Pajamas Media

123 Comments

1. Typewriter King:

The era of men that wore powdered wigs and stockings make a pretty good account for themselves.

Well, in some ways. Slaves and servants did the manly manual labor for the Southern gentlemen, and I notice plenty of feminine words in their writings, but General Washington was still known as the best rider in Virginia, and in some ways almost lived up to the myth built up in the Brad Neely cartoon.

Similarly, cowboy boots come with narrow toes, but I’m guessing you already have a rebuke for the first person to point that out.

The last sentence is the truest I’ve read all day.

Dec 21, 2008 - 1:08 am 2. Nunn Bush:

Holy Shiite! Batman…

There must be a lot of mean dogs in New York,
or the Riddler is taking/walking all over New York. Bwha.

I hope the shoe companies can be sued for all the bunions they bestow on those poor crippled feet a couple of years from now.

Podiatrist in these so called ‘high fashion’ areas will make a fortune.

Give me a good pair of Nunn Bush for dress-http://www.nunnbush.com/shop-nb/index.ep
or jogging shoes for exercise.

I would even wear my leather flip flops in the mall before being caught dead in those pointed shoes.

But Hey!
they might come in handy if I had to stick a foot in a German Shepherd.

Dec 21, 2008 - 1:39 am 3. Herr Morgenholz:

Those shoes have reached Ohio. Saw my first pair a few days ago. And it was ridiculous. Poor kid looked like a fool.

Dec 21, 2008 - 2:08 am 4. Herr Morgenholz:

Also, the pointiness of cowboy boots serves two purposes: ease of entry into stirrups and crushing cockroaches in a corner.

Dec 21, 2008 - 2:10 am 5. Wacky Hermit:

I dunno about the lack of manliness. Pointy toed shoes were “it” during the age of chivalry. They went to some ridiculous extremes, of course (prompting laws as to how long the pointy toe could be, and straps to suspend the point from your calf) but I don’t think those shoes are extreme at all. Just pair them with a jerkin and hose (and of course a stylish codpiece) and you have a complete manly outfit!

Dec 21, 2008 - 3:42 am 6. Bob:

Burly or powerful men, with swords in their belts, wore pantyhose tights in the 15th to 17th century. Look at Henry VIII for example.

Dec 21, 2008 - 5:26 am 7. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Melissa Clouthier, et al.
RE: Only….

Have men become a group of feminized, metrosexual elves? — Melissa Clouthier

….’men’ like Obama and Blagowhatzizname and Rahm, and their ilk.

The real ones are still here. We’re just being ignored by those currently in power. But the time will come when that all changes back to normal.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[The feminist movement died a millisecond after the first impact. -- Lucifer's Hammer]

Dec 21, 2008 - 6:19 am 8. misanthropicus:

Jokes about foppery across ages aside, there is much truth about the seriousness of this situation – and also we face significant attempts by the liberal cultural establishment at un-linking pollution etc. to feminization/homosexuality & aberrant sexual behavior.

Foppery and dysfunctional vestimentation have always been criticized along ages and this for good reason (up to physical punishment) – not long ago I came across a group of diversity types who were traveling in a mall with the wallruses’ efficiency, this caused by pants lowered about half-way under butts, situation which in mid 1700’s used to be dealt harshly in England, France and Germany (regulation of breeches sizes as not to interfere with respect and manners).

If bizzare and dysfunctional vestimentation were just another opportunity for natural selection and species streamlining, allowing for those who can’t walk, jump or run efficiently be removed by competition, that would be fine (by the way, vegetarian flip-flops wearers are also on the archeopterixes list) – but unfortunately the relationship between pollution-caused feminization/ homosexualization and foppery appears to go beyond correlation into the realm of causal (I define this as the “Melrose avenue Syndrome).
Yes Gloria, DDT and styrofoam cause more and more de-masculinization and subsequent counterproductive clothing, and the human kind will perish if we don’t address this Melrose Avenue Syndrome.

To spice the PJM readers’ Christmas merriment, bellow is a London Independent piece dealing with the matter:

“Pollution Causes Feminization Across Multiple Species”/The Independent, London 12/08/08 -

The male gender is in danger, with incalculable consequences for both humans and wildlife, startling scientific research from around the world reveals. The research – to be detailed tomorrow in the most comprehensive report yet published – shows that a host of common chemicals is feminising males of every class of vertebrate animals, from fish to mammals, including people.
Backed by some of the world’s leading scientists, who say that it “waves a red flag” for humanity and shows that evolution itself is being disrupted, the report comes out at a particularly sensitive time for ministers. On Wednesday, Britain will lead opposition to proposed new European controls on pesticides, many of which have been found to have “gender-bending” effects. It also follows hard on the heels of new American research which shows that baby boys born to women exposed to widespread chemicals in pregnancy are born with smaller penises and feminised genitals…
Wildlife and people have been exposed to more than 100,000 new chemicals in recent years, and the European Commission has admitted that 99 per cent of them are not adequately regulated. There is not even proper safety information on 85 per cent of them. any have been identified as “endocrine disrupters” – or gender-benders – because they interfere with hormones. These include phthalates, used in food wrapping, cosmetics and baby powders among other applications; flame retardants in furniture and electrical goods; PCBs, a now banned group of substances still widespread in food and the environment; and many pesticides.
The report – published by the charity CHEMTrust and drawing on more than 250 scientific studies from around the world – concentrates mainly on wildlife, identifying effects in species ranging from the polar bears of the Arctic to the eland of the South African plains, and from whales in the depths of the oceans to high-flying falcons and eagles.
It concludes: “Males of species from each of the main classes of vertebrate animals (including bony fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) have been affected by chemicals in the environment.
“Feminisation of the males of numerous vertebrate species is now a widespread occurrence. All vertebrates have similar sex hormone receptors, which have been conserved in evolution. Therefore, observations in one species may serve to highlight pollution issues of concern for other vertebrates, including humans.”…
Professor Lou Gillette of Florida University, one of the most respected academics in the field, warned that the report waved “a large red flag” at humanity. He said: “If we are seeing problems in wildlife, we can be concerned that something similar is happening to a proportion of human males”
Indeed, new research at the University of Rochester in New York state shows that boys born to mothers with raised levels of phthalates were more likely to have smaller penises and undescended testicles. They also had a shorter distance between their anus and genitalia, a classic sign of feminisation. And a study at Rotterdam’s Erasmus University showed that boys whose mothers had been exposed to PCBs grew up wanting to play with dolls and tea sets rather than with traditionally male toys.
Communities heavily polluted with gender-benders in Canada, Russia and Italy have given birth to twice as many girls than boys, which may offer a clue to the reason for a mysterious shift in sex ratios worldwide. Normally 106 boys are born for every 100 girls, but the ratio is slipping. It is calculated that 250,000 babies who would have been boys have been born as girls instead in the US and Japan alone.
And sperm counts are dropping precipitously. Studies in more than 20 countries have shown that they have dropped from 150 million per millilitre of sperm fluid to 60 million over 50 years. (Hamsters produce nearly three times as much, at 160 million.) Professor Nil Basu of Michigan University says that this adds up to “pretty compelling evidence for effects in humans”.”

Dec 21, 2008 - 6:23 am 9. ExRat:

This has happened before in living memory. Back in the 60s there was a short time when pointy-toed Italian shoes were in fashion. I believe the Brits called them “winkle pickers”. I had a friend in college (campus in the Midwest, he ived in NJ) who wore them until the merciless teasing caused him to change styles.

