Reading Response Week 5 - What has happened to Masculinity?

Since a lot of people have already commented on the Wills article, I thought I would write my reactions to the Cohan article.

I really found the definition of 1950s masculinity as found in Cohan's article "The Spy in the Gray Flannel Suit" very interesting when compared to masculinity today. Cohan describes masculinity, as seen in Hitchcock's "North by Northwestern", as a clean-cut, professional man who is able to find a wife, avoiding sexual temptresses, and establishing a home to care for. He shows how Cary Grant's character goes from a confused twice divorced advertiser into a government spy with an fiancé who has found his masculinity by the end. He points out that once Grant's character finds his mission in life (his masculinity) after pretending to be shot at, he begins to dress sharply and openly purse the female protagonist, Eve, with hopes of marriage. This 1950s icon of Grant is described as being clean-cut with tailored suits. This image painted for us of the exterior of a manly man is interesting to me once compared to modern masculinity. Today if a man is clean-cut, shaven, and fashionably dressed he is more likely than not labeled as a metrosexual or a homosexual, not a manly man. For a man to be fashionable in today's world is to loss his masculinity in the sight of other men. Masculinity today is defined as being roughly dressed and openly promiscuous with different women, lacking class (except for the exception of some celebrities such George Clooney). It makes me wonder when the ideologies of masculinity changed from classy to gruff and homophobic. At what point did we lower our stander of masculinity while at the same time out casting any man who even shows the slightest interest in style? What do you all think?