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I've talked with grammar school teachers and have read articles along these lines. Young males are not allowed to do what young males did in my much younger days. There is no "tag you're it" games, no "king of the hill", no ride the merry-go-round until you were pulled off by centrifugal force. It is all about playing it safe. A young guy who responds to bullying with a ball bat is expelled or charged with a crime. Even T ball seems to be played with body armor on. OK, wear a batter's helmet but sometime in life you are going to get hit by something. Parents also do much for their children. In my neighborhood walks, I see these fancy gym/play sets in the backyard of many a house or a trampoline. I've yet to ever see any kid using it. I'm betting they are watching TV or playing some sort of game on a computer. Many, many young males are unfit and cannot pass a military physical. I know of no kid now, especially males, who attempt to build a tree house or even climb a tree to see across the world. We have tried to build a cocoon around children and it affects male children in different ways from females. But, in our PC society, what do you expect?
I was amused by your comment about t-ball and body armor.
Look, please don't imply that I am narrow-minded; I am not. My partner is actually very sensitive and I feel a bit masculine (and often get accused of really being a man online!) so I am not interested in John Wayne. I just am glad I am not single in my 20s or 30s because the men today seem very yin to me.
Traditional definitions of masculinity may have changed since my day (I'm 40). So it is not as much of a blame of cultural trends I offer than it is an observation. What is masculine for your generation isn't masculine for mine, and what I consider masculine isn't what was acceptable for my father, and his father, etc.
Part of this goes back to the hipster/fashioncore movement and part of it goes back further, to the metrosexual movement. To be totally honest, this has been going on since I started college back in the nineties. It isn't anything new.
The end result of all of this feminization is that women are now better educated, make more money, and in a lot of cases, support men whereas men used to support women. Men end up hustling, trying to get over on women. It is all very sad, and the same men have this hypermasculinity if you ever call them out on it.
Give this man a waffle iron!
Yes, the hipsters are like this! Yes, metrosexual males, although I would put hipsters in another category. Metrosexual males are overly concerned about their appearance, including getting manicures and buying expensive jeans rather than donning Levi's like a REAL man
Yes, the hipsters are like this! Yes, metrosexual males, although I would put hipsters in another category. Metrosexual males are overly concerned about their appearance, including getting manicures and buying expensive jeans rather than donning Levi's like a REAL man
Levi's aren't as cheap as they used to be, but I get your point!
There's always been sorry men (and women) in America - young, middle-aged, and old.
However, as this topic is about "young American males", here's my take.
The black ones use the "n" word more now than they did in the 70s (my teen years). They used it frequently enough then, but apparently every other word now is "n". Not to make this a racial thing, but THAT'S my experience. Anyway, when one guy succeeds, the others make fun of him and put him down. Sad (and hateful).
Just today, I saw two guys bouncing around like boxers behind a restaurant. They were ready to punch - and it wasn't going to be "friendly". I hurriedly passed by (they weren't near me).
One of the guys was just in another restaurant flirting with a waitress. He got so obnoxious - and intimidating - that the cooks came from the kitchen to keep him in check. He finally left (after flirting with two other women). He was creepy. I was too "mature" for him to size up; he merely asked me where the waitress (the one he liked) was. I said, "What?!" like I wanted to kick his butt. He said, "Never mind." (Guess I've got a mean streak in me. Gotta check that; don't want my teeth knocked out.)
Sorry to digress... Apparently decent young men are few and far between. It probably depends on where you are (library? bar? concert?) and the type of clientele/crowd there. Girls/women seem more aggressive now, and the boys/men are passive instead of aggressive. Unfortunately, females outnumber males, so the males don't HAVE to be nice, or decent. Desperate females have ruined things.
They are made in Mexico now, too, instead of San Francisco...
But the alternative are jeans costing $149, which is absurd for denim.
I actually checked them out and Levi's has chinos now, and they're not Dockers or Slates. Levi's chions could be interesting. I see they've finally given up on selling jeans for more than $100.
I see so many guys under 30 and they appear a bit too feminine for my liking. And I am NOT into he-men by any stretch of the imagination but I see these young White guys flitting around (hetero, to be clear) and they seem...soft. The way they walk, the messenger bag, the clothes, their hairstyles...
Other trends to support this phenomenon:
Women in the driver's seat and men in the passenger's seat.
More women than men on college campuses. And for the first time, more women are enrolled than men in medical school! That is significant given the traditional domination by men in that arena.
I was observing in a preschool and the kids were playing on the playground. A girl spotted an earthworm and a group swarmed around her, fascinated. The boys seemed indifferent And it was a GIRL who actually picked the thing up and threw it in a puddle!
Really? You have a problem with this?
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Ding! Ding! Ding!
And it was a GIRL who actually picked the thing up and threw it in a puddle!