Dec 21, 2008 - 6:29 am 10. Wild Bill:

Yep, men are under attack. Watch, if you can, an evening of commercial TV…commercials are ALWAYS portraying ‘the man’ as an idiot, bumbling, weak, stupid, buffoon.Only Mr. Clean looks like a winner… what a comment that is, anyway. Even the guy that wanders into Lowes or Home Depot appears helpless. Guess men are just supposed to laugh at their own ridiculous portrail. Then we go and allow political correctness in schools, discourse. Yep, Doc, it hurts right here…no, lower…lower…ahhhhhhh.

Dec 21, 2008 - 6:42 am 11. Wild Bill:

er…guess that’s portrayal..(sorry, I was being publicly stupid).

Dec 21, 2008 - 6:45 am 12. Pointy Toe Shoes « Jb’s Sanctuary:

[...] Pointy Toe Shoes By JB Melissa Clouthier has a pretty spot on post of pointy toe shoes. [...]

Dec 21, 2008 - 6:48 am 13. HardHeadedWoman:

Pointless article. Fads come and go. Pointy toed shoes for men were worn by Fonzi types in the late 50’s and early 60’s and didn’t last all that long. There are a lot of indications that the metromale look is NOT going anywhere.

Dec 21, 2008 - 6:50 am 14. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Wild Bill
RE: [OT] Whomever’s English

er…guess that’s portrayal..(sorry, I was being publicly stupid). —

“Portraying” is a word in MY dictionary.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Don't sell yourself short. The stock market has enough problems as it is.]

Dec 21, 2008 - 7:26 am 15. Saltherring:

I would hate to be a woman looking for a real man these days, especially in a metropolitan area. Look at Obama, he appears to be about a foot wide at the shoulders. You could probably slap him silly with a handful of limp pasta. Sadly, Obama epitomizes 21st century urban “manhood”. Wimp.

Dec 21, 2008 - 7:27 am 16. Mary Jackson:

Men wear pointy shoes because they feel they must toe the line.

Dec 21, 2008 - 8:06 am 17. ~Paules:

Manhood is not based on style; it’s an attitude. Certain virtues are universally recognized as manly whatever the age or culture. Among them: courage, duty, honor, veracity, magnaminity, toughness, fidelity, fairplay, discretion, self-discipline, and the list goes on. Where do you find such men today? In our nation’s armed services which is one reason why our military is so hated by the left. The manly virtues reveal the left as cowardly and decadent.

“Fashion” itself is a decadent concept. Form follows function as in a Shaker rocking-chair or a cowboy hat to keep the snow off your neck. Simplicity is a virtue always following function. The male homo-sapien is no different. He was designed by nature with a deep chest and broad shoulders for strength. Body hair is a mark of his virility. His muscular buttocks was designed for (ahem) thrusting. His deep voice is a growl to warn enemies, and he is aggressive toward other males because he is competitive by nature.

What is this effeminate, servile creature we find in the cities? Hardly a man at all. In truth, he is a degenerate form of homo-sapien permitted to live because the laws of nature are suspended in an urban environment. His virtues are vices. He is cowardly, conniving, political and false-faced. In times past such a one would have been driven from the village under a hail of sticks and stones, but he thrives like a parasite in the urban environment. Abundance is a breeding ground for an entire class of societal parasites. These are the vermin who are now running the show.

Indeed, the rats have overrun the granary. Look at them feed! They are even now eating the seed corn of future generations. It’s become a feeding frenzy with no bottom to the gluttony. Our cities are a pestilence in themselves. History informs me that it cannot last. When the time comes, the tariff will be steep.

All this over shoes? Yeah, I reckon so. The urban orgy will continue while the folk of the provinces take precautions and make plans. Pointy heads and pointed shoes won’t be welcome in my neck of the woods when the time comes. Just say’n. Nothing meant, just say’n.

Dec 21, 2008 - 8:41 am 18. jvon:

No way in hell will I ever wear shoes like that, and only partly because my feet would never fit in them.

Dec 21, 2008 - 8:52 am 19. Tom:

Women in this country are the most reponsible for the decline of true masculinity, and yet I hear complaints of how few ‘men’ there are. I especially love traveling back to CA where I’m from, the SF Bay Area. So many of the men there are gay, and the women know it, but it still pisses them off.

I even heard one story about a man who cheated on his wife, with a man. Hilarious.

It all starts at the grammar school level as boys are taught not to be boys, but basically girls.

And then modern American women have the nerve to blame ‘men’.

Dec 21, 2008 - 8:53 am 20. Jay Lee:

It is obvious that New York is as wimpy and pusilanimous as London. If New York didn’t have so much influence in media men there would know it and finally sack up.

Dec 21, 2008 - 9:22 am 21. Larsen E Whipsnade:

“A stylish man can be manly. A few of my readers mentioned Cary Grant.”

Wait a minute . . . wasn’t Cary Grant a homo?

Dec 21, 2008 - 9:34 am 22. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Larsen E Whipsnade
RE: Cary Grant

Wait a minute . . . wasn’t Cary Grant a homo? — Larsen E Whipsnade

You’re thinking of Rock Hudson and Liberace.

There were a lot of jealous people who claimed he was one, but there’s nothing more than stupid innuendo and malicious slander.

He died of a stroke in 1986, when the homosexual way of leaving this ’stage’ was AIDS, see Rock Hudson and Liberace.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Gay is a one-word oxymoron.]

Dec 21, 2008 - 10:00 am 23. Pee Wee Herman, Community Organizer:

Pointy cowboy boots can be masculine. I think the bigger problem is pointy heads.

Dec 21, 2008 - 10:08 am 24. kabud:

BRAVO to the author

by the way , you gonna love it:

an activist of resistance in Moscow recently told me that

POINTY SHOES there is often a sign of

secret kgb affiliation

Dec 21, 2008 - 10:29 am 25. Mike:

Cowboy boots are pointed to make it easier to get the foot into the stirrup and have high heels so the foot doesn’t slide through when the horse is bucking and the rider gets dragged to death. Same with Medieval knights footwear. In the 50’s and 60’s pointed shoes were all the rage amongst the gang bangers of that day. I am old enough to have known some of the old time cowboys of the WWI generation. There damn sure was nothing feminine about THEM!

However on the other hand, the author has a good point about today’s foppery. Is there a reason that so many girls today are drawn to the “bad boys”? Maybe because they look like real males.

Dec 21, 2008 - 10:47 am 26. Dave D:

If you base your perception of masculinity on what goes on in the new york fashion world, you are sol no matter what. Most men don’t wear pointy shoes, and most don’t look like Cary Grant either.

Someone should write an article here complaining about how women that wear pants and a suit jacket are masculinized, and how they should dress up like Katharine Hepburn.

Dec 21, 2008 - 11:17 am 27. Eleemosynary:

I seldom look at a men’s shoes altho I often look at women’s and wonder at their ability at (and insistence on) sticking a size 8 foot into a size 4 shoe. – it doesn’t make them more attractive…it makes them look like they’re about to topple over.

(Personally, I prefer and admire the not-so-ancient Chinese custom of “binding the feet”. It was a sign of wealth if your women had to crawl around the house not being able to do anything for themselves….the implication being that you had servants doing all the work.)

But most women in the US now wear -for everyday use- what I guess is called “athletic shoes”….you know…those sort of technology enhanced tennis shoes. They all look like they’re going jogging or just come back from a trek somewhere. And so many of these pseudo-athletes past a certain age have horrific verricose veins.

I mean, if women won’t pretty themsleves up, I guess men will have to do it. Someone’s gotta look “attractive”.

