Finally catching up on some reading which often results in the need to share with the masc community.

First up, an examination of 'dude culture' in it's most (beer) saturated form. Edward Keenan writes about Tucker Max and the making of the modern man as seen in movies such as I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. Keenan doesn't waste his time on Tucker personally, but on the fantasy and fan-base fueling Tucker's success. Oh, and i just learned that this media genre is now called fratire.

Echoing themes from Michael Kimmel's book Guyland: the perilous world where boys become men, Keenan compares the values of personal responsibility and social contribution of his father's and grandfather's generation to today's celebrated man-boys who just want to play with their new toys, hang with their bros, and chase and score with women they have no respect for (interesting choices).

While women have taken on traditional masculine roles in higher education, home buying, career seeking, and family starting, many men seem unable (and I would argue unwilling) to -- well let's face it, adapt. Some men would rather be children than take on stereotypical feminine roles.

While basic laws of Patriarchy make sense of this dynamic, so does consumerism. Lakshmi Chaudhry connects this Peter Pan personality to marketer's need to sell products. Using some material from the man who coined the term Metrosexual (Mark Simpson), Chaudry writes:

In a media universe ruled by marketing gods, “the traditional forms and sufferings of stoic, self-denying, self-sacrificing old-fashioned masculinity are merely cutesy, quaint props for the new, aestheticised, moisturized self-regarding variety.” In the new millenium, it’s more important to look like a hero than act like one...

Third up, and building on the toy-story of manliness today, there's a remarkable interview in this month's The Sun magazine called The Good Hunter: David Petersen on the ethics of killing animals for food. He talks about "horn porn" in media texts like The Outdoor Channel that accessorize hunting with an exhibition of consumer goods, while also turning hunting into man-over-nature exhibitionism.

For me, this interview also challenged macho techno-trophy 'sportsmanship' and articulated a (anti-Arnold) Predator ethic. Petersen says,

One hunter may walk up the mountain to hunt like a real human animal and carry the meat back down; another may ride up the mountain in an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and haul the meat back effortlessly. Spiritually, hunters can study and internalize the natural histories not only of their prey but also of our own omnivorous species, at once empowering and restraining themselves with empathy. Or hunters can think of their prey merely as potential scores in the record book, stuffed heads on the den wall, which is the antithesis of spirituality and even basic decency.

An interview worth reading that restores something as manly as hunting with an ethic of maturity and empathy. So if hunting can be reclaimed from the macho-paradox, why can't Tucker Max and his media-meat-heads? Oh wait, I forgot about Burger King.

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Paul is a media educator, student, and producer. When he grows up he wants to be himself.