Quote:
Originally Posted by Requiem
Feminism is only part of it. I think a big part of why men are softer these days is the shift from rural living to urban living. In 1950 the rural population was 40% and urban was 60%. Today it's 20% rural and 80% urban. (Source)
Urban man is more worried about getting his suit from the cleaners and making the commute to his air-conditioned office. He gets fit in a gym, not by working hard.
I do think television and movies have done a big disservice to men. There's hardly a male role that isn't the butt of jokes, the weakling, the idiot. The female roles are strong and smart (okay, there's dumb and sexy too). The child roles are there to show just how stupid "dad" is and how clever the kid is. (The exception was television like Cosby, who was a strong male father figure and black to boot.)
I'm familiar with the water-cooler women's talk about the lack of great men. I didn't find a good one until I was 32. Where the hell are you guys? 
Paslode, sir, I appreciate your post about having a strong male in the family. Absolutely! There are too many homes without real men in them. Boys learn to be men by example.
Susan |
Mom was no slouch.....she just had her own priorities for setting examples.
At age 12 she put my summer dreams of hanging out at the pool and sucking face with the honey's to a to a quick end.....8 hours a day, 5 days a week of picking up tenants trash, shitty diapers out of window wells, rocks, pulling weeds, watering shrubs, mowing and all the other crap no one wanted to do...and I had to be on site by 7:30AM to set an example that family didn't mean you got any slack.
That said, based on how those of us who were required to participate in the family business versus those who weren't required to participate....those of us who did are doing fine, those that didn't not so well.
I think that might fit into the urban versus rural class.
Somethings I hear quite often during my daily grind with customers, the majority of which are women who are either self-sufficient or have married into a comfortable lifestyle.
You're like my Dad
My Dad was a carpenter, plumber, farmer, etc.
My Dad did things like that.
I wish my husband/boyfriend could do that.
My husband/boyfriend doesn't know the working end of a screw driver.
My husband/boyfriend is good at making money but he can barely put a light bulb in.
Some of them are actually kind of annoyed their better half is mechanically inept.
My take......if you can provide financial security along with a big house, fancy dinners, vacations and new cars, and you can accomplish this getting dirty with a touch of savagery and you know proper etiquette.....You maybe the perfect man.