Dec 21, 2008 - 11:34 am 28. B Dubya:

Manly footwear: size 12c, black,leather, navy last oxford. I have one pair, they are almost 40 years old. I keep them shined so that you can see your face in them. I only wear them once a year, when I put on my Navy Chief Petty Officers dress blues to celebrate the Navy’s birthday. They still look great, and by gGod, so do I…lol

More: western boots, leather, plain shank and toe, walking heels. 25 years old. Had them resoled once, re-heeled 3 times.

You almost can’t buy these any more.

Well, the Navy oxfords, you can get in any of the military services, if you enlist or take a commision. Lots of real men have and continue to do so. Metrosexuals? Not so much.

Dec 21, 2008 - 12:04 pm 29. ran:

The elf shoes have to go.Geeeezzz it isn’t fashion, its a disaster.Also click on my name and go to my web site.

Dec 21, 2008 - 1:05 pm 30. Bugs:

On the other extreme, for the last couple of years I’ve been seeing the shoes with wide, square toes. Equally ridiculous – they look like Bozo shoes after a close encounter with a miter saw. Probably comfy for your toesies, but I’ll stick with oxfords. Moderation is the rule.

Dec 21, 2008 - 2:02 pm 31. Chuck Pelto:

TO: All
RE: The Pivotal Point Here….

….is not so much the business of how ones footwear appears.

Rather….

….it is whether or not some ‘bozo’—as pointed out by Bugs in item #30 (above)—is so easily swayed by the dictators of ‘fashion’.

Real men don’t care overly much about ‘fashion’. Otherwise, they’d look like the tripe walking down some ‘cat-walk’ in Milan or Paris.

As long as the attire is clean, functional and apropos for the activity, who bloody-well gives a ‘damn’.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[The height of sophistication is wearing what you bloody-well want and not giving a damn about what others think.]

P.S. But then again, if you go about nude on the streets….

….have a care…..

Dec 21, 2008 - 2:30 pm 32. Will Becker:

Men have become a bunch of wimps. Little boys are taught the same as little girls,as if there is no difference. What do we expect?

Dec 21, 2008 - 2:30 pm 33. Achillea:

I must be living right. I’ve never seen a man wearing pointy-toed shoes — certainly not either of the gentlemen in the Home Depot parking lot who volunteered to load three 50lb bags of gravel into the back of my SUV.

Thanks again, guys!

Dec 21, 2008 - 2:31 pm 34. comatus:

Melissa, there’s some kids on your lawn. Time to run out in your housedress and shoo them off. Then come back in and straighten the antimacassars.

Next thing you know, they’ll be re-buckling their knickerbockers below the knee. Chewing gum in class. Reading comic books. And that ragtime music–what’s this world coming to?

Dec 21, 2008 - 2:33 pm 35. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Will Becker
RE: True

Little boys are taught the same as little girls,as if there is no difference. What do we expect? — Will Becker

As C.S. Lewis put it….

We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful. — C. S. Lewis

Regards,

Chuck(le)
P.S. Hmmmmm….

“….laugh at honour and are ’shocked’ to find traitors….”

….how apropos….

Dec 21, 2008 - 2:48 pm 36. Slattsnews » Shoe thing:

[...] welcome Dr Melissa to Orstralia. But fellas, if you want to impress, wear the [...]

Dec 21, 2008 - 5:01 pm 37. Dr. Fred in PA:

I’m pretty sure that there is a strong correlation between a lack of firearms training and the wearing of those shoes. (Any asshat that wore those things out here in the country would be roundly laughed at.)

Dec 21, 2008 - 7:17 pm 38. Horace Wells:

More pathetic fretting over machismo from the right. For all their prattling about faith, all these people seem to worship is strength, war and power while finding someone and something to fret about every week, like Venezuela! Honestly, this is trash but it does reflect the tiny minds here very well. Keep up the deep thinking on important issues, you have to stay relevant.

Dec 21, 2008 - 7:36 pm 39. paul_unalaska:

Ms. Cloutier thank you for your summation on ‘Men’s shoe fashion’ or lack thereof. My wife and me would get a good chuckle when we’d see these, ahem, men on the street.

The metrosexual ensemble is really quite frightening and ends only with the shoes. You could also mention the globs of hair gel these fashionistas pile (and I feel ‘absorbed’) on their head. Apparently spiky, shiny hair is more comfortable to the touch. As well as the all-too important tight black t-shirt, accompanied with the prerequisite barbed wire tattoo on their bicep. 5 o’clock shadow or 1-2 day growth, optional (the soul patch accessory is also a creepy though often used accessory). Sideburns coming to a point, not like Leonard Nimoy’s, ‘Spock’ but eerily similar. Lastly, earring or earrings, wearer discretion.

The real shame in all this is the ‘Men’s Salon’ sprouting like weeds across this country. These haunts have pedicures, manicures, etc., Those who frequent those establishments aren’t men.. they’re poodles!

Dec 21, 2008 - 8:34 pm 40. paul_unalaska:

Horace Wells, thank the Gods for making your presence, superior intellect shine through us most humble of beings!

Correct me, and I’m sure you will, but left leaning Yahoo! .com had front page news such as Jennifer Aniston’s PDA and BHO considering replacing the White House bowling alley with a basketball court. Please, do tell..!?

Lastly, the pointy shoes dig is hitting a little close to home, eh? (;

Dec 21, 2008 - 8:40 pm 41. paul_unalaska:

Instead of seeing Popular Science, Scientific American, Scientific American Mind, etc, type magazines at check-out stands. The public is inundated with the likes of People, Newsweek, Star, etc., gushing over moronic celebs and the unfounded ‘amazingness’ of BHO.

I listen to conservative talk radio. Last I heard, Air America is going belly up or has already hit the iceberg.. Don’t worry, Randy Rhodes will still be on the air for ‘Mensa’ type folks such as yourself.

Dec 21, 2008 - 8:51 pm 42. misanthropicus:

RE #38/Horace Wells: [...] More pathetic fretting over machismo from the right. […}’

Horace, it looks to me that you got quite an identity problem her, buddy, if a light-hearted article like Melissa’s and the equally light-hearted answers to it on this thread brought you to such a foamy-mouthed reaction.
Heavens! You went in no time from Robert Mitchum helping a lady descend from a buggy to “worshipping strength, war and power!”

Also, your injecting the “Venezuela” thing in this matter is beyond me – clerly, I’m a repugnant, tiny, macho mind (???!!). Still, I’d appreciate some clarifications here.
Best regards – Melrose Avenue-dissing Misanthropicus.

Dec 21, 2008 - 8:59 pm 43. SamIam:

Hey Horace, aren’t you missing a tupperware party or something?

Dec 21, 2008 - 9:06 pm 44. therealist:

You wear pointy shoes to impress other people who are impressed by pointy shoes. Then when you grow up a little you find out that the people who matter aren’t impressed by pointy shoes but rather your character, your reputation, your family, your goals, your values, your self-discipline, etc.

Dec 21, 2008 - 10:14 pm 45. vivo:

Dr. Melissa Clouthier:

Great article and funny.

But I was thinking, aren’t these pointy shoes guys gay??

How about cowboy boots?

I remember pointies in the 70’s or 80’s with no complaints.

Dec 22, 2008 - 12:45 am 46. Trid:

So if pointy toes makes a man effeminate, what do these (http://m2.sourcingmap.com/smap/images/item/n/07c/ux_a07071700ux0002_ux_n.jpg) make me? Not only are they comfortable and warm, the damn things are near indestructible.

