Saturday, June 16, 2007

Hey guys, grow a pair...

So, I went to look up a copy of "The Dangerous Book For Boys" (will be delivered shortly, hopefully...). This book seems to hit a nerve in American society. Want to know why America is so out of shape today? I'll give an answer: blood.

We go home, and sit on our lazy asses doing nothing but clicking buttons on a video game controller. What happened to going outside, grabbing a skateboard or ball, and getting a bit bloody. We live in a sanitized world. Gone are the days when the toy dump truck had the razer sharp edges and staying out of trouble meant mom or dad didn't have to make a hospital visit.

The United States educational system is a profound mess at the moment - and having gone through teacher education and teaching I have some belief as to why. Teachers are obsessed with "discovery learning" and touchy feely bullshit. We don't rejoice in things that are "fun" anymore, we spend so much time being "safe" and caring about feelings.

Fun is demoing a thermite reaction outdoors, building rockets, and generally "breaking shit".

Even more interesting to me is the reaction of radical femanism to this book. Somehow the title "for boys" is bad. I hope that more guys stand up and say bullshit to this. It's time to go out, get dirty, and say "to hell" with mental health researchers that flat out - don't get it. Anyway, let's cut the shit and look at reality - the vast majority of males and females like different stuff. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with being a girl and liking boy stuff, and vice-versa.

Yea, maybe we shouldn't put on labels - but that doesn't stop them from being true. This book appeals to guys like catnip to a feline. We spend too damn much time feeling sorry for who we are.

I'm from German and native American heritage, and I'm proud of it.

I'm a male and proud of it.

I'm an American and proud of it.

Being proud of who you are doesn't mean you can't acknowledge the past and admit that there have been some nasty periods of history (or even present) about the group you came from. Anyway, it's time to have fun.

1 comment:

Joe said...

You're right, a little blood or a broken bone or two never hurt a boy growing up. It was part and parcel to being a kid.