Masculinity’s Crossroads The article “Guys vs. Men,” Dave Barry uses satire to explain the problems with masculinity and a new approach to how males should be classified and judged. The article “The Crisis of American Masculinity” by Eric Garland discusses his view of how the traditional image of manhood is dying in today’s society. Each of them give their opinions on what manhood is; the manner that society should treat males with, the importance of masculinity in males, and their opinion of the necessity of these masculine characteristics. Although they share a similar topic, they differ greatly in their views of males and masculinity as a whole. The authors give their perspective on males, society’s view of them, what role women portray
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Barry talks about the male need to compete in pointless challenges he writes, “Not long ago I was sitting in my office at the Miami Herald 's Sunday magazine, Tropic, reading my fan mail when I heard several of my guy coworkers in the hallway talking about how fast they could run the forty-¬yard dash” (918). He proceeds to talk about how they even went as far as actually competing in a race to see whom the fastest was running the forty-yard-dash. While Garland seems to suggest a level of discontent males seem to face working in an office job, with presumably no chance to prove their masculinity. He states very cynically, “Ooh. Manly. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say the last thing we want is for you to act like a man, defending his territory, irreverent toward authority, protecting his pride, willing to brave the elements of nature rather than go mad in captivity. Maybe that works in the movies, kid, but it’s not something for the office” (Garland 1). He feels men cannot find a sense of pride in their work when they are not in a position to show off their manly abilities. While Barry suggests men are content with proving themselves even through seemingly childish races. Garland belief that men may be feeling worthless due to their perceived …show more content…
When discussing the moral code of guys Barry goes as far as comparing guys to dogs in his article, saying that like his dog they know rules but do not know why they should not do things. Barry explains this as, “Guys are aware of the rules of moral behavior, but they have trouble keeping these rules in the forefronts of their minds at certain times, especially the present” (920). He is very light hearted and condescending of males, which help to show, he is comfortable with himself and his gender. Garland states his fear that without masculinity and men taking pride in their own manliness it could lead to many consequences. Garland writes, “But for men in crisis, men with no hope of power, no spirituality, no internal peace, no heroes, no past and no future- violence may be the least worst option” (1). He blames men acting out with violence on the loss of masculinity in our culture and concludes that a revival of masculinism is what will curb the tragedies he believes are a result of this. He urges men to find pride in the traditional traits that make them inherently
Barry talks about the male need to compete in pointless challenges he writes, “Not long ago I was sitting in my office at the Miami Herald 's Sunday magazine, Tropic, reading my fan mail when I heard several of my guy coworkers in the hallway talking about how fast they could run the forty-¬yard dash” (918). He proceeds to talk about how they even went as far as actually competing in a race to see whom the fastest was running the forty-yard-dash. While Garland seems to suggest a level of discontent males seem to face working in an office job, with presumably no chance to prove their masculinity. He states very cynically, “Ooh. Manly. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say the last thing we want is for you to act like a man, defending his territory, irreverent toward authority, protecting his pride, willing to brave the elements of nature rather than go mad in captivity. Maybe that works in the movies, kid, but it’s not something for the office” (Garland 1). He feels men cannot find a sense of pride in their work when they are not in a position to show off their manly abilities. While Barry suggests men are content with proving themselves even through seemingly childish races. Garland belief that men may be feeling worthless due to their perceived …show more content…
When discussing the moral code of guys Barry goes as far as comparing guys to dogs in his article, saying that like his dog they know rules but do not know why they should not do things. Barry explains this as, “Guys are aware of the rules of moral behavior, but they have trouble keeping these rules in the forefronts of their minds at certain times, especially the present” (920). He is very light hearted and condescending of males, which help to show, he is comfortable with himself and his gender. Garland states his fear that without masculinity and men taking pride in their own manliness it could lead to many consequences. Garland writes, “But for men in crisis, men with no hope of power, no spirituality, no internal peace, no heroes, no past and no future- violence may be the least worst option” (1). He blames men acting out with violence on the loss of masculinity in our culture and concludes that a revival of masculinism is what will curb the tragedies he believes are a result of this. He urges men to find pride in the traditional traits that make them inherently