Complex Numbers

Revisited: "Real Men Don't Worry About..."

Another Sunday, another exhumation from the archives... though this one isn't buried that deeply; it's from early March of last year, featuring an article from six months prior: "Real Men Don't Worry About What a Real Man Is" 

The link is from Cracked, so it's still around   as of today. I can't speak for how timely it still is; if you do the math above, you'll note that the article was from over two years ago, and things were... well, they were a little different in 2021. I don't follow trends closely enough to know if there's still a burgeoning "reclaim your manliness" industry, for instance.

As I've noted, one of the reasons I do these, apart from my blog rapidly running out of space and I'm trying to start to bring some sense of closure to it, is to see how my perspective or opinions might have changed in the intervening year or years (anything from before 12 months ago is fair game for these randomly-selected entries). But having re-read the entry, and the article, I'm not finding any notable evolution in my ideas on the subject.

I will highlight a few things, though:

Me: ...my body wash, which is also a shampoo, conditioner, salad dressing, cake icing, and engine lube.

I was quite proud of this line, and even received a positive comment about it. Hopefully, it's clear that it was a joke, but the reality is that my hair product is a) marketed to men and b) a "3-in-1 shampoo, conditioner, and body wash." Recently, it occurred to me that the cultural assumption still holds in the US that men have short hair, and that, more than sociological or biological factors, or even marketing, may be behind the labeling—though I imagine that it's attractive to many heterosexual men to have just one all-encompassing product to use, if only because their partners have taken up all the room in the shower caddy with their own various products.

Though I don't have that problem, I still appreciate its versatility and simplicity. Problem is, though, I haven't gotten a haircut since before the pandemic, and my mane was already fairly well-developed when all the barbershops and hairdressers temporarily shut down. At this point, it's pretty much full-on The Dude. While I'm glad I still have most of it at my age, I wondered (you know, one of those epiphanies you sometimes get in the shower) if I shouldn't look for something more designed for 80s-rock-star hair. But, you know, being men, long-haired hippie freaks and rock stars don't generally talk openly about hair care.

So here I am, talking openly about hair care. Because, as you might guess from the earlier entry's title, I don't worry about what a "real man" is.

Whatever; I'll keep using my all-in-one until it no longer works for me.

Another comment wondered why I didn't expand more on the final point made in the original article. I can't speak for my attitude at the time, any more than I can remember what I had for lunch that day, but upon re-reading that part of the article, I find I simply don't have much to add. I don't know what goes on in other men's heads any more than I know what my cat is thinking. The header includes the phrase: "Men Are Now Lonely, Isolated, And Scared"

Even if I agree, which I'm inclined to do, I don't have answers. Personally, I'm not lonely, even when I'm alone; I don't feel isolated, because I have friends; and apart from the occasional jump-shock from an unexpected indoor spider (they get relocated outdoors) or when I had to face eye surgery (which I came out of just fine), I don't live my life in fear.

If there's anything I could work up a comment on, it's this bit from the article:

If we insist on idealizing the '50s, maybe we should focus on the part where masculinity meant contributing to your community. That’s the real difference between men today and back then.

Guessing here that by "your community" they mean your physical location. Most of us have communities online, and they could be comprised of people from all over the world. For a time, as an example, I was gaming with a group that included someone remoting in from India, which is almost as far away as it's possible to get and still be on the same planet. And then there's this site, of course.

But in terms of local community, I don't have much of a presence. Yesterday, I made a brief and rare foray into the wild in order to attend a book discussion and signing by three of my favorite authors, all of whom live nearby—but I would never have known about their work if I hadn't found them online first.

Many years ago, I participated in a fantasy & science fiction book club, in person. Perhaps I need to find one of those again. Maybe find some decent shampoo, first.