Ah, "masculinity," just like "femininity" is always a social
construct anyway. Mostly arbitrary stuff. (an earring in one
ear is masculine, the other feminine--and both?) (Penises
still work when men wear dresses) do you remember the carload
of guys from Jersey who went to NYC one night a few years
back, figuring they'd go to the village and beat up some gay
men--they ended up picking on two gay men who then proceeded
to beat them senseless & put several of them in the
hospital. Gotta love it!
----- Original Message ---- From: Kevin Burton Smith <
kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com> To:
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com Sent: Thursday, March 27,
2008 11:25:52 AM Subject: RARA-AVIS: Real guys don't worry a
whole lot about if they're real guys or not...
Mario wrote:
> On the fate of the American male, there have been
some serious
> sociological studies resulting in books. The
conclusion was that there
> has been a loss of masculinity and a loss of
self-esteem among
> American males, that men are disoriented, they no
longer know how or
> where to fit. Also, that they have become more like
women but that
> women don't necessarily like that. Complicated
stuff...
Those serious sociological studies are usually trotted out by
guys out to prove that all the other guys -- but not them,
nosireebob, no fucking way -- are wimps.
And almost every generation finds a previous one more to
their liking.
> In any case, it's considerably more complicated than
saying that men
> have become pussywhipped (or more so than they were
before, in the
> dark ages of the fifties). It's a societal thing,
not a merely
> individual phenomenon. On a time scale that makes
any sense, this is
> an alarming change, if indeed it is real. The people
who have studied
> it say it is.
The people who study stuff... right.
> What would Shell Scott think of all this?
He'd say, "Merio, baby, why are you so down on chicks? Swing
with it, man -- you gotta dig them as they are, not as you'd
like them to be. Now, what time's happy hour?"
> > Yes, you're right and I was exaggerating of
course, but still I
> don't think Dick Powell was very impressive even by
the standards of
> the time.
And yet, he was probably in better physical shape than most,
having been for many years a professional dancer. And thank
God we were never subjected to a shirtless Rooster
Cogburn.
All this talk about vanishing masculinity (and the ongoing
derision of many female HB writers that pops up regularly on
this list) seems to indicate a lot of male insecurity out
there, and becomes a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.
But this notion that some golden make-believe era (the
thirties? the forties, maybe?) was the epitome of masculinity
is just plain silly. It's all bullshit derived from old
movies and revisionist history. This "greatest generation"
stuff is a crock; a salve for baby boomer guilt and
insecurity.
Each era gets the men (and women) it deserves, but rarely the
ones it needs. Men (and women) will be as "tough" as they
need to be, and lesser men (and women) will still turn "the
cult of masculinity" into a fetish, and talk endlessly about
the good old days of pseudo uber- males like John Wayne and
Ernest Hemingway. Borrowed flight jackets do not a war hero
make.
But I must admit, I do miss chest hair. Most actors today
look like Ken with their shirts off.
Pass the quiche...
Kevin Burton Smith The Thrilling Detective Web Site
Celebrating 10 Years of P.I. Thrills
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