Real men do dance?

[sarahmichigan]

I should know better than to read some damn essay in Esquire about what makes a man (the "real" is sort of implied). There was a line that a man doesn't cringe at the thought of dancing, but it is to be avoided.

I call B.S. There are tons of cultures, here in the U.S. and abroad where it's perfectly normal and expected that men should dance and enjoy it, not to mention that the essay tended to imply that gay men aren't really men.

And, last night, I went to City Club with a couple of women and four men who are pretty secure in their gender identity who didn't seem to get the memo that dancing is "to be avoided."

Comments

[bernmarx.livejournal.com]

They forgot one:

A man does not rely on Esquire magazine articles spewing tripe and stereotypes to define his identity.

[bernmarx.livejournal.com]

By the way, I wouldn't be surprised if I asked the author to describe himself and he pretty much used the same descriptions he does in that article.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_earthshine_/]

I find this especially hilarious because i'm pretty sure that 50 and 100 years ago in the U.S., a man wasn't considered a man unless he could dance. ...and that didn't mean just jumping around at a club -- it meant knowing specific dances and how to lead them.

...and i'm pretty sure that within most Western societies and many Eastern, Native American and African ones, this has also been true for most of the past 1000 years or more.

In short, yes, you should know better. :)

[bernmarx.livejournal.com]

I'd like to see someone tell this guy he's not a real man. ;)

[sylo-tode.livejournal.com]

Any man that uses the term "real man," especially to describe himself, might as well just say, "I'm not a 'real man.'"

Real men don't give a rat's ass about what "real men" are supposed to do or not do.

[rikhei.livejournal.com]

In the immortal words of Men At Work:

We can dance if want to;
we can leave your friends behind.
'Cause your friends don't dance,
And if they don't dance, well,
They're no friends of mine.

[bernmarx.livejournal.com]

Men Without Hats.

Men At Work sang about vegemite sandwiches.

[rikhei.livejournal.com]

You know, my brain was telling me Men Without Hats. The stupid lyrics web page that I used to double-check the lyrics said Men At Work. Bah!

[bernmarx.livejournal.com]

It's an easy enough mistake.

Here's another 80s song about dancing:

But now and then we wonder who the real men are
See the nice boys - dancing in pairs
Golden earring golden tan
Blow-wave in the hair
Sure they're all straight - straight as a line
All the gays are macho
Can't you see their leather shine

-- Joe Jackson, "Real Men"

And, oh yeah...

"The politics of dancing
The politics of ooo feeling good
The politics of moving
Is this message understood?"

-- Re-Flex

[rossja.livejournal.com]

Oh there were a lot of real men dancing. Some of them pretty hot too. :) I'm just sayin'...

[flyinglemursv2.livejournal.com]

Oh, I miss Citiclub

[flyinglemursv2.livejournal.com]

They also forgot to mention all the women that find men who dance well to be especially hot.