I really think there may be something to this. Men's fashions always seem to respond to what women want (aside from the outlandish wildflowers that populate the runways of Paris). Consequently, as female conceptions of masculine dynamism diminish comes the new dawning of the age of Aquarius - men that are twinkies.
Taking the pill for past 40 years 'has put women off masculine men'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1218808/Contraceptive-pill-women-attracted-masculine-men--interested-boyish-looks.html#ixzz0TMStYlaU
I always found the language of cinema fascinating. On one hand, it rarely matches reality. For example, George C. Scott played Patton with a gruff, scratchy voice, when in reality Patton spoke with a rather nasally, high-pitched tone.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg_aBN6wE80&feature=fvw
On the other hand, it DOES clearly communicate that Patton was a masculine force to be reckoned with. Does a man have to be macho to be manly? Not necessarily. I don't consider my grandfather to be very macho. Sure, he's a retired doctor who raises beef cattle, but he's not classically rugged. Would I say he isn't very manly? HELL NO.
I think people often mistake expressions of manhood (rugged, hairy masculinity- which is fine) with actual manhood. Some men try too hard to appear masculine, and miss the point entirely. It isn't about looking like a man. It's about being a man. Those are two different things.
Two things that this study does not take into account:
ReplyDelete1. the rise of the use of the pill corresponds to the rise in pornography and sex on a large scale. It could be that women's hormones have caused a shift in the paradigm; it could also be that the shift has occurred b/c of the lack of security women feel with "rugged" men that treat them like objects (so they turn to the more sensitive man); or it could be due to men's response to each other due to porn - i.e. pornie actors are not rugged men but they get girls so maybe our style should correspond more with that.
2. men's styles during the ages have shifted long before the dawn of the pill. The sissified court of Versailles couldn't have produced more girlish men if it tried (long wigs, high heels, makeup - what pansies). Ditto with era of the early 1900s in Britain into the 1920s when it was the rage in Oxford for young men to act (and sometimes engage in) homosexual, sissy, swish.
So much for a "scientific" study.
Also, I found it disengenuous of the article to use THOSE pictures of THOSE actors. Pitt, Depp, and the others have appeared sissy in some photoshoots but are extremely dynamic and masculine in other roles. Moreover, there are plenty of actors drooled over by girls that don't look like they came right out of TeenBeat.
ReplyDeleteThey also put Hugh Jackman in as a boyish star, even though his top-grossing films feature him as Wolverine, quite possibly the LEAST pussy superhero out there (regardless of the films' quality).
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