photo via Sydney Morning Herald
Americans aren’t the only ones being barraged by masculinity trend–pieces. Last week, the Sydney Morning Herald ran a story titled “The Age of the Gentleman,” which announces, “for a new generation of local Brisbane lads … it is the era of the Modern Day Gentleman,” or MDG, for short. Money quote:
He is chivalrous, but not patriarchal. He is well-groomed without being pretentious or dandy. He’ll open the door for someone—not because they’re female—but because it’s a nice thing to do. He doesn’t mind meeting his mates at the pub, but he has no qualms inquiring about the riesling.
Let that sink in for a minute … have you been too patriarchal lately? Well, that puts you behind the curve. In Australia.
But don’t worry too much, because, as a blogger for Pedestrian TV points out, the MDG “is completely fabricated for the purposes of this article.”
Thank you. If we’re going to generalize about the Modern Men, we should start by pointing out that we’re not that much different than we were last year. Or seven years ago, when trend pieces were telling us that we were metrosexuals. What’s so ridiculous about these attempts to define modern masculinity is that most men don’t model themselves after someone else’s idea of what they should be, and they certainly don’t follow the latest trends.