Despite how we may feel as we leave the hospital, there’s more to being a father than keeping your kid alive. Really, all good fathers recognize this. There’s so much to teach, and precious little time. For the fathers of sons, one of our responsibilities is to teach our sons what it means to be a man.
As if we have a clue.
But if we don’t teach, someone else will – and that can be a bad thing. There are so many conflicting views of masculinity that sometimes it’s hard to know where we stand. Should we listen to Oprah? Dr. Phil? Our fathers? Wives? Desperate Housewives?
During our vacation last week, I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt that read, ‘Yes, These Clothes Can Be Torn Off’. Don’t listen to that guy.
Until we find the definitive expert on manhood, we have guys like Joel to get us closer:
‘Between the contradictory role models of “new-age sensitive man” and “clueless Tim-Taylor man,” it’s no wonder today’s boys don’t know what a man looks like. I’ll give you a hint: neither one is accurate, because they’re both self-centered and immature. The one is whiny, the other overblown, but both of them are completely missing what a man is and does.’
(Joel gets bonus points for quoting Say Anything….