Girlymachomen
Through my friendships, I'm glad Nate has a circle of men to look up to who balance creativity with traditional masculinity. Seriously. Dave edits an arts and culture mag and spends the odd weekend mending fences, toting bales, and such at a farm up in Wisconsin. Eric is an assemblage artist who has a knack for the industrial/shop arts. Grandpa Dan (Mike's dad), plays jazz piano and composes, but he's also good around the garden, a great handyman, and a helluva barbecuer. Uncle Seth is a schoolmarm... I mean teacher, but the man's got street smarts-he boxes and dances salsa, and can tell you the best place to get Cuban food at 3 a.m. Pat draws and plays guitar, but is an outdoorsy sort of guy from Maine, where they're born in the woodlands wearing flannel and field jackets. And dear old Dad (me)? Why, I'm a writer and a self-taught (soon to be taught) carpenter with a voracious appetite for how stuff works. Also, I shot a man in Toronto just to see him cry.
Now, when I say masculinity, I don't mean machismo. I mean being a guy who you can rely on to get shit done. And by "get shit done" I don't mean strictly being able to wield a socket wrench. I mean being tough and dependable, yet not afraid of a little self-expression via the creative arts. My friends are good men to a man. I like that my son can look up to guys with a hammer in one hand and a vial of glitter in the other.
Now, when I say masculinity, I don't mean machismo. I mean being a guy who you can rely on to get shit done. And by "get shit done" I don't mean strictly being able to wield a socket wrench. I mean being tough and dependable, yet not afraid of a little self-expression via the creative arts. My friends are good men to a man. I like that my son can look up to guys with a hammer in one hand and a vial of glitter in the other.