The Return of Manliness

 

Joe Carter at First Thoughts has an interesting post up this morning. He discusses a recent ad for khaki pants.

Once upon a time, men wore the pants, and wore them well. Women rarely had to open doors and little old ladies never crossed the street alone. Men took charge because that’s what they did. But somewhere along the way, the world decided it no longer needed men. Disco by disco, latte by foamy non-fat latte, men were stripped of their khaki’s and left stranded on the road between boyhood and androgyny. But today, there are questions our genderless society has no answers for. The world sits idly by and cities crumble, children misbehave and those little old ladies remain on one side of the street. For the first time since bad guys, we need heroes. We need grown-ups. We need men to put down the plastic fork, step away from the salad bar and untie the world from the tracks of complacency. It’s time to get your hands dirty. It’s time to answer the call of manhood. It’s time to wear the pants.

What does it say about our culture that one of the most clear, concise clarion calls for men to be men comes in an ad campaign for khakis?

It’s an interesting time to be a man in America. In pop culture there has been a slow and steady drift away from manliness towards a weird unisex look. Right now this drift is manifesting itself in skinny jeans for boys and haircuts that often make it hard to tell what sex they are until they turnaround (even then I am not always sure). My teenage daughter claims she doesn’t like this look and she wants guys to actually look like guys, and I want to believe her. If I do, there may be hope for the future.

Every 6 months or so there is an article about how beards are making a comeback. Personally, I don’t care if they do or don’t, I’m still rocking mine a good 9-10 months out of the year. My brother feels the same way and it’s no surprise considering our dad wore a beard during our entire childhoods and was still wearing one when he passed in 1996. My maternal grandfather, who was the second-most important male figure in my life, also wore a beard for most of my childhood and one of the proudest moments of my life was when he asked me to give it one last trim for him when he was in his Hospice room and only had a couple of weeks left with us.  I have a few friends who sport facial hair, but only a couple who have the courage to wear a beard.

I even read an article awhile back (can’t find now) about how ‘guts’ are making a comeback among men. This one found me skeptical, considering I have fought that battle myself for a long time (and I have the gym membership to prove it). The central theory of the article was that men started seeking six-pack abs and big muscles when they were no longer able to prove their prowess to women with their paychecks and impressive job titles. So they compensated by trying to transform themselves into Greek gods. The article continued to say that men have given up on that and are now returning to comfort over the stress of physical perfection. As I said, I remain skeptical on this point.

As Carter correctly points out, the khakis ad seems to be trying to capture a feeling among men that is bubbling just below the surface. Men are interested in being men again. The question remains, what will that look like? Boys don’t spend much time in the woods anymore like they did when I was growing up. Skills I learned in Boy Scouts are in short supply. Hunting and fishing are dwindling in popularity every year. ‘Manly’ jobs in construction or heavy manufacturing are being replaced with immigrants, robots or shipped overseas. It’s an interesting time…

I’m curious to hear from readers with sons. Are you actively trying to make sure they turn out to be ‘men’ and what does that look like to you? Is it wrong to want your son to be able to chop wood, or shoot a gun, or defend his girlfriend, or to dress like a MAN…or should we let them find their own definition of manhood and not be so cynical and concerned about what that looks like? For the ladies, when you think ‘man’ what image comes to mind?

As for khakis, I have to say that I love them. They are timeless, comfortable and in my mind, Southern. I once heard a woman say that the dress uniform of the Southern man is khakis and a blue blazer and I am inclined to agree. For me, my weekend pants are brown, but not khaki. I wear a pair of Dickies ‘duck pants’ every weekend. I only chose these because they are a little more tough and can survive my various projects. Still, they are close enough to khaki for me to feel I’m making the grade.