Hola hombres! It’s men’s week and it’s about time we had a little talk. There’s been a lot of chat circulating over the past say…ten years about the media’s effect on the male psyche. The idea is that the feminist argument is well known and corollary men too have been subjected to gender roles and the image of what a real man is. It has been posed that advertising like that of Old Spice commercials have brain washed ideas in our heads about what a man should be. They can be compelling too, saying that women don’t act like women for men anymore so men shouldn’t have to act like men for women. In article over article they fuss about men being instructed to be ‘dudes’ and whinge that bravado has been forced down our throats.
Dudes will be dudes. it’s inevitable.
Whether gay, straight, metrosexy-fied or lumberjack we’ll all be just fine without the speculation. We are how we are and we like what we like. Melbourne exemplifies this brilliantly. We live in a city dominated by cuisine. Cooking is a perfectly acceptable vocation for a man here without a hint of the stigma that the kitchen is a woman’s domain. Melbourne has it’s own blend of what’s manly and it’s not the carnal meat and potato type.
We view our men as being the well dressed creative guy behind the bar or coffee machine with a hundred side projects going on at once. Our sportsmen; models of success and manhood, even have styled hair and floral tattoos. Influence can’t be disregarded entirely, stereotypes are never untrue they’re just incomplete.
Do you like cross dressing? Burlesque dancing? Do you find Honey Boo-Boo inspirational? Melbourne has something for you I swear. If you think the media has forced you to be the way you are then quit, man up to being whatever type of man you are.
Here at Couturing we are dedicating this week (and month) to celebrating being a dude and we encourage you to do just that.
Grab a drink. Spin a yarn. The place isn’t important. Go somewhere with a couple of your guy mates and hang out. Idle chat over a drink is about as close to hanging out for the sake of hanging out gets. Like that in which we experienced as kids, going to a friend’s house and playing Mario Kart. When was the last time you got a call and the conversation went something along the lines of:
-“Hey man”
-“Hey, whats up?”
-“Nothing much. Wanna come over?”
-“Yeah sure. Meet me at the bus stop?”
-“Ok Cool”.
-“Cool”.
What happened to that huh? We’re all too busy doing lame grown up bizz. Being a man is also about once being a boy. “When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” C. S. Lewis had it right.
Oh and being a man is also about peeing regularly. If you’re over thirty, get it checked, the Doc will be gentle. Also grow a ‘stache in support and be a boss like this guy.
Leave a Reply