The Irish Times' bizarre "How To Be a Man" section

Richard Hillman

I have been flicking through it this morning with my eyes permanently lodged to the heavens

http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/how-to-be-a-man

As if calling it "How to be a man" is bad enough, the headings include

• How much should you work out? is it worth looking at the Squat?
• Seven of the most popular beauty products for men
• Bressie: Crying uncontrollably is liberating...and admitting you are vulnerable
• Irish men on Masculinity, feminism and violence

It seems like a section for Men made by women. Or it confirms that the bitchification of males has been complete.

This newsreader says, yes to both.

BattleCorp

I get a pejazzle. That makes me feel really manly*















* Only messing. I bate the head off the wife when I want to feel manly.

Clarebelly

"is it worth looking at the Squat?"

When it comes to the Irish Times, my female puppy says yes.

SEPT 23 1989

I feel sorry for young men today

That's some dirge alright.

Bressie alone would make me grit my teeth. Some day someone will ask him the hard question, why did he clearly state he didn't have depression before he went on to make a career out of it?

http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/the-fear-factor-228486.html

pumpkin4life

Turning men into fùcking eunuchs.

Yeah, that will work.

hmmm

I glimpsed a headline which mentioned Fintan O'Toole and "How to be a Man" and I thought we had reached peak Irish Timeyness. I had to close the app it made me so queasy.

The Backwards Man

I didn't realise it was compulsory to read the garbage printed in newspaper supplements these days.

Cuff me and take me away Officer, but go easy on the manicure.

CdeC

Ah sure don't read them if you don't want to.

But it's better than a "man the f**k up" campaign which older generations had and not much else.

I think there's not really a right way to be a man. It's about confidence and self assuredness and to be able to make decisions.
Whether it's what drill bit is the best to use to put up shelves in your shed or what flowers are appropriate for your Aunts birthday then so what.

pumpkin4life

I'm reading the contributers here. A trans man. A gay man. That fùcking benny Fintan o Toole. A councellor.

I'm trying to figure out how these people are even remotely representative of white, hetrosexual, working to middle class Irish men?

dav3

Richard Hillman wrote: »

I have been flicking through it this morning with my eyes permanently lodged to the heavens

http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/how-to-be-a-man

As if calling it "How to be a man" is bad enough, the headings include

• How much should you work out? is it worth looking at the Squat?
• Seven of the most popular beauty products for men
• Bressie: Crying uncontrollably is liberating...and admitting you are vulnerable
• Irish men on Masculinity, feminism and violence

It seems like a section for Men made by women. Or it confirms that the bitchification of males has been complete.

This newsreader says, yes to both.

Perhaps you should pen a strongly worded letter and send it into the Times telling them how outraged you are, instead of crying about it on an internet forum. What kind of man does that?...

Richard Hillman

dav3 wrote: »

Perhaps you should pen a strongly worded letter and send it into the Times telling them how outraged you are, instead of crying about it on an internet forum. What kind of man does that?...

It wont be a few days until I get a reply on it if I wrote a letter. As a man I am naturally impatient, so have turned to the internet for instant debate, like a real man.

SemenInMyEyes

Women be like: Where have all the good men gone?

I be like: They are all gay, transexual or feminised by 21st century society.

CdeC

I think it is time that we move away from the "One size fits all.....tits & soccer for the lads" and actually acknowledge diversity among men.


If these type of articles make you feel uncomfortable or anything like that then maybe you should be reading them.
I understand if lads aren't into them that's cool too.

Talking about these things is good for men. The feminization of men is not a bad thing. Being more in control of your emotions and not using violence/aggression to solve problems is a good thing.

Does not make men girly just more well rounded.

Harvey Normal

pumpkin4life wrote: »

I'm reading the contributers here. A trans man. A gay man. That fùcking benny Fintan o Toole. A councellor.

I'm trying to figure out how these people are even remotely representative of white, hetrosexual, working to middle class Irish men?

Heteronormative white maleness? Can't have that.

kunst nugget

CdeC wrote: »

I think it is time that we move away from the "One size fits all.....tits & soccer for the lads" and actually acknowledge diversity among men.

If these type of articles make you feel uncomfortable or anything like that then maybe you should be reading them.
I understand if lads aren't into them that's cool too.

Talking about these things is good for men. The feminization of men is not a bad thing. Being more in control of your emotions and not using violence/aggression to solve problems is a good thing.

Does not make men girly just more well rounded.

