Raining Men I agree with about 95 percent of this piece, and hate to sully an otherwise fine column by making a fuss over what amounts to a throwaway line, but I have a little rant to make.
The older I get, the more I realize that while guys are good, men are great. Within the past couple of weeks, I have actually gotten to be around some real men, and, up until this point, I didn’t realize how much I missed them—men who camp, men who climb, men who fix cars and build things. Men who can work hard, get mussed and, all the while, can sing, write poetry, paint and interior decorate. Men in mechanics uniforms, men in three piece suits, men who cry, men with scars, men with families, men in love; there is something in me that makes me their biggest fan. Maybe it’s their logic and rationale in contrast to my emotionalism; their ability to be straightforward and to the point; their shoulders, their jaws, their chiseled noses. I think I spent a good half hour one night examining the curves in Gary Dourdan’s face. How can you not love a man?
What we have here is a subtle invocation of the He-Man Principle; namely, imparting worldly lustre (usually great physical accomplishments) with spiritual advancement. Now, if you're the outdoorsy/mechanical type who gets edification in such things, more power to you, but I'm not particularly appreciative of the idea of being lessened because I'm not fascinated by the thought of hiking through Siberia in a toga. Often this comes down to some logic about faith and trust, but jumping off the Empire State building requires a lot of faith and trust as well, and I don't imagine you're going to try that, either. It's really somewhat ironic that Hawkins mentions it in her piece since "men who camp, climb and build things" aren't all that difficult to find, after all, which would seem to be the source of her consternation.
I realize that I am somewhat doomed to the extreme minority here, and as such am probably never going to get what I'd like out of a "men's movement" per se, so I'll have to learn to make some compromises along the way. Maybe someday I'll buy a car that I can't drive just so I'll be more handy with it's contents. <g>
Aside from that, the Hawkins piece makes some very good piece, with which I am in concurrence.
12:37:40 AM 
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