Manning Up: Fight or Flight?

In my relatively limited number of years in this life I have found, from time to time, that fighting is considered to be a manly act and that evasion is unmanly behavior, and therefore feminine. I really hadn't given this conception much tough until I saw the new Daniel Craig film "Defiance" this past Monday. To be fair I ended up enjoyed it, but I was let down by it at the start. I had pictured it being a guns blazing, action packed war movie, you know a film filled with typical "man" stuff. As it turns out one of the main underlying themes was that of manning up, and whether that should be an action of fight or flight. This "debate" takes place between two brothers who are both natural born leaders and it runs the course of the movie. Due to the fact that this is a new movie, I'll stop the connection here so as not to spoil it for you, although I do strongly suggest that you see it at some point.

Anyways, I've been weighing this fight or flight thing for a few days now; and by the definition of manliness that I provided in my previous post, I have found 'flight' to be the 'manlier' choice in the situation presented in Defiance. This is because the choice to fight would have been made in order to protect pride and honor in a self-serving manner. Flight on the other hand would do the most good for others. Now, I do not advocate flight in every situation. The choice should be made by answering the question "Which will benefit the community the most, fight or flight?"

A Masculine Salad?

First, a question. Is there such a thing as a masculine salad? I'm talking about a regular salad that is at least a 1:10 ratio between meat and lettuce/veggies, not a piece of meat with a leaf of lettuce on the side. So, is that kind of salad ever a permissible masculine meal?

The reason why I ask such a seemingly odd question is that I happened to watch an episode of Seinfeld this week entitled "The Wink". In this episode Jerry goes on a date and orders "just a salad." He sees nothing wrong with it, but his date thinks him less a man for it. I won't go into the details, but "society's" view that a salad isn't a viable masculine cuisine triggers a series of events that leads to a break-up. Is this woman right in her reasoning? Is masculinity really dependent on a diet of meat and potatoes? Or is it just a case of gender discrimination?

I contend that the ordering of a salad, and just a salad, is not only permissible for a man, but possibly even a manly act. I came to this conclusion through my belief that manliness is more about moral strength and self-control/restraint than physical strength and indulgence. Thus eating health food is manly in the sense that is shows the ability to control indulgences and diet. I am not saying that meat is taboo or that it isn't healthy to consume animal protein. I am simply defending a victim of gender discrimination via the medium of food. So, what's your view on the subject?



This post is dedicated to men who are manly with out buying into "Macho Masculinity".

Saturday Afternoons

Well, this is mainly just a test to be sure that all is in working order here on my new blog.