Guys Who Are Still Guys

In the late 1990s, a trend was spotted and books were written. At local bookstores or at Amazon.com, you would find titles such as The Feminization of American Culture or The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity and many more treaties on our evolving culture. The trend? The feminization of men and institutions.

Before I'm misinterpreted, let me put the disclaimer out: I appreciate men who are in touch with their feminine side. I just don't want that side to be the most prominent. When I was single, I joked with my friends that I wouldn't date a guy who was more feminine than me. In some circles, girls today would sit home a lot if that was their standard.

For a good book on biblical masculinity, I recommend Future Men by Douglas Wilson. Here's a paragraph from the back cover description:

When Theodore Roosevelt taught Sunday School for a time, a boy showed up one Sunday with a black eye. He admitted he had been fighting and on a Sunday too. He told the future president that a bigger boy had been pinching his sister and so he fought him. TR told him that he had done perfectly right and gave him a dollar. The stodgy vestrymen thought this was a bit much, and so they let their exuberant Sunday School teacher go. What a loss. . .

Country music star Brad Paisley has addressed this issue with insight and humor in his song, I'm Still A Guy. I LOVE this song. Here's a video of Brad performing the song and here are the lyrics:

When you see a deer, you see Bambi
And I see antlers up on the wall.
When you see a lake, you think picnics
And I see a large mouth up under that log.
You're probably thinking that you're going to change me
In some ways, well maybe you might
Scrub me down, dress me up, oh but no matter what
Remember, I'm still a guy.

When you see a priceless French painting
I see a drunk, naked girl.
You think that riding a wild bull sounds crazy
And I'd like to give it a whirl.
Well love makes a man do some things he ain't proud of
And in a weak moment I might
Walk your sissy dog, hold your purse at the mall
But remember, I'm still a guy.

I'll pour out my heart
Hold your hand in the car
Write a love song that makes you cry
Then turn right around, knock some jerk to the ground
'Cause he copped a feel as you walked by.

I can hear you now talking to your friends
Saying, "Yeah, girls, he's come a long way."
From dragging his knuckles and carrying a club
And building a fire in a cave.
But when you say a backrub means only a backrub,
Then you swat my hand when I try.
Well, now, what can I say at the the end of the day
Honey, I'm still a guy.

And I'll pour out my heart
Hold your hand in the car.
Write a love song that makes you cry.
Then turn right around knock some jerk to the ground
'Cause he copped a feel as you walked by.

These days there's dudes getting facials,
Manicured, waxed and botoxed.
With deep spray-on tans and creamy lotiony hands,
You can't grip a tacklebox.

Yeah with all of these men lining up to be neutered,
It's hip now to be feminized.
I don't highlight my hair,
I've still got a pair,
Yeah honey, I'm still a guy.

Oh my eyebrows ain't plucked,
There's a gun in my truck.
Oh thank God, I'm still a guy.