New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd titled her Oct 25 column Boys Going Batty. She noted the “testosterone moment” in the World Series when Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens threw a piece of Mets catcher Mike Piazza’s broken bat at him (sorta). It reminded her of Al Gore’s and George W. Bush’s attempts to be more manly in the waning days of this presidential campaign. Funny stuff.
Plenty of women talk or write disparagingly of men who act this way, including my wife. But just as many (including Robbie) make snide remarks about men acting like wimps for one reason or another. I started to write that it’s a tricky balancing act… and then realized that saying that conveys the crux of the dilemma. The more I try to be acceptably manly–not too wimpy, not too macho–the more likely I get into trouble because I’m trying to please or fit in or project an image. As Susan Faludi noted in her book “Stiffed,” this has been pretty much a women’s disease in our culture, but since World War II, men have contracted it bigtime. Lots more to say on this, since my dad was a bully and I’ve spent much of my lifetime trying not to be a wimp is his eyes. But that’ll have to wait for a full-blown article.