Tbf, I don't think this is really showing any diversity. It seems to be a lot of middle class men bemoaning how terrible masculinity is and suffering from a weird guilt at being born a man. Would it hurt to ponder the positive aspects of masculinity and being a man in general?

StupidLikeAFox

SemenInMyEyes wrote: »

Women be like: Where have all the good men gone?

I be like: They are all gay, transexual or feminised by 21st century society.

Are you a pirate?

gctest50

pumpkin4life wrote: »

I'm reading the contributers here. A trans man. A gay man. That fùcking benny Fintan o Toole. A councellor.

I'm trying to figure out how these people are even remotely representative of white, hetrosexual, working to middle class Irish men?

They're just looking for (column) inches

http://imgur.com/KZCr90R

Birneybau

SemenInMyEyes wrote: »

Women be like: Where have all the good men gone?

I be like: They are all gay, transexual or feminised by 21st century society.

Apt name?

Lt Dan

Richard Hillman wrote: »

I have been flicking through it this morning with my eyes permanently lodged to the heavens

http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/how-to-be-a-man

As if calling it "How to be a man" is bad enough, the headings include

• How much should you work out? is it worth looking at the Squat?
• Seven of the most popular beauty products for men
• Bressie: Crying uncontrollably is liberating...and admitting you are vulnerable
• Irish men on Masculinity, feminism and violence

It seems like a section for Men made by women. Or it confirms that the bitchification of males has been complete.

This newsreader says, yes to both.

Gone are the days when one could just turn to FHM , Nuts, Zoo, Rizzle

And no, it is not okay for men to cry uncontrollably. Crying is one thing, but uncontrollably? No. Never has and it never will. Be a man, not a dag

Since when did Breslin, whose career has failed, come remotely close to being a voice for the men of Ireland? What on earth has he achieved? Dating Rozz? Meh she is caked in make up and has a weird looking alien head (what has she done on the international scene?)

SemenInMyEyes

Yes. I am a pirate.

ChikiChiki

What's the craic with the Gay agenda these days? It's normalised and accepted with equal rights but some of the voices from the community can be OTT in my opinion. We get it your gay ffs, no need to shout it from the rooftops. It's like people are trying to stoke up some kind of revolution.

pumpkin4life

Lt Dan wrote: »

Gone are the days when one could just turn to FHM , Nuts, Zoo, Rizzle

And no, it is not okay for men to cry uncontrollably. Crying is one thing, but uncontrollably? No. Never has and it never will. Be a man, not a dag

Samaris

Look, we get it too. It's clickbait, not a feminist conspiracy. We all get this **** from the media about how to be a proper man/woman/gerbil.

And just because the writers are gay/trans/councellers and Fintan O'Toole still doesn't make this something that wimmin are forcing on you, OP. They are still males writing from -a- male perspective, even if not -your- male perspective.

Sorry fellas, agree with what they're saying or not, this is on you chaps to sort out, not the women who have nothing to do with it Or at least, females who also have dealt with all this before are going to be less likely to help out if they're being accused of causing it when they patently haven't!

And as a final point, you don't actually have to believe everything you read. You are allowed to make up your own mind what effect your genitals should have on your behavior and outlook.

Lt Dan

pumpkin4life wrote: »

Damn straight. A good slap around the chops seems to be needed for these "men " of today. Thankfully those "men" are still a minority

OhHiMark

pumpkin4life wrote: »

I'm reading the contributers here. A trans man. A gay man. That fùcking benny Fintan o Toole. A councellor.

I'm trying to figure out how these people are even remotely representative of white, hetrosexual, working to middle class Irish men?

Who, of course, are the only people who matter.

OhHiMark

Lt Dan wrote: »

Gone are the days when one could just turn to FHM , Nuts, Zoo, Rizzle

And no, it is not okay for men to cry uncontrollably. Crying is one thing, but uncontrollably? No. Never has and it never will. Be a man, not a dag

Since when did Breslin, whose career has failed, come remotely close to being a voice for the men of Ireland? What on earth has he achieved? Dating Rozz? Meh she is caked in make up and has a weird looking alien head (what has she done on the international scene?)

He has people talking about mental illness openly. Do you need to be a Nobel laureate to start a discussion?

robbiezero

Richard Hillman wrote: »

I have been flicking through it this morning with my eyes permanently lodged to the heavens

http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/how-to-be-a-man

As if calling it "How to be a man" is bad enough, the headings include

• How much should you work out? is it worth looking at the Squat?
• Seven of the most popular beauty products for men
• Bressie: Crying uncontrollably is liberating...and admitting you are vulnerable
• Irish men on Masculinity, feminism and violence

It seems like a section for Men made by women. Or it confirms that the bitchification of males has been complete.

