The Return of the Man's Man

[LizzieMaine]

But once you got past the style and the consumerism, was it really that different from the dandyfied Everyman role model of the 20s and 30s? That was more of a subversive, individualist kind of masculinity than we remember today - because the militarization of WW2 and the corporatization of the boom years crushed out all traces of it in straight society.

It had its harsh detractors in the twenties as well. Look up the editorials published in 1926 against Rudolph "Pink Powder Puff" Valentino and you'll find comments much harsher than anything that's been put forth here against the metrosexuals:

"Who or what is to blame is what puzzles us. Is this degeneration into effeminacy a cognate reaction with pacifism to the virilities and the realities of the war? Are pink powder and parlor pinks in any way related? How does one reconcile masculine cosmetics, shieks, floppy pants, and slave bracelets with a disregard for law and an aptitude for crime more in keeping with the frontier of half a century ago than a twentieth-century metropolis?

"Do women like the type of "man" who pats pink powder on his face in a public washroom and arranges his coiffure in a public elevator? Do woman at heart belong to the Wilsonian era of " I didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier"? What has become of the old "caveman" line?

"It is strange social phenomenon and one that is running its course not only here in America but in Europe as well. Chicago may have its powder puffs; London has its dancing men and Paris its gigolos. Down with Decatur; up with Elinor Glyn. Hollywood is the national school of masculinity. Rudy, the beautiful gardener's boy, is the prototype of the American male." -- Chicago Tribune, 7/18/26

 

[Fletch]

All a man needs is Brylcreem, Vitalis, (or whatever pomade, etc, you use)soap, Barbasol, and Old Spice. When I worked in retail, there was dyes, waxes, skin creams, etc. I just don't see the point.

Now, I'm very outdated. I work in a factory, I drink Pabst Blue Ribbon, while sitting on a wood-trimmed couch, next to a gone with the wind lamp, watching a console TV to paint a pictur. I guess I am Archie Bunker without the bigotry, and a little more style.

I guess that's what I've figured a man should be. Not a pretty boy type.

You're hitting on some timeless truths here - for those who believe in timeless truths. (Some consider them clichés).

To me, some of them are:
-Men are physical, not verbal.
-Men declare, not ask or wonder.
-Men work, and do it in organizations.
-Men simplify, not synthesize.
-Men are of the people.

When "time is money" - when "the rubber meets the road" - when "you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall" - reality has a definite male bias.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Again with this tired old crock of crap. shakeshead

Ain't it funny how many men's view of what constitutes a "real" or "manly" man tends to resemble his very self, or at least what he wants to portray as his self? What a steaming pile of the proverbial.

I agree with this:

My idea of manliness is having the courage of your convictions, an inherent decency, a gentle and generous heart, intelligence, an open and curious mind, and a sense of fairness and tolerance.

Any man who possesses those qualities is plenty man enough to deserve my respect, and I couldn't care less about how many hair products he has in his bathroom cabinet, whether he carries a shoulder bag, or whom he spends his personal or even intimate time with.

bk

 

[BinkieBaumont]

"Should it not be Gentleman's Gentleman?, oh, no thats a Valet!"

 

[Feraud]

The author lost me after that men don't accessorize and no pink shirt in the closet nonsense.

The point of the article is selling a product. Manliness is the new Metrosexual.

Or so say a spate of ads, books and websites that hail the emergence of the retrosexual, whose attitude and style hearken back to the strong, silent type of the '50s and early '60s.

 

[jamespowers]

It had its harsh detractors in the twenties as well. Look up the editorials published in 1926 against Rudolph "Pink Powder Puff" Valentino and you'll find comments much harsher than anything that's been put forth here against the metrosexuals:

That article is hilarious. lol lol lol
there were harsher things said of Beau Brummell during his time and even caricatures of fops and the overly concerned with their looks types. Brummell might have ended the peacock colors of the earlier age and is likely the father of modern dress but he was sort of hypocritical when emphasizing that the tie should be the only thing that lights up a suit. He spent hours getting the perfect tie around his neck before he would go out.
He was the metrosexual's metrosexual long before the word was invented.

 

[jamespowers]

The author lost me after that men don't accessorize and no pink shirt in the closet nonsense.

The point of the article is selling a product. Manliness is the new Metrosexual.

If men don't accessorize then there isn't much left to sell them. lol
I wouldn't wear a pink shirt but a pink tie is something else.

