Thursday, April 9, 2009

What's wrong with modern man?

First, read through this blog entry by Jayson Gaddis and watch the video that is posted as part of his blog entry. Setting aside the hidden infomercial aspects of his post, do you feel that he has a valid point in saying that modern man is incapable of fully embracing what it means to be a man because of a lack of rite of passage ceremonies? The live blog about this will begin at 1:45.

In addition, please watch the short film Tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in Masculinity and be prepared to include it as part of the class discussion. (With thanks to Amanda R for the heads up on it!)






2 comments:

  1. Who are our heroes and do they contribute to our society in a positive way?

    Do we honor more the man who goes to work every day and does everything possible to provide for his family or are do we look up to the promiscuous wanderer with multiple children who’s names and birthdays he can’t keep track of?

    What do our sports heroes contribute? What lesson do they teach? Is it really perseverance and self discipline or do we hold them in high regard because of the lavish lifestyle their natural ability has given them?

    Do we see the wealthy among us as the innovators and managers who have brought us the modern conveniences of life and are deserving of their wealth, or are they just lucky?
    Did they get wealthy by lying cheating and stealing or did they really get that way by their accomplishments? Does it really matter to us how they get it, as long as they get it?

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  2. Modern man is rarely tested as men have historically been tested in the past. Our society has begun to rely on big government to be the provider of all things. Th era of self-reliance has long since passed. One must only look as the pitiful residents of Louisianna who fell victim to hurricane Katrina in 2005. Of all the natural disasters, hurricanes are the most predictable and yet those men failed to evacuate their families from danger. In the aftermath they all put their hands our for government support and have complained to this day that the support is not enough. Abortion is another are where men have failed to be responsible with their siring of unwanted children. Modern men are perfectly willing to encourage the women to have an abortion instead of being more personally responsible with the reproductive act of sexual intercourse.

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