Feminists, Men, and Lost Masculinity

The cast of Queer Eye - role models for a metrosexual world and yet another reason to throw your television under the wheels of a large truck.

I woke up this morning marveling at the decline of the masculine ideal in our country.

I'm an average kind of guy. I like shooting really big handguns. I watch movies with lots of explosions in them. Cotton is the only material I'll wear. (You could say that wearing Levi's is in my jeans.) I grunt and burp and scratch at awkward times and in awkward places. I like spicy food. I never ask for directions when I'm with my wife (gotta keep up the image). You know - man things.

And yet, there isn't any place in this country for men. Here's what I mean:

Shia LeBeouf, poster child for Metrosexuals Anonymous

Have you noticed that men's voices are getting higher pitched? (Women's voices are getting lower pitched, by the way - a reverse effect.) Johnny Cash, with his deep and resonant Man Voice has been replaced by the likes of Clay Aiken. Shia LeBeouf's voice is about an octave higher than Harrison Ford's.

Abercrombie and Fitch - the finest clothes waiting to be removed so you can show off your perfectly waxed pecs.

Metrosexuals are "in." It's the latest thing to show off how sensitive you are as a man by dressing in Abercrombie "rugged" wear and having your long-fought for chest hair mercilessly yanked out with wax. (What some call the lost-wax process, but what I call stupidly painful.) Metros would rather work more on their hair and spray tan than work for a living. And would they go to a sports bar to actually watch the sports? Pu-leeeez!

The other day, I sat down with a group of men (in one of our secret Man Meetings) and we got in a discussion about our wives. Inevitably, one of the men mentioned that his secret to getting along with his wife was in two little words, "Yes dear." Another joined in: "The secret to a happy marriage is to decide what you want to do, then do exactly as she says." The discussion was really uncomfortable to me. Why? Because, it seems, men can no longer think well of themselves, have a healthy esteem, without resorting to self-deprecation when it comes to women.

So what happened to men and masculinity? Women obtained equal rights in this country, with voting rights, then gaining equal economic footing with men. I'm all for equal rights for women. Women and men must be allowed to participate equally in our economic system - to go as far as talent and drive can take us. However, within the feminist movement, there arose a new definition of woman. Feminism highjacked equal rights to recreate the country in the image of the Über-Woman. (I am Woman, hear me roar.) What was the result? The lie that women are better than men; women can and should compete on every level with men; women are in control of their own bodies, regardless if there's a baby parked in there or not; all men are pigs and don't deserve any respect; if you want something done right, ask woman. (Why is the idea that women are better than men a lie, you ask? Because the truth of the matter is that men and women are different from each other. Neither is "better" than the other. That men were better was the lie of the old patriarchy. That women are better is the lie of the new feminism.)

Feminists deprecate men and men turn around and fall into the trap of self-deprecation. With no respect and no cultural place for men as men (except as the brunt of a joke), men have abdicated their self-respect and have turned into something not quite man, not quite woman. Metrosexuals and homosexuals are created out of this system.

I do not advocate a return to the old patriarchy where men dominated the world and women were treated as little more than chattel. Respect, honest respect not deranged by feminism out of control, should be the order of the day.

In the meantime, I search for others of my kind. Men who understand that being a man isn't the Great Evil of the day. That, and someone to go with me to shoot really big handguns and watch movies with lots of explosions in them.