 

[DBLIII]

james - since you mentioned pink shirts, I just bought my first. Wrangler western wear has a "tough enough to wear pink" campaign where the profits go to breast cancer research. It is definitely "PINK" - really clashes with my Browning Hi-Power

 

[Fletch]

Again with this tired old crock of crap. shakeshead

Forgive me if I erroneously assume post hoc ergo propter hoc, Baron, but I don't mean to endorse any of the tropes I was pointing to just above - only to point to them.

Then again, if you're speaking of the thread in general...

 

[gtdean48]

... Wrangler western wear has a "tough enough to wear pink" campaign where the profits go to breast cancer research....

Nope, still ain't gonna do it. I exchanged a shirt that was very thin red & white stripes because at a distance it looked pink....Sorry. One of my closest friends is 6'7", wears pink all the time. That is enough for both of us.

 

[Mr Vim]

The author lost me after that men don't accessorize and no pink shirt in the closet nonsense.

The point of the article is selling a product. Manliness is the new Metrosexual.

That's an excellent point,
I've worn fedoras years before their recent resurgence. Now they are becoming popular again, and we have this modern retro... I'm getting a headache here.

I say cheers to every man who does what makes him happy, but extra cheers and maybe a drink on me for anyone who likes the idea of shaving brushes, old spice, fedoras, suits and an appreciating for big band.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

You owe me a drink Mr. Vim

but extra cheers and maybe a drink on me for anyone who likes the idea of shaving brushes, old spice, fedoras, suits and an appreciating for big band.

And I dunno if it's fair to say men don't accessorize. What guy when getting dressed doesn't want to wear the right tie/hat/shoe combo? I mean, I'm not crazy with every little thing, but I want to look 'put together' not sloppy.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

No no. The thread/notion of "manliness" in general. I point to no-one in particular.

Forgive me if I erroneously assume post hoc ergo propter hoc, Baron, but I don't mean to endorse any of the tropes I was pointing to just above - only to point to them.

Then again, if you're speaking of the thread in general...

 

[Guttersnipe]

No no. The thread/notion of "manliness" in general. I point to no-one in particular.

I have to agree with the Baron on this one, but I would even take it a step further. To my mind this whole idea seems silly; all these concepts of "manliness" are so rooted in cultural/generational/societal circumstance as to be basically meaningless. I mean think about it for a second...18th Century European gentlemen went around is make-up, pastel silk, and wore stockings, yet by the standards of the day, they were considered the epitome of manliness...

...the idea that one's "manliness" might be compromised by a thing so trivial as "accessorizing" or wearing pink points to an underlining sense that masculinity itself is is somehow so fragile as to be threatened by any divergence from the "norm."

 

[Fletch]

Masculinity, as traditionally construed, really is that fragile. It must be. It is necesarily as vulnerable as the "real man" is invulnerable, because no human being can truly be invulnerable. It can never be more than a desperate holding action - hard won, constantly challenged, and easily lost.

It means a life of competitive insecurity, where you must prove yourself whenever, wherever, however, and by whomever you are asked. Exploits in commerce, war, sport, prowess can be overshadowed by wearing the wrong color shirt, expressing a sissy opinion, even questioning the game itself - especially questioning the game. Manliness, like Hollywood, cares only what you've done for it lately.

The irony is that no one is a real man under such conditions. It becomes necessary to rank on other men, out-manning the other fellow in small ways or large. The only winning move is not to play, and then, of course, you lose everything. An unmanly man isn't just an un-man but an un-person.

 

[vintage68]

Masculinity, as traditionally construed, really is that fragile. It must be. It is necesarily as vulnerable as the "real man" is invulnerable, because no human being can truly be invulnerable. It can never be more than a desperate holding action - hard won, constantly challenged, and easily lost.

It means a life of competitive insecurity, where you must prove yourself whenever, wherever, however, and by whomever you are asked. Exploits in commerce, war, sport, prowess can be overshadowed by wearing the wrong color shirt, expressing a sissy opinion, even questioning the game itself - especially questioning the game. Manliness, like Hollywood, cares only what you've done for it lately.

The irony is that no one is a real man under such conditions. It becomes necessary to rank on other men, out-manning the other fellow in small ways or large. The only winning move is not to play, and then, of course, you lose everything. An unmanly man isn't just an un-man but an un-person.

Dang Fletch, you're quite the philosopher. And BTW, you hit the nail on the head.

 

[Fletch]

I'm just a grad student who's read too many essays on gender studies.

 

[Feraud]

Where does the quiet confident man's man stand in all this?

 

[Puzzicato]

Where does the quiet confident man's man stand in all this?

Surrounded by impressed women, I'd imagine.

 

[jamespowers]

Surrounded by impressed women, I'd imagine.

lol :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap