Monday, November 1, 2010

The Modern Man

Waller Newell gave an interesting critique of modern masculinity Sunday night. Newell believes that man’s modern performance of masculinity has become a form of machismo. Traditional masculinity valued the stoic reserved individual who was a sound protector and provider. However, in recent years masculinity has malformed into a state of complete machismo. Men are expected to display their masculinity through aggression and physical confrontation. Newell blames popular culture and the media for this departure from traditional masculine values. He believes that popular novels and movies like fight club pressure men to become aggressive and confrontational, where as traditional literature instilled the stoic and reserved form of masculinity. As a result, man’s new methods of asserting one’s masculinity has attracted a negative connotation, and has thus made it difficult for the modern man to establish his masculinity in an acceptable manner.

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