The Anchoress
Fausta has a terrific post up – I meant to link to it yesterday, actually – on just how difficult it is to be a man in our society. It’s a long piece that doesn’t “read” long because it is so interesting. Fausta writes:
The main reason I believe that women have easier lives than men is that I’ve had an easier life as a woman than my brother has had as a man. I can not, and will not, go into details, so you’ll just have to take my word on this. However, I have a hypothesis on why men’s lives are more difficult nowadays
There are three main trends why being a man in today’s world strikes me as a most difficult position:
1. The Church of Oprah
2. Sex and the City
3. Teen girl media
It is a masterful exposition, and I urge you to read it. And then read Maxed-Out Mama’s thoughts on what having gonads actually means. Especially check out her pithy last line. Good reasoning, and good writing, there.
Buster is taken with both pieces. This summer he has spent a great deal of time growling at the television and declaring that he is fed up with how men are portrayed in the popular culture – clueless beings bumbling through life, saved only by their brilliant wives and more-brilliant children, who merely put up with Dad, while rolling their eyes. There is a phone commercial that especially ticks him off – some woman talking about how she installed her phone while deep in the background, her husband, oblivious, is dancing around like a clumsy oaf. That commercial has caused Buster to launch stuff at the tv. Much of pop culture causes him to get aggrivated, these days, but nothing does so more than the way men are served up to the national psyche by Madison Avenue.
UPDATE: Fausta has followed up her piece with another strong post – this time on what we are allowing to happen to our children, Children and Salvation. Fausta is on a roll, and this is another insightful bit of work. Please read it.
Related: Affection for the Protector Lads and He-Men
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