In the hirsute throes of a 'menaissance'
Friday, March 9, 2007
In an interview with The Paris Review four decades ago, Saul Bellow, the Canadian-born author, was asked why in recent years his books had moved from tragedy toward comedy.
"Obliged to choose between complaint and comedy, I choose comedy, as more energetic, wiser and manlier," he explained.
It seems men in Canada today have made the same choice.
Guys don't seem to be complaining about the demise of manhood anymore; they're glad to just get on with being guys and maybe laugh at themselves along the way.
Stephen Harper jokes about not being able to seduce even his own wife. Justin Timberlake mocks his boy band past.
A few years ago, when the metrosexual trend was at its peak, it looked as if the very idea of manhood was dissolving in a prepedicure footbath.
But look around now at pop culture or politics and there is a sense that guys are being guys again, this time buoyed by the kind of playful self-mockery that so often attends self confidence.
"There's definitely been a change in what it means to be a man today," says Harvey Mansfield, a Harvard professor and the author of Manliness, part of a recent wave of new books about the changing nature of manhood, from serious studies to tongue-in-cheek explorations.
These also include Yale anthropology professor Richard Bribiescas' Men: Evolutionary and Life History, author Neal Pollack's book on fatherhood, Alternadad, and The Sopranos' Frank Vincent's A Guy's Guide to Being a Man's Man, among others.
This "Menaissance" can be seen on the HBO show Entourage, about a Hollywood actor and his best friends. Television commercials for Miller beer show celebrities declaring "Man Law."
At the movies, the popularity of stars such as Vince Vaughn and Jack Black, pictured, recently prompted Access Hollywood to take note of the return of the alphamale, the manly man.
Just as it did with the rise of the metrosexual or the emergence of the New Age Man before it, manhood has once again undergone some change.
The National Post has decided to look at this change, offering an examination of what it means to be a man in Canada and where men might be headed.
That said, this is not an attempt at offering a definitive, comprehensive guide to manhood.
Instead, we are offering some enlightening, engaging snapshots. We hope today's issue gives you an interesting glimpse of both.
To that end, this series traverses the rather diverse terrain from trends in health and education, where women outnumber men, to the popularity of "mancations" and the newfound respect for "bromance." We also look at what the experiences of a man who has chosen to live in a cave on the banks of the Yukon River say about the universal experience of modern manhood.
There are stories about men in today's workplace, the new model of fatherhood that is emerging in Canada and a host of other glimpses of guyhood throughout the newspaper. Through this diverse series of stories, we look at where we stand on the ever-shifting terrain of what it means to be a man.
In the Canadian man archetypes, the pondering of sexual preoccupations, and the new "mancabulary," there is a mix of the serious with the playful.
Considering that being a man today means having a laugh, such an approach seems fitting.
Like Mr. Bellow, we also choose humour. While today's issue comes with a touch of levity, it also proves thought-provoking by offering readers insights into what it means to be a Canadian man.
posted by LeBlues @ 1:06 PM,
