me the new dances he’s learned. But, I think that the fact that he’s willing to work hard to get a dance down is what makes him strong. And the fact that he’s comfortable enough to boldly bust out new dance moves. He’s not weakened the act of dancing itself.
I never saw the Wife Swap, but face it – whatever man was crying reached a point where he was unable to deal with his situation, and broke out in tears. No one can really expect that we’ve come so far as to consider crying a respectable way of dealing with a problem.
I don’t think there were actual tears, but he did seem pretty shaken up over some overhyper woman coming into his house and telling him he was a failure because his wife worked and he did what she considered “woman’s work.”
Like I said, I think it’s weird that this guy thought it was unhealthy for his son to play organized sports, but other than that he was a stay-at-home dad because his wife made enough money (as a shock jock radio personality) to allow them that luxury.