I have long noticed that modern men do not seem very masculine. Certainly I find contemporary chaps are too meek, afraid to voice a potentially robust opinion or disagreement with current intellectual trends. Western men, in particular, appear to have suffered a wholesale loss of confidence, of identity.
Further sartorial evidence, for me, includes the preponderance of billowy shirts, baggy jeans, indiscriminate bling, the intense grooming regimens. Some American guys, especially, look like giant infants in their loose clothing and huge white sneakers. Personal comfort at all costs seems to be the supreme value.
Maybe notions of metrosexuality have permeated too deep. Or maybe various modern ideologies, such as egalitarianism, feminism, and consumerism, have worked their dark magic only all too well on a gullible, mass media-drugged populace. Perhaps modern men have been trained like obedient hounds to follow the latest fashions, however silly these fads may be, and to eschew an attention to classic, unchanging style as suspect, or square. Who knows?
All can agree, I think, that the ideas of masculinity, and of Man himself, have been under assault for decades. This book, therefore, by the husband and wife blogging team of Brett and Kate McKay, is a timely wake-up call.
Stand up and suit up, men of the West! Claim what is rightfully yours! Be a man among men. For tomorrow belongs to you.
4 comments:
Amen !
Hear hear! I already have two children, don't need a third.
As usual, I agree with the Admiral.
As I ponder which contemporary males fill the bill for stylish and masculine, the character of Don Draper (played so superbly by Jon Hamm) in the popular TV series Mad Men comes to mind.
Don Draper is confident, direct, and stylish. He knows right from wrong, and while he is a pragmatist, he takes care to never cause unnecessary pain to other people.
He personifies everything that is useful about macho, and nothing that is bad. He deftly handles but never cowers to an important client.
It would be interesting to see who other readers of this great blog might include on their list.
Of course, Laguna Beach Trad easily makes the cut. For some reason Senator Russ Feingold and Princeton alum, Bill Bradley, also come to mind.
Hopefully, we all have at least one or two manly men in our personal circles, but I am not quick to come up with any public personas.
Spot on Admiral. I just ranted similarly the other day about elegance-deportment-style being manly traits.
Onward.
ADG
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