Dec 22, 2008 - 1:23 am 47. Jonesy55:

Men with pointy shoes should clearly be sent to re-education camps until they choose to dress like Wyatt Earp, and what’s with those masculinised women that have the temerity to wear jeans? Why can’t they just wear a pretty feminine skirt like Scarlett O’Hara?

The world is going mad I tell you, MAD!!!

Dec 22, 2008 - 3:06 am 48. TomJW:

I’m with Herr Morgenholz, get those cockroaches!

So far, only my cowboy boots have been pointy. Now my feet are too wide for them too.

Dec 22, 2008 - 4:46 am 49. Horace Wells:

I was just watching trends, and fretting about masculinity is a familiar trope here. This is all fear based. The knee jerk “thinking” behind this is the usual: “If we don’t get all tough and dirty, the barbarians are going to invade and roll over our fat butts”. Well, one reason these barbarians may be able to roll over us is due to too many people driving their cars everywhere and consuming enormous quantities of junk food, turning into fat lazy slugs. My next door neighbor has a riding snowblower for a drive I could shovel by hand in ten minutes, and he looks like a bobo doll. But then agaiin this is freedom. But alas, the neo-virtual(phony) cowboys have been sweating over this for centuries. Perhaps we should all just dress in fatigues and Doc Martins, shave our heads and look like we are going to star in the next WWF special.

As far as other media outlets and some liberals go, why berate me for things I don’t support and have no control over? Can’t you people handle any divergent opinions without freaking out or getting all huffy? Talk about small mindedness, which seems to be the core of conservatism judging from this blog.

Dec 22, 2008 - 6:01 am 50. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Horace Wells
RE: Ignorant, You Are

The knee jerk “thinking” behind this is the usual: “If we don’t get all tough and dirty, the barbarians are going to invade and roll over our fat butts”. — Horace Wells

It’s complex. But it IS true that those who do not have the will nor the wherewithall to resist the barbarians are doomed.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[In battle, morale is to physical as 9 to 1. -- Napoleon]

Dec 22, 2008 - 6:32 am 51. Chuck Pelto:

P.S…..

Talk about small mindedness, which seems to be the core of conservatism judging from this blog. — Horace Wells

….you’re ‘projecting’…..

Dec 22, 2008 - 6:33 am 52. spike:

i have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that anyone would compare those ‘clay aiken collection’ elf shoes to cowboy boots…save us from the metrosexual revolution. like my wife says, no real woman wants a pretty man-a real woman wants a man

BTW,horace, you have provided the best possible example of “knee jerk thinking” and “small mindedness” from the left that i have seen in a LONG time…sorry if your mantyhose are in a twist…masculinity can be intimidating to some…just grab a latte and think hopeful thoughts of diversity and you will be fine

Dec 22, 2008 - 6:35 am 53. jt:

I remember trying to buy a pair of civilian shoes back in the late 60’s, when I came back from a year in Vietnam (combat boots all the time). Nothing but silly, pointy-toe junk that I couldn’t imagine wearing. Fashion is definitely an acquired taste, and it can be unacquired, too.

Dec 22, 2008 - 7:09 am 54. Letalis Maximus, Esq.:

No pointy shoes for me, thank you very much. I wear these, or something about like them, pretty much all the time:

http://www.armynavysuperstores.com/cor1525.htm

They provide excellent ankle support, protect the feet from all sorts of bad things (because when you’re feet get injured, you’re done), and in a pinch they turn the foot into a pretty decent weapon.

I have even have some brown ones for when I have to go to court.

Dec 22, 2008 - 7:18 am 55. misanthropicus:

RE #49/Horace Wells: “[...] I was just watching trends, and fretting about masculinity is a familiar trope here. This is all fear based. [...]”

Horace, to me it looks like you are one of those types who fret about those who fret about loss of cultural (& biological) masculinity – and this is funny.
If you have an identity problem, then let the fabulous inside you fly, buddy, try a bathouse or some bisexuality classes, I’m sure a college near you offers them – after all, Brokeback Mountain showed that some Wyoming types with worn off boots (pointed or flat) have a soft side, too, didn’t it?
Incidentally, after Brokeback came out, in West Hollywood there was a flood of faux cowboys, battered p/u trucks, weathered Stetsons and belts, the works – ’till the landscape went back to its normal look, designer water, marmalade sandals and fretting about people who fret about the loss of masculinity in this society.
And, what about your Venezuela thing?
Confused in Los Angeles -

Dec 22, 2008 - 7:28 am 56. Vadept:

Pointy shoes are not feminine

They’re stupid. Period. Nobody should be wearing them. Ever.

Dec 22, 2008 - 7:33 am 57. Marie Claude:

Eleemosynary

funny how the “feet” appearance is a sexual fantasy for many men

(uh oh, for the cow-boy style, seems tha men were all by their own, Broadback Montains anyone ?)

http://www.apparelsearch.com/Definitions/Clothing/Fetish_clothing/shoe_fetishism.htm

“Two hundred years later the custom was as strong as ever and small deformed feet had lost none of their attraction for Chinese men, as a French scholar explained. “All the Celestials whom I have interrogated on this point have replied unanimously: ‘Oh, a little foot! You Europeans cannot understand how exquisite, how sweet, how exciting it is!’ The contact of the genital organ with the little foot produces in the male an indescribable degree of voluptuous feeling, and women skilled in love know that to arouse the ardor of their lovers a better method than all Chinese aphrodisiacs is to take the penis between their feet. It is not rare to find Chinese Christians accusing themselves at confession of having had ‘evil thoughts on looking at a woman’s foot.’”

http://www.romanization.com/books/formosan_odyssey/footbinding.html

“When a Celestial takes into his hand a woman’s foot, especially if it is very small, the effect upon him is precisely the same as is provoked in a European by a young and firm bosom…” It was believed that the way foot binding made a woman walk strengthened the vagina and made it more narrow. The girls’ buttocks and “jade gate” were believed to develop to such a degree that she could grip her husbands “jade spear” more tightly. It was also thought that with the smaller feet the nerves were more concentrated and that this made them a major erogenous zone. Poetry and writings from this period express a great infatuation even an obsession bordering on perversion, for small feet. There was also a large number of pornographic paintings and engravings with scenes of men fondling women’s feet. It’s no wonder that men were so adamant about their wives having bound feet.”

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/beekeeper/foot.html

the reality :

http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/OddPics/Bound.html

Dec 22, 2008 - 7:33 am 58. Piggle:

We wore pointy-toes shoes in my youth at school in the UK and they were called winkle-pickers. But playing football (soccer) in them, the toes got awfully bent and squashed no matter how careful you were… which rather spoiled the effect.

Dec 22, 2008 - 7:42 am 59. Jacknut:

@ Reply #39 – You obviously don’t go to the right salon. Mine dishes up pedicures and manicures with single malt and cigars. It looks like the inside of a Victorian gentleman’s library, not some fru-fru salon. Of course, it’s invite-only.

In general, I follow fashion and will even cop to owning a pair of pointy-toed shoes that are well-made and comfy. I know the Shakespearean injunction that the apparel oft proclaims the man. When combined with a proper suit and fedora, the pointy shoes show just the right touch of “I don’t give a shit” that every man needs to show.

Now all of you will laugh at my suede lace-ups, but it’s the perfect shoe for playing wing-man.

Dec 22, 2008 - 7:43 am 60. Brock:

Pointy shoes aren’t the problem. Men who refuse to be men are the problem.

