The Feminisation Of Masculinity

The Feminisation Of Masculinity

Tomorrows world, society today, which ever way you look at it its an increasingly strange place to live in. Let me just state that I am a fan of originality, innovation and abstractness. The thing is the once definitive line between abstract and weird have now fully relaxed it’s board policies. We are now in the age of Men going to hair salons and Women going to barber shops and I’m here wondering what the knock on effect will be in the next 10 years. It’s kind of like classic Art and Modern Art, on one hand you have something like a Mona Lisa and in the other hand you have a canvas painting of what essentially is a scribble! Men today seem to have just as much BEAUTY products as women which I find both alarming and strange. The funny thing is most men I know myself included only use hair grease, face cream and or a roll on and on really special occasions aftershave. The thought of using any more products than that would mean as a Man you are trying to be more pretty than a Woman ( in my opinion ), Which is confusing. It is impossible for a woman to look handsome and as far as I know the majority of women find the masculine term offensive when used in reference to a female. But yet there are men who only strive for prettiness motivated by their human nature to stretch the boundaries of vain silliness. The result, funny looking quiffs, skin-tight jeans, low-cut blouses and handbags (#Cringe!).

History has a habit of repeating itself and the self loving man has visited before. Ever heard the phrase ” fine and dandy” ? Well a Dandy was a man who indulged in themselves placing great importance on how they looked. Dandyism started in the late 18th and 19th century in England and France. The majority of Dandies fashion had a very heavy feminine influence like ruffles and make up ( famous Dandies include Oscar Wilde and the Scarlet Pimpernel )

However this is no excuse for acrylic nails and eyebrow combing. Acrylic nails and eyebrow combing? For men? Apparently yes ! and all this has been happening whilst we’ve been sleeping. And all of this is being promoted into the male subconscious by people in the public eye. For instants a particular Hip hop artist who wears Ugg Boots, skin-tight jeans, blouses and kisses his mates on the lips. Or a world famous footballer who spends nearly as much time fixing his hair before he goes out on the pitch as his team does warming up, models men’s underwear identical to women’s knickers and also wears blouses. Now by all means do what you have to do to pay the bills but when your son comes home from school with a black eye because his dad looks like he shares his wife’s wardrobe do not be surprised.
Now here’s some interesting facts ” Every third victim of domestic violence is a man” in the UK ” Approximately 4 million men are affected every year by domestic violence” in the UK ” 1 man dies every 3 weeks caused by domestic violence” in the UK ( statistics taken from The National Centre for Domestic Violence). Now I am just speculating! But could there be a possible connection there? It’s food for thought at the very least in my personal opinion.

So what am I really saying? Well fashion will always be the more extreme the better regardless. But what impact will it have on the rest of society? the world is strange enough as it is. My point is this the next time you go to buy new clothes and are standing there looking at yourself in the mirror in the changing room. Please take an extra moment before you convince yourself and look at your self and if that’s what you truly want then by all means waste I mean spend your money. But if your willing to surrender your Masculinity just to fall in line with what is socially popular and adopt a mannerism that is not natural then STOP!
Remember I am not telling people how they should carry themselves what I am saying is give some extra thought before you do it. I mean lets look at action figures from past to present, originally action figures where muscle-bound but over the years they have seemed to cut down on the muscles and emphasised more on facial features and the clothing accessories. Now we have more male fashion models bordering bulimic and that’s what I’m getting at. What starts out as harmless fun not always but often evolves into something that takes itself way to seriously.

Like I said to begin with the question is what the knock on effect will be in the next 10 years? Will we have a generation of men more concerned about their physical appearance than protecting and providing for their family for example. Maybe this strange era will jog on and hopefully keep going into the distance, or is this here to stay? It’s hard to say but what ever way you look at it right now masculinity is on the verge of extinction.