In response to a recent New York Times piece calling for a return to a 1950s-era definition of manliness, Jezebel writer Dodai Stewart calls foul. According to Stewart, the Times article doesn't take into account what today's women are looking for in a man.
Joel Stein is thinking of the men. Joel Stein thinks that men need to "rediscover the Don Draper within." Joel Stein writes: "No matter how many hoodied nerds become masters of the virtual universe, without manliness we're going to die as a species. Because being a nerd will never get you any action." Of course, Joel Stein, nerd, is married and has a kid, so clearly this is untrue. And ladies love nerds! Love them. Michael Cera and Jonah Hill and Seth Cohen and all the dudes at Comic Con. Loved.
Are we really supposed to be pining for a Don Draper era man? We might love his swagger, and the skinny ties, and the bar in the office, but basically, we know that we're idealizing a retro/'50s man who might have been able to fix your leaky sink, true, but meanwhile, a lot of those guys were also cheaters who spanked their wives and hit their kids and killed animals for fun. These are not the qualities most modern women are looking for in a mate or even fellow human being.
Read Dodai Stewart's entire piece at Jezebel.
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