The American Spectator

Spotted on the op-ed page of the remarkable Times, jottings of a sociological and zoological nature with overtones of the clinically insane, and claimed rather proudly by Dr. Charles M. Blow, a man with no prior convictions:

And it’s about understanding that masculinity is wide enough and deep enough for all of us to fit in it. But society in general, and male culture in particular, is constantly working to render it narrow and shallow. We have shaved the idea of manhood down to an unrealistic definition that few can fit in it with the whole of whom they are, not without severe constriction or self-denial.

The man that we mythologize in the back of our minds is a cultural concoction, an unattainable ideal, a perfect specimen of muscles and fearlessness and daring. Square-jawed and well-rounded. Potent and passionate. Sensitive but not sentimental. And, above all else, unwaveringly heterosexual and without even a hint of softness.
(February 11, 2012)