'Beauty In The Ordinary' has just put up a post about men being men, so here is a photographic record of George Clooney in the process of doing just that, like Rosemary asked him to all those years ago, and Jacqueline is asking us to now. I made the case for us men on her blog because - having lived through several changing attitudes as to exactly what does constitute a real man (as well as a painful adolescence) - I think I am a bit qualified to give an opinion, especially as I am out of the running due to advanced years. Having said that, people like Clark Gable and Omar Sharif never seemed to be out of the game, and Gable would often take his teeth out and wave them in front of his adoring fans.So, what makes a real man? I think it is an intoxicating mixture of all sorts of conflicting qualities, when described by a woman who is trying to encapsulate her feelings about her ideal. In short, it's a bloody tall order.
*He has to be archetypally masculine at the same time as being firmly in touch with his feminine side.
*He has to be a good listener, but a powerful persuader.
*He has to be dominant, but submissive.
*He has to have good dress sense, but not be foppish.
*He has to be able to go hunting, but be caring toward animals.
*He has to be capable of feeling jealousy toward his partner, without being possessive.
*He has to take care of his body, without being gayly narcissistic.
*He has to have an opinion on everything, without being opinionated.
*He has to show his emotions, without being a wimp.
*He has to be peace loving, but willing to go to war.
I could go on.
As far as men are concerned, women just have to be women. Give us a break.
P.S. This post is only supposed to be as serious as the one on 'Beauty In The Ordinary', so take it as you want to!
ReplyDeleteOh, and by the way - he has to have a well-developed chin too.
Damn, I fail on everything. I think whoever composed that list needs to be less nit-pickingly analytical.
ReplyDeleteOkay...picking the hollywood archetypes was a bad idea, but I was angry. I'm tired of the bad guys always gaining ground. All I want is decent...not sleezy, that's man-enough for me!
ReplyDeleteA real man has to be able to cook too.....and do home renovations....the list is endless Tom
ReplyDeleteI'm tired of the bad guys gaining ground too, J. You don't have to be female to feel like that - especially today. We have just kicked our parliament up the arse because of sleez. Ironically, Obama is now being forced to use language like I just used, in order to prove that he is a real man. Like I said, sometimes we cannot win.
ReplyDeleteOh no! I've just written a whole lot of tripe on this one and lost it in cyber-space! Have just read J's post and sort of agree with what she's saying. Who wants a pin-up who's hell to live with anyway! Wouldn't want my bloke to have to tick any boxes to make him fit. I think that as you get to know somebody you either find you're on the same wave length and grow into them or totally out of tune and grow out of them
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with her too Molly, but I like to have fun winding people up about archetypes. We all have our little faults, don't we? Living with someone perfect would be almost as bad as living with the sort of bad guys J talks about - actually, not quite, but you can always leave them too!
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