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Endangered Man

Date: May 09 2006

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Guys: put down the cucumber mojito, cancel your 4:30 p.m. massage appointment, straighten your shoulders, and listen carefully – you’re in serious danger!

The past few decades have seen men become soft, sensitive, and – dare I say? – pretty. It started in the 1960s with butterfly collars and disco music, when men stopped hitting each other and started talking to each other. Since then, macho man has been replaced by metrosexual man, barbers have been replaced by hair stylists, and John Wayne has been replaced by Johnny Depp.

But it’s not too late to salvage your manhood.

Listen to John and Taylor talk about modern man.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

John

Taylor

John: You know, I read the other day that the metrosexual look or way of being is on its way out. Have you heard anything about that?

Taylor: I overheard you musing about it pretty recently, but, you know, I find it hard to believe that being a nice guy will ever be out.

John: Well, I mean, is that really the definition of metrosexual? Isn’t it more about, like, being really clean cut and really good fitting clothes and, you know, always being shaven, and everything like that?

Taylor: I don’t know much about the fashion side of it at all, just the sensitive male thing, you know. I don’t think that should ever go out. We need more of it.

John: That’s true. It’s probably a combination of those two things.

Taylor: Right.

John: I was reading that, actually, you know, women may be going back to being attracted to more of a rugged man…

Taylor: Right.

John: ...who’s more tough, you know, and daring than someone who’s more sensitive and dresses very fashionably.

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

What is a man?

Until recently, men were expected to be the sturdier and stronger sex, the ones who squared themselves against the hard realities of life and worked hard to succeed. This sort of man, often symbolized by John Wayne and Ernest Hemingway, has been replaced by a softer, more delicate creature: metrosexual man.

Manliness, a recent book by Harvey Mansfield, a Harvard professor, looks at the changing definitions and expectations of men and manhood. He writes that modern men are confused and uncertain about how they should behave.

What do you think of men and manhood? What qualities are important in a man?