American Manhood, Now and Then
Dec 19th, 2011 | 4 responses
When scoring athletes look upward and thank God for His help, why don’t opponents ever shake their fists at the sky for being disfavored?
Debate over piety displays by Denver’s Tim Tebow and a Barry Bonds conviction for using testosterone enhancers prompt broader questions about the definition of manhood today and its manifestations.
We are a long way from the culture’s strong, silent heroes (Joe DiMaggio, Johnny Unitas, Clint Eastwood) to a generation of Dancing with the Stars on the diamond, gridiron, movie screens—-and everywhere else.
In politics, Mitt Romney is punished for trying to look presidential (i.e., dignified), while a cable mating show features an obnoxious dandy trying to impress a first date with condom wrappers bearing his name and likeness.
We are talking about the morphing of American manhood from what may have been idealized stereotypes (Atticus Finch and Shane) to id-driven child-men with no limits in their quest to score on the playing field, at the ballot box and in the bedroom.
That may be dismissed as a matter of style, but what has been lost in these equal-opportunity self-assertions is a component of the traditional ideal of manhood—-protecting not only those in your own family but, insofar as possible, the weak and helpless everywhere.
MORE.
4 Responses to “American Manhood, Now and Then”
You cannot hide nor run from the fact that it was the SOCIAL LIBERAL that destroyed the manly protectorate persona you now, in retrospect, cry out for.
That is why I am a Social Conservative.
It is the capitalist ideal that causes the athlete to denigrate his religion by cheating.
That is why I am a fiscal liberal.
I don’t know what my wife and I did right (if anything). My four children are loving, caring people. My sons (two of them) have broken from the violence of my childhood (some physical harshness, probably qualified as abuse) and that of my father (definite abuse). What is being a ‘real man’? I volunteered to serve my country; I worked until I became disabled (and then still tried and try to contribute to society); I am married to the same woman (going on 26 years in 2 days). That is man-hood as far as I am concerned. I make no apologies for that. I trust that where I have not been perfect, God will understand and accept my true contriteness at not always doing what I should have.
Excellent commentary Robert. Manhood should be about character, not self-promotion – which includes a culture which is naive enough to buy into it.
Great, RC………………………