ITT: people view being a man as an offense to women. Typical. Maybe they should be on tumblr.

Many people today feel adrift and have lost the confidence, focus, skills, and virtues that persons of the past embodied. In an increasingly androgynous society, modern people are confused about their role and what it means to be an honorable, well-rounded person. The causes of this malaise are many, from the cultural to the technological. One factor is simply the lack of direction offered people in the popular culture.  [b] “Every generation revolts against its parents and makes friends with its grandparents.” [/b] -Lewis Mumford... Almost People need role models, and like many men, mine was my grandfather. He's a great shot with a gun, a hard worker, a good outdoorsman, and a general stand-up guy. By being a respectable person, and a well rounded individual. You'll find all aspects of your life improved by not only learning to be a good person, but putting it to practice and constantly striving to improve. To all you young people reading this I urge you to find a positive role model. Learn the importance of your word, the value of hard work, how to take care of yourself, as well as basic life and outdoor skills. You'll find you only benefit in the long run.

Manliness has absolutely nothing to do with someone being a good and decent human being.

I don't have much to add except that I like manly men, maybe people are being weird about the topic for the reason you are trying to address, association of "manly" with bad stuff like violence. (I am female BTW)

Nice post. I'm striving to become better as a young man, although I do fall short in some areas. My father has instilled some very important values inside of me, and I appreciate and acknowledge him for it. Unfortunately me being the stubborn teen that I am, I have yet to prove that I have developed into the appropriate young gentlemen that he wants me to be. Hopefully within time though, I'll be able to live up to the expectations.

What about being swift as a river... Strength of a great typhoon... And mysterious as the dark side of the moon?

well both my father and grandfather are awful people so...

Its the only way to defeat the Huns

Great post!!!! Bump this.

Two of the most important qualities for any man to have: compassion and patience

Sad part is, One reasonable thread on here gets shot down by kids who identify theirselves as a toaster. There are less values today. Not in the sense of religion, but that people put there sexuality over everything else. I'm sure most are trolls but too many people here think it's a bad thing to think of yourself as a man. You point out that truly being a man means being a well rounded good person and working hard. But all people see is "well women can do that too" the post wasn't directed toward women, it was directed towards young men.

I agree that role models and mentors are useful for all of us. But I remain skeptical of the idea that men must fulfill their manliness. In an increasingly androgynous society, characteristics like virtue and honor are being unshackled from specific genders, which allows us to become [i]more[/i] well-rounded. What it means to be a man is changing, just as it has changed in the past. As for the people who resist this change, I can't help but be reminded of a [url=http://blackbluedog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/archie-bunker.jpg]certain TV character.[/url] [i]And you knew where you were then. Girls were girls and men were men. Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again. Didn't need no welfare state, Everybody pulled his weight. Gee our old LaSalle ran great. Those were the days.[/i]

I enjoyed your post.... more so the role model part and less on the manliness (but damn, I do like some manliness though). Anyway, I think younger people need better role models these days... I hate seeing people who don't care how they act around their children and who curse at them and whatnot. It really bothers me. Children look up to their parents. I once saw a woman at the mall yell "get off the -blam!-ing ground" to her toddler! He was barely walking! She was just dragging him around like a rag doll. I also don't understand parents who let their children play M rated games. I know a guy who lets his 6 year-old play GTA. I just don't understand it. Do they just not care? I like to think my parents taught me well. They taught me manners, how to be a lady, kindness to others, to be grateful for what I have, be respectful.... it just seems like none of the younger people have any of that these days...

Im to lazy to actually break this down all the way but my main comment would be how wrong you are about having a male role model. You're making it seem like having a female role model is bad (which is incredibly sexist) manliness is completely unnecessary for having good work ethic, morals, or even respectability

I wouldn't say there's anything hateful in this post. And I respect a lot of what it promotes, such as being hard working and self-improving. However, the post [i]does[/i] come across a little bit misguided in a macho sort of way, which is where I’d disagree. For example: [i]“Manliness is more than just being a tough guy...”[/i] The above is said as though it goes without saying that toughness is essential to being "a man," without really taking the risk of revealing the full nature of one's view by elaborating. I can only assume, but given the general tone of concern for "men today" and the follow up comments made, the OP’s notion of toughness appears to be centralised around being adept with handy-man stuff and shooting a gun. If I was going to list off the things I think make someone a good person, male or female -- which I think is a much better way of articulating the point -- the aforementioned traits would probably not be the first things that would come to mind. That’s not to say those qualities are not valuable or likable, they certainly are, but there’s more to the world than hunting and camping. I'm not passing this judgement on the OP, he appears to be quite intelligent. But I am always suspicious of people who invest a lot of stock in their "manliness" because my experience has been that people who often resort to this kind of vague "be a man" type reasoning, tend to lack any real advice, and also tend to be insecure, competitive, sometimes bullies, and generally tiring to be around. And with regards to toughness, I definitely agree that it’s generally in one’s best interest to be strong at whatever one chooses to bring to the table. But there are many types of strengths; Christopher Hitchens may have been no good if you left him out in the woods on his own for all I know, but pit him up against someone in a religious or political debate, and he’d eat most people for breakfast without so much as fumbling a single word or losing his cool. Einstein was hardly the epitome of your stereotypical manly man. Nor was Jiddu Krishnamurti, and a lot of people I happen to have a great deal of respect for. The same can be said of many of the great minds whom over centuries contributed to the wonders of modern times, such as having access to vaccines that protect you from many diseases and everything else we take for granted. The only other thing I would disagree with in the OP, sorry to say, is the premise itself: the notion that a lot of men are not "men" unless they meet the OP’s criteria of manliness. If you’re an adult male, you are a certainly a man. End of discussion. Whether or not you're a good person, is the point I would make. And the extent with which your existence is valued by others comes down to a lot of things and depends on where you are and what the society values, of which there is obviously a great deal of variance, and something which is ever-evolving, which I think is a good thing because it makes for a diverse world.

I don't know. I feel like this is helping to reinforce [i]negative[/i] gender roles, not promote being just generally a good person, as I'm sure is your intent. I may be wrong, though. Being a man isn't about strength, burliness, body hair, or your outdoor skills. It's about being a good person, charitable, slow to anger, wise, calm. All things that make a girl a women, as well. Being a man isn't about being "manly" at all, it's about being a respectable individual. [spoiler]Which is just a teen's opinion, so keep that in mind.[/spoiler]

Never knew my grandfather and my parents divorced when I was in grade 1 as a result my father moved to London England, haven't seen the guy in 8+ yrs. I like to think that I'm a pretty decent guy, I've never done any drugs, never been arrested, in university, pay for most my things, and may even more out in a year or two. Needless to say I'm well on my way to becoming a productive citizen, so I'd say that I'm manly enough thank you.

Being a "man" isn't important, especially since people have all sorts of stupid ideas over what being a "man" is. A lot of guys will tell you that one needs to have sex with a lot of hot women in order to be a man, as well as needing to have the ability to take stupid, pointless risks to show how "brave"/"tough" they are. I'd say it's far more important to just be thought of as a good person. Helping others and trying to leave the world a better (or at least no worse of a) place than it was when you first entered it is a far better goal, in my opinion.