As others have noted, some seriously manly men have sported some very silly fashion. That’s wouldn’t stop them from keeping their word or killing their enemies. And that’s the only reason no one laughed at their shoes.

Dec 22, 2008 - 7:51 am 61. Войска ПВО:

Herr Morgenholz writes:

“Also, the pointiness of cowboy boots serves two purposes: ease of entry into stirrups and crushing cockroaches in a corner.”

Woah there, Pahdnuh! That latter characteristic was ascribed to the shoes worn by the denizens of New Your who recently immigrated from San Juan, not strictly cowboy boots. I believe the colloquial name assigned to those shoes were “Puerto Rican fence-climbers” (he said insensitively) for yet another benefit they offered their wearers who were fleeing from the law.

Dec 22, 2008 - 8:14 am 62. bluhawkk:

What is the verdict on cowboy boots?

Dec 22, 2008 - 8:17 am 63. Kelly:

My step dad has always been a metrosexual long before the term was coined. At least now I have a word for it. He was into all the fads, the maroon leisure suit being one memorable outfit. My brother and I were never sure what to think of him, or what to think of my mother for bringing the guy home. Especially when compared to our real father who was a hardworking steel mill worker and a family man who was suddenly left without his family. My brother ran away, my sisters and I came to appreciate having a man around who could give fashion advice and who didn’t leave the toilet seat up. However, I married someone more like my real father who is a manly man and retired military. I refuse to compete with a man for mirror time.

Dec 22, 2008 - 8:23 am 64. Chuck Pelto:

TO: bluhawkk
RE: Boots

What is the verdict on cowboy boots? — bluhawkk

I prefer Jump or Jungle boots. Regular ‘leg’ boots for working with cement.

Regards,

Chuck(le)

Dec 22, 2008 - 8:26 am 65. JohnF:

I’ve seen this before. I want to think it was back in the late 60’s and early 70’s. We called them PFC’s which was short for Puerto rican Fence Climbers. I know, I know, not PC but then, I never was PC.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Dec 22, 2008 - 8:40 am 66. spike:

kelly,
“My step dad has always been a metrosexual long before the term was coined. At least now I have a word for it.”

we used to have a term for ‘metrosexual’ back on the playground, but it takes longer to say ‘prissy boy who gets his butt kicked daily’, so as much as the term just grates, at least it’s easier to say

Dec 22, 2008 - 9:23 am 67. D Palmer:

First they wanted us to look like pilgrims with those stupid shoes with 4 inch wide flat tips, now we get the women’s witchy poo look.

Blech. Not for me thank you. Get those shoes out of my face and take the 80’s retro contrasting collar shirt with you.

Dec 22, 2008 - 9:35 am 68. Mambo Bananapatch:

“Have men become a group of feminized, metrosexual elves?”

Hell, no. Not THIS guy. I’m all man, all the time.

Now if you’ll excuse me I’ve just noticed a smudge on the end-table that I MUST address. I HATE that!

Dec 22, 2008 - 9:36 am 69. Kulak-in-Chief:

Splendid! If Horace Wells didn’t exist we’d have to invent him.

Dec 22, 2008 - 9:41 am 70. Doug M.:

Hey, what goes around, comes around. I agree with the legs covered thing. I started losing interest in R&R when the bands started wearing shorts onstage in the 1980s. But, pointed toe shoes were all the rage in the 1950s and 1960s (think Beatle Boots). In fact, in the Boston area where I grew up, it was all the toughest kids who wore them. The future meterosexuals wore White or “Dirty” “Bucks” or somesuch. The great Rockabilly star Carl Perkins (of “Blue Suede Shoes” fame) even wrote a song about them in 1959: “Everything’s alreet when I got ‘em on my feet.” They don’t write them like that anymore.

Yeah, I know, me too.

“Pointed Toe Shoes” by Carl Perkins (1959)

Well there’s a
Brand new style going round
A hypnotizing cats in town
Living in a walking dream
A pointed toe and that’s what I mean

I said pointed toes
Are coming back again
Uh huh uh, pointed toes
Are coming back again

Well, everything’s alreet
When I got ‘em on my feet
I say the point’s coming back again

Well, they’re made from high colored dye
Long and lean, narrow and keen
Some are brown, some are black
A cat starts a walking
He’s easy to track

I said pointed toes
Are coming back again
Uh huh uh, pointed toes
Are coming back again

Everything’s alreet
I got ‘em on my feet
I say the point’s coming back again
Rock

Well, I’m sharp toed
A high heeled
And buckle on the side
Zip ‘em up and lace ‘em up
Or any old style

I won’t have to worry
Who’s stepping on my blues
A keen cutting cat
In my pointed toe shoes

I said the pointed toes
Are coming back again
Uh huh, pointed toes
Are coming back again

Everything’s alreet
I got ‘em on my feet
I said the point’s coming back again
Rock

Sharp toes, I want a pointed shoe
Uh huh, sharp toes, I want a pointed shoe
Ooh, yeah, yeah, I want a pointed shoe
Uh huh, sharp toes, I want a pointed shoe

Well, everything’s alreet
I got ‘em on my feet
I said the point’s coming back again

Dec 22, 2008 - 9:51 am 71. Mr Blackwell:

The author is right: useless, pointy shoes on men are as feminine as 80’s leg warmers(unless they are real cowboy boots). The big, square toed ones are awful too: might as well say “I am the copier room boy” or “I am chuck pelto,” when wearing them.

Wearing watches on the wrist used to be laughed at too, till soldiers in WWI adopted them in preference to pocket watches. But that was functional.

Dec 22, 2008 - 9:52 am 72. Jack:

Oh, brother. Yeah, Chuck Pelto – you’re the manliest man of them all. You work with concrete and don’t care about fashion. Congratulations.

Dec 22, 2008 - 10:05 am 73. Kelly:

Spike, that’s true and my brother basically zeroed in on that (seems most 12 year olds have that radar) so they never got along. My brother was happier living with my dad anyway.

Dec 22, 2008 - 10:12 am 74. Chuck Pelto:

TO: All
RE: Mr Blackwell? Or Mr. CuteBoots?

The big, square toed ones are awful too: might as well say “I am the copier room boy” or “I am chuck pelto,” when wearing them. — Mr Blackwell

Heh. Dollas to donuts, Blackwell can’t jump?

Regards,

Chuck(le)
P.S. Blackwell….

….Show me your prop-blast card and I’ll call you ‘bro’….

Dec 22, 2008 - 10:13 am 75. Chuck Pelto:

TO: All
RE: Another….

You work with concrete and don’t care about fashion. Congratulations. — Jack

…jackanapes.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Hatred is the cowards revenge for being intimidated.]

Dec 22, 2008 - 10:15 am 76. cowboy:

Cowboy boots have pointy toes for two reasons. First, pointy toes make it easier to get your boot into the stirrup. Second, so it will hurt more when he kicks your ass.

Dec 22, 2008 - 10:32 am 77. Mr Blackwell:

Most men care about fashion because women care. Hence, few want to wear clod-hopper “pelto” boots or pointy-toed “I’m a hippie from Berkeley” boots. We have a sharp sense of the ridiculous and won’t be pushed into wearing silly looking shoes. I thank this author and hope those silly shoes go the way of wide ties, medallions, nehru jackets and flared pants.

Dec 22, 2008 - 10:50 am 78. Chuck Pelto:

TO: All
RE: Mr. Blackwell….

Hence, few want to wear clod-hopper “pelto” boots — Mr. Blackwell

….doesn’t know me very well.

