Men and their feelings
A friend of mine asked, in trying to understand her husband's behaviour, "WHY don't men have any experince of dealing with feelings? What do they do, ignore them for 40 years and then have a break down??"
I think it's a lack of role models, our fathers grew up during the war and many of their fathers were absent... and role models on TV and film have been Marlboro man, James Bond, Flash Gordon, John Wayne. Do you remember '3 men and a baby'? 3 cool single guys develop feelings for a little cute baby, after they have integrated her into their tough jobs on building sites and so on. Terminator is the ultimate male role model of the last 50 years. Ruthless, well built, none of those troublesome feelings to get in the way of business.
We are portrayed as hunters, predators. And on top of that, the rise of female power has left us searching for identity. Sexual inequality has been replaced by sexual inequality. Not yet in jobs and pay but in the balance of power in the media. Look at the cartoons your kids watch - the heroes are now heroines and the boys are the dumb sidekicks. Dexter's Lab has been replaced by Johnny Test. Even the new Scooby Doo has Freddie as the bimbo.
It's a tough time to be a man, and we owe it to our children to be that and more.
So the bottom line? It's the war. It took away our fathers' fathers. And we are still shaking off the pain of that.
I think it's a lack of role models, our fathers grew up during the war and many of their fathers were absent... and role models on TV and film have been Marlboro man, James Bond, Flash Gordon, John Wayne. Do you remember '3 men and a baby'? 3 cool single guys develop feelings for a little cute baby, after they have integrated her into their tough jobs on building sites and so on. Terminator is the ultimate male role model of the last 50 years. Ruthless, well built, none of those troublesome feelings to get in the way of business.
We are portrayed as hunters, predators. And on top of that, the rise of female power has left us searching for identity. Sexual inequality has been replaced by sexual inequality. Not yet in jobs and pay but in the balance of power in the media. Look at the cartoons your kids watch - the heroes are now heroines and the boys are the dumb sidekicks. Dexter's Lab has been replaced by Johnny Test. Even the new Scooby Doo has Freddie as the bimbo.
It's a tough time to be a man, and we owe it to our children to be that and more.
So the bottom line? It's the war. It took away our fathers' fathers. And we are still shaking off the pain of that.
posted by Peter Freeth at 23:53
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