Growing pains are painful. And those pains are becoming increasingly evident as we move into a more Creative Class society. Hardest hit is the ideal American male and how he relates to Gen Y. As Gen Y moves toward a new standard as to what is okay male-wise, they’re see-sawing from Queer Eye to Man-vertising. The bumpy ride rambles over ambiguity, macho myths, sensitivity, intellect, prowess, et al. The good news is: the process is necessary.
It will be curious to see how it all evolves.
No more Marlboro man. Artist Richard Prince wrangled that identity in 1977 when he pilfered a bit of pop culture by rephotographing Marlboro ad images and presented them as his own.
No more jocks. Thanks, OJ, Michael Vick. The rest of the world views our athletes as criminal. Or so that’s what I overheard while eavesdropping on a conversation at Doma.
Canadian Club is trying to recapture an ideal of the 60s/70s via its campaign entitled “Damn right your Dad drank it.” Candid imagery calls to mind the confident thinking indie man of the era. The era of the “player,” one of the first in which women were celebrated.
But who identifies with this male? Gen X? Gen Y? Gen X may possibly relate. For Gen Y, the closest male they know to that era is Austin Powers.
Dr. Seuss had no idea of the precedent he would set when he first used the word "nerd." Apparently, his intent was to denote “a combination of school success, precision, unselfconsciousness, closeness to adults and interest in fantasy.”
Yet this isn’t the first time we’ve questioned the ideal male. In 1889, Mark Twain satired the reverence for Medieval knights, favoring industrial smarts over chivalric braun.
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