In other circumstances, my attire consists of dress-blues, tennis shoes and a light coat of oil. But those are all male affairs.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
P.S. Mr. Blackwell, as I said earlier, can’t ‘jump’.

Dec 22, 2008 - 11:03 am 79. Ennis:

“Have men become a group of effeminate elves?”

Only in bleu states.

That is at the core of the irrational and somewhat psychotic behavior out of the Corruptocrat denizens of those states. Testosterone both frightens and intimidates them.

Dec 22, 2008 - 11:06 am 80. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Ennis
RE: Indeed

Testosterone both frightens and intimidates them. — Ennis

Hence the silliness from Mr. Blackwell and Jack.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Hatred is the cowards revenge for being intimidated.]

Dec 22, 2008 - 11:12 am 81. Trent Telenko:

Ms. Clouthier,

Others have aready pointed out that the “pointy” shoe style you are having the hives over can be seen on older “masculine,” footwear styles, like Cowboy boots and motorcycle boots.

The specific style you linked to are being popularized by the male Salsa dancer community, “Salseros.”

NY city is one of the main centers for Salsa dancing in the world. Try this link.

http://www.answers.com/topic/salsero-dress-shoes

What is happening is that guys in NY City clubs who cannot do full out Salsa dancing are copying the footwear styles of those who do to hit on women.

You are not in the proper demographic to appreciate this.

As for frilly sleeves and such as “feminine, again, Nope.

Practiced Swordsmen develop huge muscular forearms compared to those who did not. These could be easily spotted at a distance without sleeves or with tight sleeves

The frilly sleeves were protective camouflage in the European royal courts to hide who was putting in the time with various forms of sword and bladesmanship instructors and who was not.

Dec 22, 2008 - 11:41 am 82. Chuck Pelto:

TO: All
RE: [OT] Maybe….

Most men care about fashion because women care. — Mr. Blackwell

….this fellow is still looking for a good woman.

Most men I know don’t dress for women. Rather, they dress to suit (1) themselves, (2) the occasion and (3) the company they keep.

If you’re going out on a combat patrol, you don’t wear a Jammers and Tijuana retreads. If you’re going to a Dining-In, you don’t wear battle-dress, you wear dress blues.

Whether women are attracted to them is, essentially, secondary. That is unless the company they keep are ‘women’. And in that case we find ourselves going back to the concept of ‘meterosexual’.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. -- Thomas Jefferson]

P.S. Don’t be distracted by ‘eddies’ in the ‘current’ known as ‘the latest fashion’.

Dec 22, 2008 - 11:44 am 83. jonesy55:

You have to laugh at some people’s insecurities, if guys want to wear pointy shoes and sup lattes let them, if they want to wear checked lumberjack shirts and only shave every three months when they leave the woods to venture into town for supplies of engine oil let them do that too.

Me, I like to wear nice clothes but I don’t like to spend a fortune on fashion and don’t change my look every six months, classic style rather than ephemeral trend is more my vibe. I also like to smell nice in polite civilised society but it’s fine to get smelly and sweaty when out mountain biking or hiking or doing home improvements. I also cut my own hair, very manly, no prissy barber for me, lol.

Dec 22, 2008 - 11:54 am 84. Kurt:

I live in the Bay Area, and my everyday outfit consists of jeans or Dockers, a plain long-sleeved shirt and/or T-shirt, and Sidi motorcycle boots. Plus a heated jacket liner and gloves, and a heavyweight Cordura riding suit for year-round motorcycle commuting. My hair is by Arai, and a “treatment” is something I put on my faceshield, not my face.

Oh, and I’m a gay man. So blame whomever you want for the alleged feminization of the American male, but don’t blame me.

Dec 22, 2008 - 11:56 am 85. Russ:

Ha.
The beta males know who they are, and can keep being as bitter as they need to be.

First step in being a man would be to stop caring whether anybody laughs at your clothes. Second, is to realize the difference between fashion, which is a fancy word for other people making a buck off you, and *style*, which is about who you are, what you do, and why what you wear matches columns A and B.

And it has crap to do with sexuality, either. If a man is fabulous, and that’s who he is and fits what he needs in a given day, good for him, and it’s none of anybody else’s ****** business.

On the personal side, I wear vests. Real vests. Have for years: they give you extra pockets that aren’t hard to reach in a car, and they also hide a handgun. Could give a rat’s behind what anybody else thinks about that.

Dec 22, 2008 - 12:55 pm 86. Mr Blackwell:

Kurt: So you’re off the hook. Men of any persuasion that simply want to dress comfortably and sensibly but stand out the group of barney fife look alikes (”going to a Dining In” with other guys in dress blues and tennis shoes)and the pointy shoe crowd will continue to ignore both extremes.

Dec 22, 2008 - 12:57 pm 87. Tern:

Not having read the comments above; but in defense of pointy shoes:

They are absolutely great for kicking animate objects. Not, of course, that I have ever used them as such. Never.

Dec 22, 2008 - 1:49 pm 88. Thinking Person:

I think hygiene is a key determinate of a man. Sort of differentiates betwixt man and beast wouldn’t you agree?

Dec 22, 2008 - 2:23 pm 89. Chuck Pelto:

TO: All
RE: [OT] I Think We Have….

stand out the group of barney fife look alikes (”going to a Dining In” with other guys in dress blues and tennis shoes)

….a potential $100,000 grand prize winner for America’s Funniest Home Videos.

Let’s have Mr. Blackwell show up at a Dining In for a battalion of paratroopers just back from Afghanistan and say such to the assembly.

I suspect they’ll put him through an impromptu ‘prop-blast’ ceremony. [Note: See the guy in the hood, wired for 'sound' in the photo accompanying this thread.] And, likely without the benefit of a trip to the punch bowl, first.

I’m sure it would at least be a million view item on YouTube.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[All the girls are crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed ma-AN! -- ZZ Top]

P.S. Mr. Blackwell….

….Jealousy does not look good on you, the way YOU wear it.

Dec 22, 2008 - 3:01 pm 90. Chuck Pelto:

TO: jonesy55
RE: Another Indicator

I also cut my own hair, very manly, no prissy barber for me, lol. — jonesy55

Good point, that.

How much did Senator Edwards pay for HIS haircuts?

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Real men don't spend more than $10* on haircuts.]

*Adjusted for high-cost living areas like some major metro area.

P.S. I wonder how much some of the gainsayers around here are spending on such…..

Dec 22, 2008 - 3:15 pm 91. Francis W. Porretto:

The opinions of Dr. Melissa Clouthier are frequently as shrill and unfounded as any in the Blogosphere. But now and then, before I rise to object to her carpings, it occurs to me that she might have a reason for a statement such as this one:

“pointy toed shoes on a man scream sissy.”

…that a mere mortal might not have grasped. So I will ask:

What makes pointy-toed shoes an item of “sissy” attire? Is it causal, or is it a matter of correlation? In either case, please elaborate.

It’s one thing to dislike an item of fashion. It’s another to associate other undesirable characteristics with it, out of nothing but personal distaste.

Dec 22, 2008 - 3:20 pm 92. Mr Blackwell:

Mr. Blackwell would be dining out with a woman but would pay discretely and anonymously for the dinner of a soldier (after assuring that he was not wearing pointy shoes and his name was not Pelto).

Dec 22, 2008 - 3:30 pm 93. Chuck Pelto:

P.P.S. I pay my ‘barber’ in hugs and kisses and gourmet meals 20 out of all the days in a month. Admittedly, it’s an intangible expense, but she’s worth it.

