Rethinking Men

What masculinity means in the 21st century

by Anthony Synnott, Ph.D.

Sunny, Anal, and Balanced: Puzzling Over Personalities

How do we know how to know ourselves? From our parents and friends? But they are biased. So are our enemies, though they may be less tactful and more truthful. From our therapists? By introspection? Perhaps from personality tests? Read More

How to Cope with a Beautiful Narcissist

It's not about you, dear. Sorry. Read More

The Meaning of Life

Meanings are not given to most of us, though we are socialized into some by our parents or significant others, but still we tend to construct our own eventually. So here are my Top 12. Pick yours, or add it to the list if it is not there, or mix and match. Read More

Manology: The Art and Science

"Men are all the same. They only want one thing!" This was a mantra I heard in my youth. Maybe it is true, but according to Cosmo (April 1999), which I found in my files recently. Maybe it is not, which may be a relief to all of us, or not. Read More

Mothers

Happy Mother's Day, belatedly, to mothers everywhere. It's time to celebrate such magnificent achievements. Mothers and fathers and gender generally have been much in the news these days. Read More

Glory Feminism

A recent issue of Newsweek celebrated International Women's Day with portraits of "150 Women Who Shake the World." Though "save" might be a better word than "shake," for these are inspirational women who do so much good for all of us. Read More

The Wars Against Men

What wars against men? The wars against women are well known. Marilyn French wrote "The War Against Women" back in 1992. Susan Faludi won a Pulitzer for "Backlash. The "Undeclared War against Women" in the same year. Read More

Should We Invade Pakistan?

"Should we invade Pakistan?" Newsweek asks on its cover page. (October 18). Well, duh! Of course! Why not? We invaded Afghanistan in 2001, and we're still there, and then Iraq. They're not going too well, but third time lucky, they say. Before that we bombed Bosnia into peace and before that we invaded Cuba, Grenada and Panama, Vietnam and Korea. Read More

The Marlboro Man and the Old Spice Guy

The Old Spice guy has replaced the Marlboro Man as the latest male icon. Following the appearance of the Old Spice ads, sales soared 107% in one month, from May 19 to June 19. (Are we gullible or what?) Read More

Man Up! Part II

The traditional images of iconic masculinity were exemplified in reality by our military heroes; and in film by John Wayne, James Bond, Big Syl, and Arnie; and in ads by the Marlboro Man. These ideals have been forged in centuries of warfare going back through the ages to Ulysses, David, Cyrus the Great, Alexander and King Arthur. The fiction reinforced the facts. Read More

Why Some People Have Issues With Men: Misandry

The word misandry may not be in everyone's computer dictionary, but the reality is out there. A reality without a name, however, is largely invisible. Read More

Man Up!

One of my friends explained her break-up with her husband: "He wasn't man enough for me." Synchronicity being what it is, unexpected, some of the women in my class (I teach a course on men) were complaining about men. Elizabeth said "They need to man up. " I asked what that meant. Melinda explained: "When you go out with them, they order white wine and baguettes! Read More

The New Man: Who Knew?

Scientists have created human sperm from embryonic stem cells. Toxic chemical food contamination is feminizing men. Male birth rates are declining. Are men becoming superfluous? Read More

What Is Ugly? Part 2

Dede Koswara is known as "The Tree Man." He is an Indonesian villager who is covered in warts from head to toe and has recently undergone his ninth operation to remove them. His condition is thought to be the result of HPV and a rare genetic anomaly. Normal life is impossible for him, both physically and socially. (Le Journal de Montreal 13.2.09). Read More

What Is Ugly? Part 1

Ugliness is ugly. Beauty is beautiful. The two are opposed as binaries. But the words are not simply descriptors. They are also moral evaluations. Read More

All You Need Is Love Part 2

The two most common theories of love are, as we might expect, contradictory. These are: "Opposites attract,"- which they often do. And: "Birds of a feather flock together" - a clone theory, - which they often do. But two other theories deserve our attention: social capital theory and chemistry theory. Read More

All You Need Is Love Part I

"All you need is love...love is all you need." The Beatles sang this interminably. "What the world needs now, is love, sweet love," sang Burt Bacharach in close harmony. "Love makes the world go round" is proverbial. Read More

Minding Your P's & Q's

Don't you get fed up with people some times? Their bad manners, stupidity, selfishness, thoughtlessness? Of course you do. You hate their road rage, line-up jumping, loud talking on their cell phones in elevators, on trains and busses, their inability to realize that they actually do have to pay at the grocery check-out counter. Read More