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I think another overlooked aspect in all of this is the degree to which modernization has affected everything. Think about it.
100 years ago, women needed a strong man to take care of them and do all the heavy duty manual labor that was part of every day living and surviving. Especially in the rural areas, and that is probably a lot of the reasoning the rural areas differ so much from high population areas in their perceptions of male and female roles. Some people would prefer to rudely suggest people from rural areas are just stupid, and that is just a sign of such a rude person's own ignorance and stereotyping.
While women were certainly capable of doing a lot of the work that men did, quiet honestly most weren't capable of the hardest manual labors that required great strength. Plowing 5 acres in a single day with a mule and a single spade plow. Women typically have wider hips and a more delicate shoulder girdle which made many of these tasks overbearing for them.
Now thats not saying they were sitting on their duff. Manual labor was part of the indoor and yard life as well. Scrubbing clothes on a washboard, beating rugs, and many other tasks were far more physically demanding than they are today. But women were generally suited to the demands of the house keeping while men were more suited to the heavy manual labor. This is the very reason the roles existed of the wife spending the day at home with the kids and keeping the house under control, meals cooked, clothes washed, as well as many wonderful and necessary skills that women are much more gifted at than men, such as knitting and sewing. Believe me, my wife knits things now, and I've tried. She smokes me at it and if it were left up to me, it would have to be down to life and death situations before I could force myself to knit!
But overall, in those days the roles were much more accepted by both men and women because they were roles of necessity a lot more than they were roles of choice. With modernization, difficult tasks were made easy with machines and appliances. Suddenly women had more time to do other things such as raise the kids playing games, going shopping and home decorating. Men were away from home more working. Slowly, these changes led to changes in necessities and choices. Some men took advantage of their role as "leader", and when things fell apart, the woman was left screwed as far as income and necessities being provided. Its no surprise that women have become more capable of earning a living just as well as men, it is a learned response to the changing of our society.
The sad part about this is that there are still people who want to live the traditional roles and are frowned upon for doing such. My wife TOTALLY wants me to be the head of the household and the decisionmaker. She likes me being in charge. I like the idea of her staying home to raise kids when we have them. I love the idea of walking in to them in the evening. Whether or not that is how it ends up, I don't know. My wife is very smart and capable of a lot of things. I've supported her doing what she wants and if it ends up with her being home once we have kids, I'm fine with so long as she is. If she is not happy that way, then I'll do whatever it takes to make her happy. Thats what being the man in charge of a household is all about IMO. Making sure the wife has everything she wants and IS HAPPY AND SATISFIED. My decisions are always made in her best interest and I put her needs before mine. If money is tight and I need something, but know that she needs something too, I won't mention what I need so we can get what she wants. When she was working a 4 day a week job that had her days starting at 6:30AM and getting home at 7:30PM, 2-3 out of those 4 days the house was clean and dinner was ready when she walked in since I got home at 5:30 and had a little time to get it done.
We have no problem adapting to things as life comes at us because we put each other first. Eventually though, we would like to end up with a life in rural TN with me running a gardening business and her raising the kids. If it works out it will be wonderful, if it doesn't , we'll make things wonderful whatever they are.
Perhaps it's the simple fact that societal norms in terms of what is acceptable have broadened over the years. I would imagine that there have always been feminine men and masculine women, but they were overlooked or felt that they had to hide their true nature to fit into the society of their time.
Oh, and Topper, as for the little cartoon, some of the most masculine men I know wear what I would call "man capri's". Evidently it's a comfort factor, but still doesn't excuse the look! And I can't even comment on the bluetooth as a constant accessory!!
Before WW2, we never lost a war. Since then, we have not won one. A lot of it has to do with the fact that a lot of real European and American men were killed while the pansies stayed home (ain't no sense in going home, Jody's got your girl and gone). This is especially true of Europe, with the "manliest" countries like Germany and Russia getting hit the hardest. After 1945, we lost our stomachs for machismo. We lost our balls, for lack of a better term. And, I guess, it's easy to see why...the death and destruction caused by two great wars within a single generation was more than we could take, I guess. And the people who lived through it (our so-called "greatest generation") were determined to prevent it from happening again. And the way they did it was to try to destroy what they saw as the root causes of those wars...nationalism, rugged individualism, masculinity, etc. Some of it was unintentional...in their desire to save their children from experiencing the same hardships they endured growing up, they actually softened them. Some of it was very intentional...such as the formation of the UN which would serve to strip nations of their inherent sovereignty.
The end result was that the West has become nations of soft, feminine males, afraid to be strong, unable to stand up for themselves, let alone for their nation. It took longer for it to start happening in America, but as Europe goes, America eventually follows. Perhaps it was because of our origins...traits like individualism, independence, hardiness, patriotism, etc, were almost part of our genetic makeup. Alas, the innoculation was not permanent, and the disease that has afflicted Europe since the end of WW2 is rapidly spreading through America as well.
Now, the real problem lies in the fact that while Europe and America are in a masculinity crisis, the rest of the world is not...the islamic world and China do not share our desire to be soft and caring and emotional, and they can use this against us. Already, we do not have the balls to stand up to the threat of islam, to do what is necessary to defeat it. If 9/11 had happened in 1941 instead of 2001, Tehran, Mecca, Riyhad, Baghdad, Damascus would already be glowing in the dark. As it is, I'm amazed we have been able to continue this relatively small scale conflict for as long as we have. And I fear it won't be long before the emasculators force us to give up even the limited effort we have been making.
Sorry...did that answer the question?
"""The end result was that the West has become nations of soft, feminine males, afraid to be strong, unable to stand up for themselves, let alone for their nation.""
See, that is exactly what I mean when I talk about people's definitions of "feminine" and "masculine". Here someone asserts that "feminine" means soft, afraid to be strong, unable to stand up for themselves...all NEGATIVES.
I think feminine means strong , intelligent, independent, capable, brave, logical...POSITIVES. So if men become more feminine it's a good thing!
Oh, and pulling hair is not politically incorrect ....it's ASSAULT...condoned at a young age it leads to worse things.
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