Dec 22, 2008 - 3:32 pm 94. Chuck Pelto:

TO: All
RE: [OT] In Other Words…

Mr. Blackwell would be dining out with a woman…. — Mr. Blackwell

I suspect that Mr. Blackwell ALWAYS dines with a ‘woman’ or an [un]reasonable facsimile thereof, one way or another.

Even when he/she dines alone.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
P.S. I notice that Mr. Blackwell seems to demure to the thought of following through on his calling a group of paratroopers so many ‘Barney Fifes’. And I can appreciate that. I’d rather share a drink with them than insult them. Not one of the more health-conscious approaches to the game of Life. Ask a bunch of US Marines at Andrews AFB during the May Day Riots in DC in 1971…..

Indeed. I do believe that there was more rioting at Andrew AFB, between a brigade of paratroopers and a regiment of Marines then there was in DC that week.

And we didn’t give a flying flip about what we were wearing….except for the purpose of friend/foe recognition…..

Dec 22, 2008 - 3:42 pm 95. Roderick Reilly:

“”"”"”"”Have men become a group of feminized, metrosexual elves?”"”"”"”

Yes.

Dec 22, 2008 - 4:12 pm 96. Mary Jackson:

“The pointy bird goes pointy-pointy, and now my head anointy-nointy…”

Or something like it, from a Steve Martin Film, perhaps “The Man with Two Brains”.

Winkle pickers, eh? For a man who likes to pick his own winkle.

Dec 22, 2008 - 4:37 pm 97. Jack:

Seriously, Mr. Pelto, we get it. You were/are a military man, and very manly one at that. We read you loud and clear. Message acknowledged. Moving on…

Dec 22, 2008 - 7:01 pm 98. dorkafork:

“A few of my readers mentioned Cary Grant. Sounds good.”

oh, I hate to break it to you…

Dec 22, 2008 - 8:17 pm 99. Roger Godby:

In NYC, pointed shoes are in fact very functional for two reasons: (1) to get the cockroaches in the corners and (2) to kick non-DNC voters.

Unless you want shoes that scream “retiree of deserving age,” pointed shoes are about the only kind you can find in Tokyo (assuming you’re looking for leather shoes). Thankfully the Japanese shoe company Regal still offers a few non-pointy shoes.

I think pointed shoes are, however, better than Crocs when considering footwear as a whole, regardless of purpose, etc.

Dec 22, 2008 - 8:38 pm 100. Barry:

The only point footwear a man should use is a cowboy boot. The narrow toe is easy to put in the stirrup, you can kill cockroaches in corners, and climbing a chainlink fence is easier.

BUT THAT’S IT.

Dec 23, 2008 - 12:56 am 101. whiskey:

Women in urban areas tend to demand Metrosexuals, or the Emo type of guy. Think: Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy.

Women demand this kind of guy, and get them. It does not matter if most women don’t demand them, “enough” women do, in certain areas, and it spreads because the penalty for not doing what women want means being alone.

That’s how it works in the dating game.

Interestingly enough, there is another trend in the WSJ noted: workboots. They are generally comfortable, last a long time if cared for properly, with steel toes can be formidable if need be (a key in an urban environment where risk is higher), and have superior support when on your feet a lot. Probably not comfortable in the office, but quite nice in and around a concrete and asphalt filled urban area, after all most work boots are built for that environment.

Dec 23, 2008 - 1:31 am 102. Cybergeezer:

Question;
Has anyone heard who is to be appointed Obamas White House waxing therapist? The one he uses now does nice work!

Dec 23, 2008 - 7:25 am 103. Bernadine:

The whole thought of them looking clownish is right on. However, I think they look much funnier on women than they do on men. At least the men’s shoes look more proportionate length-wise. Kind of look like something from a old cowboy movie. Pointy women’s shoes look like they belong in a circus. They make women’s feet look really distorted and comically long. I’ve never seen any women’s shoes that look remotely appealing. Whenever I see a woman wearing them, I think “what a sucker”. Just because industry says they look good doesn’t make it so. They do not look feminine either; more like feet-binding like they used to do in China.

Dec 23, 2008 - 8:27 am 104. Wearyman:

Hey now. Pointy toed footwear isn’t ALL wimpy.

See? http://www.painetworks.com/photos/gs/gs0298.JPG

Maybe these guys just want a little of the old west in their step?

Dec 23, 2008 - 8:29 am 105. Chester White:

Men should have a dark grey suit, maybe a classic tuxedo for formal occasions, a dark blue suit, a blue blazer, a herringbone tweed jacket, some white shirts, some striped ties, a couple pair of dark wool pants, a bunch of khakis, dark socks, a couple nice sweaters, and a pair of jeans if desired. Increase quantities a little if a suit is required wearing at work. Problem solved.

Any man who pays the slightest attention to fashion is a g.d. idiot with no judgment. He is not to be trusted, especially with money. Also never trust a guy with hair that is too perfect.

These rules have never failed me in 50 years. You ladies would do well to remember these tips, especially about the hair.

Dec 23, 2008 - 10:23 am 106. juliet:

A man can & should be well groomed with out looking like a metrosexual. Well groomed is just that hair washed & combed, teeth brush, shaved or beard & moustuche clean, hand & feet well mantained without looking manicued. It is not hard but today’s man seems to have more time on thier hands so I guess they have more time to spend on themselves. But if the economy crunch continues the metroseexuals will be the first things to go. I still like a guy to spend less time geting ready then I.

Dec 23, 2008 - 5:28 pm 107. Frank:

This guy is trying to turn the tide.
http://artofmanliness.com/

Dec 24, 2008 - 10:29 pm 108. jonesy55:

“Men should have a dark grey suit, maybe a classic tuxedo for formal occasions, a dark blue suit, a blue blazer, a herringbone tweed jacket, some white shirts, some striped ties, a couple pair of dark wool pants, a bunch of khakis, dark socks, a couple nice sweaters, and a pair of jeans if desired. Increase quantities a little if a suit is required wearing at work. Problem solved.

Any man who pays the slightest attention to fashion is a g.d. idiot with no judgment. He is not to be trusted, especially with money. Also never trust a guy with hair that is too perfect.

These rules have never failed me in 50 years. You ladies would do well to remember these tips, especially about the hair.”

That sounds like communism to me, if McCarthy were still alive he’d be rooting through your trash. Despising individualism is unamerican. They tried this idea of everybody wearing the same clothes in Mao’s China you know.

Dec 25, 2008 - 3:03 pm 109. Rotten Rick:

I’ve seen the shoes,have seen what passes for a male,does not appear to have muscle strand in the lot of them. Very sickening, pastey fish belly white(skin cancer you know)wearing the clothes the girls are wearing. Some with more styled hair than the ladies. It’s pretty bad when the girls can whip you in a fair fight. I’ve killed my own food,I can grow food, can survive. I’ll stay a meat eating caveman, thank you very much. But I still won’t mistreat a lady.

Dec 25, 2008 - 11:17 pm 110. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Rotten Rick
RE: Heh

But I still won’t mistreat a lady. — Rotten Rick

Few of them around these days.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[A tigress robb'd of young, a lioness, Or any interesting beast of prey, Are similes at hand for the distress Of ladies who cannot have their own way. -- Lord Byron]

Dec 26, 2008 - 6:07 am 111. Rotten Rick:

Chuck,
I didn’t say I trusted a lot of the shanks, or that perhaps some of them didn’t deserve to be smacked around, or were’t EVIL. I just said I wouldn’t
I wouldn’t mistreat a woman. I have too much to lose. If you’re charged or convicted of domestic violence, you lose a lot. You can’t hold certain jobs, own weapons, LOSE YOUR FREEDOM!! It’s better to find another woman, than go to jail over one. Do you disagree?

