There are only two words which elicit absolutely unsustainable points of contention: man and woman, debated by men and women themselves. There’s no easy way to marry the wide-ranging and often conflicting definitions, though that doesn’t mean society stops trying.
Let’s focus first on that untenable idea of man—by two writers who clearly have divergent views on the term. Start with the first column and read your way to the right; an evolution, if you will. Then read the attempts at reconciling the two views.
The Alpha Male
KEN ♂:In the early Stone Age, the Neanderthal was considered a true and exceptional form of man. He killed live fawn with his bare hands, created fire from rubbing two rocks together until his hands were callous, and impressed his lady friends with the carcass of a slain mammoth. He may have a cranium the size of a peanut, but he sure made the best of it.
Whenever the word man comes into play, the tendency is to think of the alpha male—undeniable strength, overflowing courage, and easy-going confidence. Like what Sociology and Anthropology Professor Jerry Apolonio says, “The alpha male would be really big [and] muscular; the machismo should be more than the other men in the pack.”
In the Greek and Roman times, alpha males became more adept in using weaponry, wielding crafted swords instead of giant rocks and clubs. Sir Apolonio laments, “In times of war, he should be the one make the strategy; he should be the ladies’ man.” Trojan princes epitomize the reinvented alpha male: Paris is the scoundrel ladies’ man, while Hector is the abominable warrior and strategist during warfare.
After a millennium or so, the alpha male progressed from skirt-wearing and blade-brandishing gladiators to being just a man of few yet coolly incomprehensible words, like that of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The long untamed hair and thigh-length man-skirt look transformed into a rippling German man in tight outfits uttering wise words—“You should not drink and bake!”—a true action star.
In our current time, fierce fighters like Manny Pacquiao add to the definition of a tunay na lalaki. His look matches the criteria of an alpha male mentioned by Sir Apolonio: “Men are supposed to be unkempt, bearded, dark in color.” He has taut muscles, a killer singing voice, and the classy chick (Have you seen his wife after her surgeries?) that piece together the perfect alpha male.
The New gent
KEN ♂: From what I’ve been observing lately, the alpha male is evolving into one that isn’t stereotypically a muscled meathead, but a man who had refined his qualities.
As techie sophomore JM Leonio, asserts, “Being smarter, dressing smarter, looking smarter is the big thing now.” There is an influx of more intelligent individuals ruling the boob tube like Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory and Scott Pilgrim on the silver screen.
Yet they don’t stop at just sheer mind power, like Allan Cabrera who is a high school valedictorian, a member of the debate team, and an athlete in the Arnis varsity. Today’s man is one that is a jack-of-all trades, and continually progresses.
2011’s man can’t be strung down by any one activity; he constantly shakes it up while setting a new spin on the term alpha male.
The Renaissance Man
REGINA ♀: Thank you Ken, for that entirely illuminating description of the traditional male— though I beg to disagree. “A man is a biologically male individual,” comments Sir Apolonio, but certainly, man as we know him has gone and is beyond that.
The idea of man, as with all other ideas, is a social construct, and as societies progress, so do ideas. The archetypal image of the “he-man”—incredibly buff, has grunts for words, and lugs around a crude stone club—has given way to the Renaissance Man: a lanky frame, highly verbose, and goes around with a scroll in one hand and brush in the other. Men couldn’t just be leaders; they had to be thinking leaders, not locked in just one job—like leading the pack—but learned in all fields, from Mathematics to Arts to Science to Philosophy.
“They have to be universal,” emphasizes thespian senior Brian Sy.
The Renaissance Man didn’t give a wit to what he thinks he should be. “[Musicians] before were made fun because of their cellos,” illustrates musician sophomore Zachary Riskin, “but if you want to be in music, [you’ll] be in it for the music.”
Moreover, today’s Renaissance Man isn’t limited to being knowledgeable in the humanities and arts; the advent of technology spawned two other subtypes: the geeks and techies. “You don’t have to be nerdy, but you must have knowledge.” Sir Apolonio insists. “You must know what you’re talking about.” Mark Zuckerberg didn’t let his bottom-of-the-food-chain status deter him; he went and put his ideas to work, creating the one thing we all can’t live without. Albert Einstein’s ridiculous coif wasn’t exactly in line with the overly-gelled styles of the de rigeur alpha male, but no one dared mock the theories he outlined.
Face it my dear gents: the alpha male’s not making his appearance anytime soon, so drop the machismo act and cater to what you’re truly good at.
The New Man
REGINA ♀: Definitions are developing, shifting, changing all the time—which is why, try as I might, I can’t cling to the idea of ‘male’ as only the Renaissance Man. Man is, from what culture produces, what society presents, evolving to be a hybrid of the age-old alpha male and his younger brother, the Renaissance Man.
“The new man is somewhere in the middle, trying to marry both constructions,” explains Psychology Professor Nico Canoy. Today’s man is intellectual and academic, yet engages in physical activities and is a tad more focused on his physique.
More and more, hybrid men are sprouting like mushrooms; it’s just not enough to be only sporty, or only smart, because what if you’re genetically and culturally able to be both? “The new man is someone who harnesses that which he is most capable of doing,” defines essayist sophomore Eos Trinidad, “that which he has most charisma in doing.”
The new decade’s ushering in a new set of men: leaders-jocks-academics-politicians-rocket scientists-tech heads-thespians-painters-musicians; a trail mix, as it where, of any and all skillsets in one man. That’s just who the new man is: all the definitions established and imposed in one neat package.
