Case in point

Remember back when I said that it had become unmanly for men to be intelligent, that the ideal manifestation of masculinity was a big, cute, dumb, muscle-bound sports freak? The following comic illustrates my point beautifully (it's today's edition of The Humble Stumble by Roy Schnieider). This strip only works because we assume and accept unconditionally that it is impossible to be a MAN by doing anything other than lifting heavy objects and watching sports. If we consider that one can be masculine and still be in posession of a variety of skills, especially "woman's skills" like applying nail polish, than there's no punch line; our reaction would be totally different. We would think "what's he so freaked out about?" It's only funny because the image of the big, dumb lug ideal man has become so universal. I rest my case.