Feminism, Body Image, Self-Reliance, and Senstivity (Franken, generation, 9/11, high school)

[2nd trick op]

I'm a product of a Fifties/Early-Sixties chlidhood, but not a typical one; at the age of nine, my spine started curving, probably due to exposire to an aunt's tuberculosis. That requied hospitalization and major surgery, and ruled out contact sports. Nevertheless, I was "mainstreamed" in most functions, and exposed to my share of bullying in locker rooms, etc, at a time when all-male groups in YMCA's and some high schools stilll swam without suits. And I'm old enough to have been subject to the draft ... although my physical ended about thirty seconds after the shirt came off.

Things were complicated a little further by the fact that some of the adult-male roles in my life were filed by a bachelor uncle; my Dad was there, but it slowly became apparent that my condition made it unlikely that I'd follow in his footsteps as a dairy farmer. The uncle was a career educator in a small community. It also gradually became apparent that he preferred the company of his own sex, but he was responsible in his conduct -- his "friends" were from his own age group and station in life, and he tried to make things last; the community simply chose to look the other way and accept it.

I spent seven years in the somewhat-atypical "Happy Valley" atmosphere of State College, PA -- three of them as a single working adult, and the same years in which feminism "went mainstream". Given my background, it was a safe bet that finding the right woman would be a challenge. When I finally did, I was 40 and she was 24, and after a time we both recognized that she needed somene closer to her own age and backgroud. Happily, when she found him, it was handled in such a way that we remained the best of friends.

My point in telling this story is that I've noticed that we're raising our children, particularly those brought up in single-parent, female-headed households, with a somewhat different view of the responsibilities of adulthood. We might make our sons a bit more well-mannered and respecful, but we also seem to be conditioning them to rely a little too much on government, and the advice of mass media oriented far more toward a female audience ... and that apears to be diminishing our ability to anticipate and provide for more of our basic needs when our urbanized society is disrupted; 9/11/01, Katrina and now "Frankenstorm" Sandy all appear to be focusing some of our attention toward this.

I graduated from high school in 1967 -- the famous (or notorious) "summer of love". Some of my classmates set what was thought of at the time as a record for "shotgun weddings", causing my Dad to observe: "Despite what you think, son, your generation did not invent sex -- and from the looks of things, you won't perfect it, either." One of the products of those unions later used to hang around a seasonal tax business a female friend and I ran for a while. We tried to convince him to either accept some responsibility or go back to school, but he eventually came out of the closet and ran off to the West Coast -- after helping himself to a small sum stored in our cash box. I don't think he's going to get too far as a go-go-boy when starting in his late thirties.

And then there are the metrosexuals and "Mister Moms"; here's one of the more prominent of which I'm aware:

Little Moby Homemaker

I'm not postng this as some sort of soap box rant; I'm aware, often from my own experience, that "spare parts" personalities in our society can sometimes fit together with very positive outcomes, but we appear to be expecting our public sector to fill in too many of the gaps, and at precisely the time when much of the world is wising up to some of the advantages only we, and a handful of other nations used to enjoy, and sometimes seem bent on throwing away. We are entering uncharted economic territory, and seem to be moving in the wrong direction.

[Pear Martini]

I don't see any solid proof that men are trying to get more from the government now anymore than they did before WW2. I also don't understand what this has to do with feminism but I like where this is going.

[2nd trick op]

Originally Posted by Pear Martini

I don't see any solid proof that men are trying to get more from the government now anymore than they did before WW2. I also don't understand what this has to do with feminism but I like where this is going.

Thank you. I edned up going in several directions at once due to the complexity of the story, but the man point is:

In the long run, the "New Sensitivity" is going to carry a much higher price tag than most people see at first glance, in no small part because it touces on so many issues. How we're going to deal with it over the long run is anybdy's guess.