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Friday, March 10, 2006

Trend: Manliness


What does it mean to be a man? You may have noticed any number of reports regarding the diminishing presence of men on American college campuses. The current ratio is four women for every three men. Some liberal arts campuses are already hitting a 60/40 female to male imbalance. This is the ratio, according to campus recruiters, where women weigh the lack of "available" men on campus negatively. If current patterns continue, this trend will have a substantial impact in the workplace in the home as well as in our public institutions.

Anecdotally, I have also noticed an increasing preponderance of moms as the sole attending parent at youth sporting events, an area once much more the province of Dads. Further, moms have assumed an increasingly involved (and taxing) role as psychic, spiritual, professional and social director for their children. Whither men?

In the media, male images are all over the map. Common are the bumbling father, the urban metrosexual, the Man Show/Howard Stern neanderthal, the kinda disturbing misogyny of some rap/hip-hop artists to the pure testosterone of 24's Jack Bauer. So what's manliness in this postfeminist era?

Harvard prof Harvey C. Mansfield (Manliness) and Nora Ephron (Self Made Man) present two of the latest of many recent attempts to divine the role of men in today's society. Compelling, thought provoking and controversial stuff. Link to a Mansfield podcast.

4 comments:

Adrian said...

I always knew I was born in the wrong time.

Actually I've seen this in my daughter's school too. Almost every class is heavily skewed towards girls.

AKI SYSTEMS 2600 said...

i see an opportunity for a telethon. we need to raise funds to get this issue on the political agenda. we need to get celebrity endorsers. we need to get laws that balance the scales. what we need is a FASHIONABLE BADGE TO WEAR TO SHOW OUR CONCERN, a ribbon? a wristband? NO, we all wear a Baby Blue "Wifebeater" Tee-Shirt to show our support for the cause! SAVE THE MAN - OR WE WILL BE NO MORE. SAVE THE MAN!

Lachlan said...

I'm a lumberjack, and I'm ok.

Cheap Viagra said...

this is my own opinion, a good combination between style and a good testosterone amount, and you have the advantage in flirting game.