Hanna Rosin, in the Atlantic Monthly, wrote an article titled The End Of Men, in which she stated, more or less, that American women now favored metrosexual men over manly men, slim men over burly men, hairless men over hairy men, sopranos over basso profundos and weak men over macho men. It may be that few of today’s twenty-somethings ever heard of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, movie faves of the 30s and 40s. Stan was a meek little guy, always being put upon, while Oliver was the guy in charge of everything. Hanna Rosin is not correct, she views the world through radical feminist glasses, but if, somehow, she were correct, those movie roles would have to be reversed. The incompetent, arrogant, strong willed Oliver Hardy would be overlooked and put upon while the nebbish Stanley Laurel walked off with the girl as the credits rolled.

Mothers wanted boys to grow up manly
And win their laurels fighting hand to hand
But laurels turned into a guy named Stanley
Who far from manly was indeed quite bland
Oliver grew up life of the party
A manly man the women all adored
But somehow women turned to guys not hardy
And started picking guys who leave them bored
Perhaps they like them for their charming meekness
Perhaps they like them ‘cause they will not fight
Whatever is the cause for female weakness
You have to be a nerd to spend the night
And so it is that manly guys like us are
Confined to looking in on all the fun
We’re fearless, muscled, strong minded and thus are
Found wandering the desert getting none