We’re Men, We’re Manly Men
Currently, it seems as though the world has only one thing on its mind. No, it is not Global Warming or the War in Afghanistan, this world wide phenomenon goes by just one name: Twilight. Ah yes, Twilight, a modern day spin on the age-old strong, strapping man protects and defends meek and cowering girl (Dargis). More specifically, Twilight is the tale of Bella Swan, a human, who moves to a little town called Forks, Washington. Upon arrival, she meets the dashing Edward Cullen who later turns out to be a vampire. The plot revolves around the pair struggling to make their cross-species relationship work (Dargis). How is it that in a world where a woman can be Speaker of the House or the Chief Financial Officer of a major, multinational corporation that such a prosaic, and old-fashioned story line can rake in $140.7 million in 2008 on opening weekend in North America alone (Barnes)? Twilight, however, is not alone in its traditional, strong man storyline. The recent blockbuster 300, which features 300 well-toned Spartan warriors traipsing around the Greek coastline defending their freedoms and their leather briefs from an invading army of slaves from Persia (Scott) is another such tail of “men’s men.” A.O. Scott, a movie reviewer for the New York Times, summarizes 300 best in his article “Battle of the Manly Men: Blood Bath with a Message” when he writes, “Hot Gates, indeed! Devotees of the pectoral, deltoid and other fine muscle groups will find much to savor as King Leonidas leads 300 prime Spartan porterhouses into battle against Persian forces commanded by Xerxes, a decadent self-proclaimed deity who wants, as all good movie villains do, to rule the world.” Simply put, it is this age old idea of the “real wild man” that keeps Twilight and others like it on the best-sellers list. Clearly, the rugged man sells with American audiences, but what is it about these strong-jawed woodsmen that has the power to captivate millions?
It is first necessary to understand what precisely it means to be masculine, to be a rugged man. Robin J. Ely of Harvard University and Debra E. Meyerson of Stanford University define masculinity asserting that, “Conventional masculinity is associated with power. In its idealized and stereotypical forms, it connotes aggression, autonomy, strength, heterosexuality, rationality, a facility with tools and technology, emotional detachment and more generally, the reverse of anything that smacks of femininity.” Therefore, what many popular books, such as Twilight, and movies, like 300, present as personality traits of their male characters are traditional qualities associated with conventional masculinity. Such characters have appeared in literature since man first began to put pen to paper. Tales from Homer’s Iliad to the Bourne Series by Robert Ludlum tell similar stories of real, wild men. The names of characters and the settings of the stories may differ greatly, but this classic plot of the rugged man remains untouched.
Sure, for a while it was popular for men to be feminized. The trend even gleaned itself the title “metrosexual” and was popularized by the likes of soccer stud David Beckham whose glowing skin and perfectly coiffed hair put many women to shame. Daniel B. Wood, a writer for Christian Science Monitor wrote in his article “Manly Man? Girly Man? Oh, Man!” explains this short-lived phenomenon saying:
It turns out that the postfeminist sensitive male thing has gone a tad too far...Even the “metrosexual” seems to be more five minutes ago than the phrase “five minutes ago,” or at least not market enough for Condé Nast, which just pulled the plug on "Cargo," the men's shopping and lifestyle magazine that catered to the well-moisturized and accessorized urban male. Neither man-zine, nor makeover TV ("Queer Eye for the Straight Guy") - nor even man-diatribe ("Are Men Necessary?" by Maureen Dowd) - have been able to undo the ubiquitous hominus-doofus image that American husbands and fathers continue to endure in such sitcoms as “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “King of Queens,” and “George Lopez.”
The end of the world’s short-lived love affair with the metrosexual man has ushered in a return of the manly man of yesteryear. Undeniably, the wild man persona holds a certain je ne sais quoi that compels writers of all mediums to return to the character time and time again.
The main cause of the resurgence of the “man’s man” are the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Patricia Leigh Brown, a writer for the New York Times, addresses this very belief in “Ideas & Trends; Heavy Lifting Required: The Return of Manly Men.” In her article, Brown claims that, “Of course, war has traditionally brought out America's inner Schwarzenegger.'' She also cites the words of the editor in chief of Esquire magazine, David Granger, as stating, “Before Sept. 11, ruggedness was an affectation you put on like an outfit…Now there's a selflessness being attributed to rugged men. After a decade of prosperity that made us soft, metaphorically and physically, there's a longing for manliness. People want to regain what we had in World War II. They want to believe in big, strapping American boys.''
Wartime is certainly a logical genesis for the rebirth of the wild man movement. When headlines report battles, what man on the street would be caught sporting a fresh mani-pedi? Rather, it seems as though during times of conflict men revert back to their childhood notions about war and want to embody what they associate with fighting for one’s country: brawn, bravery, and biceps. Manly men are to the military as guns are to ammunition. So the next time you're at the movie theater and having your ear drums assailed by the earth shattering shrieks of hundreds of Twi-hards, think about the global reason behind Edward’s persona. The hearing loss that will no doubt ensue leads one to consider the merits of world peace.
Works Cited
Barnes, Brooks. “Twilight Dawns Bright at the Box Office.” New York Times. 22 Nov 2009. Web. 2 Dec 2009
Brown, Patricia Leigh. “Ideas & Trends; Heavy Lifting Required: The Return of Manly Men.” New York Times. 28 Oct 2001. Web. 2 Dec 2009
Dargis, Manohla. “Abstinence Makes the Heart…Oh, You Know.” New York Times. 20 Nov 2009. Web. 2 Dec 2009
Ely, Robin J and Debra E. Meyerson. “Unmasking Manly Men: The Organizational Reconstruction of Men’s Identity.” Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Web. 2 Dec 2009 < http://sloanweb.mit.edu/osg/pdf/Ely.pdf>
Scott, A.O. “Battle of the Manly Men: Blood Bath with a Message.” New York Times. 9 Mar 2007. Web. 2 Dec 2009
Wood, Daniel B. “Manly Man? Girly Man? Oh, Man!” Christian Science Monitor 98.92 (2006): 20. Web. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Dec 2009.
No comments:
Post a Comment