Dec 26, 2008 - 11:42 am 112. JR:

No man should spend more time in the bathroom or in front of a mirror than a woman. No one should wear pointy toed shoes, they’re bad for your feet and look stupid on both sexes.

Yep, the metrosexual thing is a massive laugh fest for me, a heterosexual woman. I’m trying to imagine having a discussion about spa treatments with my husband and I think that both of us would lose it, laughing.

Get a massage? Fine, it’s great for aching muscles. Use moisturizer? Fine, if you need it. Aftershave? With extreme moderation. Hygeine? Necessary if you’re hanging with babes, but what you do in the outback is your business.

Beyond that? Unnecessary. Thank God that there are still men who don’t need to check out GQ to find out who they need to be this week. Stick with classics and you can’t go wrong. Go faddish and watch the women scatter…

Dec 26, 2008 - 8:49 pm 113. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Rotten Rick
RE: [OT] Apparently….

….there’s been something of a miss communication.

I just said that there are very few ladies about these days.

As for mistreating women. I wouldn’t treat anyone worse than they mistreated me. Ladies get better treatment, as they wouldn’t mistreat me in the first place.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Woman, n., the unfair sex. -- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary]

Dec 27, 2008 - 9:55 am 114. Bar. Enzo de'Selvaggi:

Well, Miss TomBoy, you’ve really brought out all the barbarians hooting and hollering for you! Lil Chester White sure sounds like a top-notch judge of character alright!

This article is offensive. I’d love to ignore it, but the mindless drones who would DARE to LIMIT the creativity and the JOY of men’s attire really molest my inner child… Negative buffoons you are all.

“Men need to realize: even if you look like James Dean, pointy toed shoes on a man scream sissy. Draw a line, men, and it better not be with charcoal eyeliner. Don’t give in. Fight the grrl-power onslaught with plaid shirts, well-developed lats, hunting dogs, extreme sports, cigars, poker, and whiskey.”

How ridiculous a thing to say? plaid shirts? maybe “une belle flanelle”? This proves how utterly superficial the would-be critics of societal trends the children of Calvin and Knox really are… as if such stupid, flaccid ’style choices’ say anything of guts, identity, and the power of Man.

People like this strumpet of darkness would probably consider the buildings of Palladio to be effete, or the paintings of Caravaggio to be ‘over the top’. Where does the madness end? You and your countrymen have never KNOWN men who were men to the last inch, yet demonstrated genius through art, colour, through prose and song. You may be a blue-suit nation of financiers, but you know nothing of the love of life, nor how to live it without repression.

Then you say this, to make up for the self-hating statement preceding it, and try to prove somehow that you’re not the blunt headed, scintillating colossus of manifest ignorance you know you really are:

“A stylish man can be manly. A few of my readers mentioned Cary Grant. Sounds good. Well-groomed, intelligent, impeccable manners, debonair, man style doesn’t have to be unrefined, but it should be unfeminine. It’s called masculine.”

What the does that mean? why is MASCULINE somehow now defined and circumscribed by FEMININE? Why shouldn’t FEMININE be mitigated and modulated by Masculine instead?

You, Miss, associate yourself obtusely to the putrid vestiges of 16th century Protestant repression of humanity, but with a new elan of something of a calvary-chapel-village-bike-with-a-grudge, you’ve gone out and procured yourself a minimal education in writing columns, with a flare for the banal and a flamboyant penchant for saltless, poached argumentation…

“Pointy-toed shoes are feminine. Sorry, Santa. That goes for you, too. Help us all! We’ve become a nation of mincing, vacuous, pubescent girls.”

So were leggings of the 14th and 15th Centuries, I suppose? They certainly were “NOT MASCULINE”. Patently ridiculous indeed. Women certainly would NEVer have worn them. If your mind lived outside the walls of your own ignorant, horizonless cockpit you call a universe, you would see Pointed shoes are merely a revival of mediaeval fashion trends, which survived and were revived again throughout the centuries, and are a perfectly valid, “masculine” alternative to the damned boring, rounded toes which your hero-peasants chewing tobacco and avoiding cow-pies in the wild west sported.

But I’m willing to make a deal…

When you stop wearing your damned pants, I’ll stop wearing my pointed shoes.

Let’s see if you’re up to the challenge, Miss TomBoy.

Dec 29, 2008 - 10:22 pm 115. Rotten Rick:

Enzo,
You can always enter a new and exciting career of being a cutting edge cock
roach killer. Crunching in style so to speak, at you’ll be able to climb
chainlink fences with ease while chasing the little buggers down. Maybe you can go national,sell franchises. How ’bout it??

Dec 30, 2008 - 10:17 am 116. Bar. Enzo de'Selvaggi:

Rotten Rick, cleverly put! LOL I got a good laugh from that one — it’s a hilarious image indeed!

But I’m thinking of the black shining points of my Dolce & Gabbana embossed weave cobblers getting scuffed in the links during the harried chase, and it sends my timbers ‘a’shivering!

LOL!

Plus, I’ve purchased enough pointed pairs so as not to leave too much of a crease in each one — I cycle through them, you see? I want a perfectly smooth finish from leg to tip… it’s my own version of a Prince Albert, you see?

But seriously,
Thanks for brightening up my morning!

Dec 31, 2008 - 11:06 am 117. Rotten Rick:

Enzo,
We just can’t take ourselves too seriously. People think pointy shoes are new, in the early 60’s the Italian pointed shoes were quite the rage. Just have fun with it. Find that one person,with the RAW,PULSING NERVE, AND POKE IT!! Sit back and watch the drama unfold.

Happy New Year!!
Rotten

Dec 31, 2008 - 7:18 pm 118. Bar. Enzo de'Selvaggi:

Ughh… i just saw doctor melissa’s photographs…

with That face, it’s neither wonder nor surprise she has such “opinions”…

Jan 3, 2009 - 1:53 pm 119. Rotten Rick:

Now,now Enzo,

Like my grandfather once said: “There’s no such thing as an Ugly woman. Some are JUST BARELY PRETTY”. You know what, he was right. Melissa’s not a beauty queen, but I’ve seen some pretty ugly women that looked absolutely stunning. They were shallow and ugly to the bone. Would make Paris Hilton look like a PHd.

Jan 4, 2009 - 11:18 am 120. Susan:

I don’t even wear pointy toed shoes like that and there is no way my man would….or my sons either…metromale = emo…just more expensive clothes.

Jan 8, 2009 - 7:37 am 121. Susan:

And Enzo, what’s wrong with Dr. Melissa? She’s not an emaciated, botoxed broad…she’s a woman and a pretty one too.

Jan 8, 2009 - 7:39 am 122. DougTheBug:

I wear pointy-toed shoes that I purchased from Aldo. They are very comfortable. I am not a hipster/emo person but wanted something unique to go with my suit. Its all about extremes. Most of you are going much to far in the opposite direction. Wanting some guy that doesn’t shave, smells etc. Well go for it, there’s millions out there. So what if a man pays particular attention to his appearance. There have been men doing this forever. Its nothing new, its not some sign of current social decay. People that write catty pointless blogs are the scourge of today’s world.

May 19, 2009 - 12:54 pm 123. Ellie:

Aw, you guys are cute – getting mad at so-called “effeminate” men because you can’t get laid.

Sep 24, 2009 - 5:47 pm

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