Thursday, January 22, 2015
Preaching to the Choir
If Lakshmi Chauhdry and Pat Archbold, authors of "Men Growing Up to be Boys" and "The Death of Pretty" respectively, met for an evening dinner they wouldn't feel it were forced. They would hold conversations about Corporate America's sway over our culture, both in the past and presently. The authors would agree that people are very gullible and influenced by their environment. The exchange wouldn't be either pleasant or tense, it would be a more passionate conversation showcasing their dissapointment for this era of human culture in the U.S. of America. They would touch on the 'lad' culture and the media that supported it, and progress to this society's obsession with celebrities and how they sell the image of "hotness > prettiness". The authors would ask each other what else is in store for our culture and what is next in Corporate America's agenda, and whether or not our country has learned it's lesson or if it will eat the next product or image like the authors are eating their dinners. Overall the dinner will be two people preaching to members of their own choir, agreeing fervently with each other and occasionally glaring at the TV in the restaurant that's playing 'Grease' and showing lad commercials.
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If I were a guest at this dinner I would be slightly irritated. I would ask Chauhdry to clearly define masculinity and what it means in today's context. Her view of an old fashioned man does not seem to take into account that the "men" of America were once drafted into wars and exposed to horrors often before their ninetieth birthdays. American boys used to be forced into manhood. Now boys are able to develop into men. Archbold seems to forget that American women have the right to look however they please, whether they choose to dress conservatively or provocatively. Archbold's article just proves that as a society will still need to improve our ability to get to know others, whether they are projecting innocence or not. I think that modern men and women, unlike generations before, have the ability to take the time to truly uncover who they want to be.
ReplyDeleteIf I were forced to have dinner with these two artists, I believe the entire night would turn from a passionate conversation to a very tense argument. The reason I believe the night would turn for the worse is because I disagreed with many points that both authors made. They're right about the culture and style changing drastically from the 1950's however, just because it changed doesn't make it a bad thing. I would explain to them culture for America has changed all throughout the course of history. I'm sure they had many stubborn elderly saying the same things about there latest trends and fads. The point Lakshmi touched on about how not a single man in this generation wants to settle down and marry the girl of his dreams, I would in turn pull up Facebook and show her all the people I personally know that are doing that exact thing she wanted from a young man in my generation. She is only stereotyping our generation as a whole which is narrow minded of her to classify every person as the same. As for Pats argument towards the way women present themselves, she is right most women do flaunt much more then women would 60 years ago. However, once again, let me pull up my Facebook and show you many girls who rock the pretty look and still get a ton of attention. I feel the two authors from these articles were stereotyping our generation in such a narrow minded way. They are convinced every single young man and woman are either, flaunting themselves to everyone or, too scared to settle down with a girl and start a family.
ReplyDeleteThe dinner would go swimmingly at first. Some small talk over salad. Not so much as an argument over appetizer. Archbold and Chaudry both hold conservative ideals, so it would be save to assume they would bond over the drastic change in social norm that has occurred in the past 60 years. I would agree with both Lakshmi and good 'ol Pat, because I myself don't like how the media/culture itself has manufactured unwholesome expectations in both men & women. At the end of the evening we would all add each other on Facebook and bid one another a good evening.
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