The new man reloaded - Mamablog : Mamablog The new man reloaded - Mamablog

Retrosexual? Metrosexual? Or at the very end? The new man is a chimera.

The new man is like the unicorn: a phantom, repeatedly described, never empirically proven. Since the turn of the millennium, he has been haunting culture and lifestyle magazines more or less regularly. The American media have just launched a concentrated attack on the subject. "The Atlantic" sees the end of the man approaching, while "Newsweek" calls for an improved prototype with the "new macho". And the omega males were not only a topic on Slate, but also with us. Nevertheless, no one knows exactly what he is now, this new man. Apart from the horn, of course.

At least one thing is clear: women have gained ground globally culturally, politically and economically. In the US, they make up the majority of workers – which has also been helped by the financial crisis, which has traditionally hit male sectors more. And not only in American, but also in South Korean reproductive clinics, the desired gender is female today. The same process is in full swing in emerging industrial nations such as China and India, according to “The Atlantic”. The old man, clinging to his privileges, seems doomed.

So the feminism project was a success. In politics, business, culture and family, women wear the pants. "The End of Men" has become a fact, so the obvious conclusion from the distanced standpoint of statistics. But if you take a closer look at this gender competition, for example in an intimate family context, there is a tiny catch: where the men lose, whether it’s their self-image, whether it’s a custody dispute, their job or whatever, they ultimately lose too women and the children.

That women will now create a patriarchy with the opposite sign, XX instead of XY, is not to be hoped for, but also not to be feared. After all, the advance of women is thanks to flexible capitalism, which demands social skills such as communication skills, team spirit and integration. Integration instead of aggression is the motto. Which of course doesn't mean that women are fundamentally better beings, just that they have found a way to break through the limitations of their role model and to use their qualities profitably. It seems that women have blossomed into “new women” as a matter of course, and they no longer have to appear as phantoms in magazines because you can meet them at every turn.

The man is completely different. The flood of articles about the ominous “new man”, about metrosexuals and retrosexuals, omega men, victim maskulists and anti-feminists show one thing above all: the new man is still a mystery whose ontology the media have set themselves the task of clarifying . And, of course, it's ridiculous to think that any medium can answer the question for anyone about how to live their life - but that the media are so concerned with assigning men new roles shows that the old one is no longer entirely suitable. On the winding of his own role cliché, which gave him the role of the silent predator, the man has become a seeker of meaning and self in an increasingly female-dominated society.

The point is this: women have conquered the male realm without really giving up much ground in their ancestral fields, the social and family. They were inspired to conquer men's spheres of power for themselves. Conversely, for a long time the men showed little interest in penetrating the spheres of traditionally female concerns ( - to be fair, it must also be said that the unemancipated women also defended this area tooth and nail against the men.) And now that they notice that they have to give up part of their power, they see themselves disadvantaged here.

But under the impression of the rapid change towards a feminised society, that is changing. Even if the new man today is a chimera, a cliché deposited in magazines, men still understand that they too have to reinvent themselves if they don't suddenly want to stand on the losing side. When women started their revolution in the 1970s, inspired by the economic miracle, they operated out of a centuries-old burden of suffering. And if there is a similar level of suffering for men today, it manifests itself in the family. Make what you want of René Kuhn and his anti-feminists. At least the existence of such groups shows that men are finally beginning to look for new men. It may mean that men are finally conquering the field that they previously smiled at as uncool, that in future they may be more willing to really recognize achievements in this area as achievements.

In other words, we can hardly wait for the man to finally reinvent himself. Because it is one of the admirable male talents that they know how to portray everything they conquer as desirable prey. And so my challenge to you, my dear readers, instead of getting back into the argument of who the real bad guys are, get creative. Imagine you're an advertising guy and you have to bring the new man to, well, the man. In three sentences, create a positive image of the new, emancipated man. Because he's more than just a unicorn.

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