Since I've done a lot of what might seem as "woman-bashing" recently, I thought I'd at least treat the other side to a good lashing.
The idea of what it means to be a "man" in modern society is quite confusing for many reasons. The most striking is that there is quite a lot of pressure coming from different directions. For example, if a man wants to act as a "traditional" man did/should they are labelled, cursorily, as a "chauvinist" or at least as someone who doesn't properly recognize the leaps that have been made in sexual equality in the 20th century. But...suppose that a man don the label of "feminist." Scary stuff, I know. What will this man be called? "Gay," "wuss," or "how can a man be a feminist?" (NOTE: This is why I don't like the sexually-loaded term "feminism.")
The point is that "masculinity" doesn't exist because there is no prevailing notion of what it means to be a "man" in the modern world. This is both good and bad. It is good because now men are able to live more honestly, if they so choose, in non-traditional roles. It is bad because there is still enough residual feeling of traditional masculinity in the older generations (aka, parents), that younger males are essentially barred from their pursuits while still being tantalized by the possibility that they could be achieved.
The lack of a prevailing notion of masculinity also results in many different subgroups who all have different icons of what they deem to be a "man." For simplicity's sake, I will lump these groups into four different categories, each with a "good" and a "bad" label attached:
Traditional/Frat-boy:
Doesn't want change and never will. Highest aspirations include: getting into the best legal/accounting/engineering firm in the country, buying a house in the suburbs, and generally continuing the same boring cycle that birthed them. Icons: Vince Vaughn, Tucker Max, any neo-conservative politician.
Nerd/Slacker:
Any character Seth Rogen has played or ever will play will fall into the latter half of this category. Characterized by a *strong* affinity for anything that does not involve a great amount of physical activity; be it Star Wars or pot. Icons: Steve Jobs, George Lucas, Super Dimension Fortress Macross.
Hyper-masculine/Guido:
There is a lot of overlap between this group and the "traditional/frat-boy" group, except this group really likes fast, loud, and obnoxious. Very concerned with their looks. Often found wearing shirts that are at least two sizes to small for them because "I've totally been hittin' the gym, and I can't just go buy a whole new wardrobe every time my pecs swell!" Icons: Vin Diesel, Jason Statham, The Situation.
"Non-conformist"/Emo:
This group doesn't do things because they're "lame," yet can't really give a valid argument besides that's what the "conformists" do. Enjoys writing bad poetry (often with a lot of thanatophilia), criticizing everyone around them except for themselves, and listening to Dashboard Confessional. Icons: Che Guevara (even though they only wear the t-shirt), Holden Caulfield, and a base-level of appreciation of Hunter S. Thompson.
I'll go more in-depth with this later.
Until next time,
T
