Assertion #1-Manliness is not selfishness.
Do you remember that Dodge Charger commercial from 2010? It was a Super Bowl commercial I believe, and I can say honestly it really irritated me. If you don't remember here it is:
It's called "Man's Last Stand." Here is my problem. It basically says, "I will be considerate of you as a person implying that being considerate is emasculating as long as I can drive this powerful 'manly' car." I will be considerate of you, only if it will get me what I want. I can understand the office things. I mean let's face it two hour meeting are horrible, but putting the seat down, cleaning the sink after shaving, these things are just being considerate.
Increasingly, in my view of the world, being a man means being selfish. Look at most Vince Vaughn movies. He plays a petty selfish man perpetually stuck as a 12 year old boy. There is nothing wrong with 12 year old boys, but a 40 year old needs to act differently. It cannot be all about self and satisfying your own desires. Side note: that shouldn't be what 12 year old boys should do either.
Being manly in my view has nothing to do with selfishness. In fact, I believe the best thing you can do as a man is to be selfless. Obviously, there are times that you have to take care of yourself, but you cannot always do that. Being a man or being mature means caring for others and being considerate of others regardless of your reward for it. Being a man should be defined by how you put your abilities to work to make this world a better place. Having a penis doesn't mean that you have the right to be selfish, instead it means that you need to understand that everyone has personhood and needs to be respected. Manliness is being considerate and caring, not self seeking and overly aggressive.
How would you define being a man? Does the way being a man is portrayed in the media ever make you angry?
1 comment:
Thank you for sharing this! I agree with a lot of what you said. It's always annoyed me that men are portrayed the way they are in media (i.e. emotionless, self-centered, etc.). I especially get annoyed with the portrayal of men in "comedy" (quotes used for a reason). Why? Because the male is always portrayed as the bumbling, socially inept idiot, which I personally find insulting. Then again, women are often portrayed as nagging and arrogant, or like somebody who's all frilly and stereotypically "feminine" with no sense of independence, which I would say is insulting as well. I'd say this is especially the case in a lot of media created for young girls (don't even get me started on how fashion dolls for girls are created in this day and age!). I'd love it if people would create shows that'd give more gender-balance (i.e. showing intelligent, caring men and women who don't conform to gender stereotypes). Overall, an excellent post. Thank you so much for sharing.
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