This newsreader says, yes to both.

Because masculinity + feminism = violence.

LCD

"La Mer The Moisturising Gel Cream €265" One of the recommended 7 best beauty products for men. I had to google it just to check the price wasn't a typo.

Yes the price is €265 for 57g or €4.65 a gram

RobertKK

The best way to put an end to this rubbish is if people would stop buying rubbish like the Irish Times.

Who buys newspapers to see them tell a man 'how to be a man'?

Just be who you are, and think of all the money you could save if you didn't pay to be told that all men should be doing the same thing, and that is what what makes you a man.
I would be embarrassed with myself if I told another man 'how to be a man' or if I told a woman 'how to be a woman'.
Just be yourself.

OhHiMark

ChikiChiki wrote: »

What's the craic with the Gay agenda these days? It's normalised and accepted with equal rights but some of the voices from the community can be OTT in my opinion. We get it your gay ffs, no need to shout it from the rooftops. It's like people are trying to stoke up some kind of revolution.

Yeah I know. For ****'s sake gays. We gave you the right to marry, can you not just stay hidden away so that we don't have to look at you anymore?

Turtyturd

I don't always flick through newspapers but when I do it's with my eyes permanently lodged to the heavens.

pumpkin4life

OhHiMark wrote: »

Who, of course, are the only people who matter.

Fintan?!?!

Is that you?!?!

Austria!

ChikiChiki wrote: »

What's the craic with the Gay agenda these days? It's normalised and accepted with equal rights but some of the voices from the community can be OTT in my opinion. We get it your gay ffs, no need to shout it from the rooftops. It's like people are trying to stoke up some kind of revolution.

Yes, if you pay attention to what gay people are like now it reminds me a lot of the lead up to the French revolution. All the signs are there. I'm already stockpiling guns.

Lt Dan wrote: »

And no, it is not okay for men to cry uncontrollably. Crying is one thing, but uncontrollably? No. Never has and it never will. Be a man, not a dag

It's annoying to me when men or women do it, but they're not hurting anyone so I just have to get over it.

Zillah

pumpkin4life wrote: »

I'm reading the contributers here. A trans man. A gay man. That fùcking benny Fintan o Toole. A councellor.

I'm trying to figure out how these people are even remotely representative of white, hetrosexual, working to middle class Irish men?

Maybe the point is that it's time we stopped thinking of being a man in such restrictive terms? You don't get to decide that gay men, for example, are somehow less entitled to being called men, or to represent men.

I've no interest in any column with a title like that, and most of the content seems to be dire, but your territorial need to defend your prescriptive idea of manhood isn't a good thing.

The_Captain

pumpkin4life wrote: »

I'm reading the contributers here. A trans man. A gay man. That fùcking benny Fintan o Toole. A councellor.

I'm trying to figure out how these people are even remotely representative of white, hetrosexual, working to middle class Irish men?

They aren't of course. It's the usual bleeding heart aren't straight white men just the worst carry on to appeal to feminists and no one else

Everlong1

pumpkin4life wrote: »

That fùcking benny Fintan o Toole

Brilliant, that put a smile on my face. I haven't heard anyone use the expression "benny" since I was a kid in the '70's. If you had mental health issues back then you were a "johnner" as in, a candidate for the St John of Gods mental health services.

seamus

Zillah wrote: »

Maybe the point is that it's time we stopped thinking of being a man in such restrictive terms? You don't get to decide that gay men, for example, are somehow less entitled to being called men, or to represent men.

I've no interest in any column with a title like that, and most of the content seems to be dire, but your territorial need to defend your prescriptive idea of manhood isn't a good thing.

It looked like there might actually be an interesting debate in this, but then the OP bemoaned the "bitchification" of men and then got joined in by the other alphabaters.

Both funny and sad that the OP and the other cheerleaders don't see the whole point of articles discussing men's depression, men's health and domestic violence come about precisely because they possess this closed-minded view of what being "a man" is, and anyone who tries to change that is apparently "bitchifying" men.

On another day no doubt they'd be moaning that the feminazi media only ever talk about the struggles that women face and never acknowledge men's issues.

steddyeddy

I'm happy with who I am thanks.

Richard Hillman

Lt Dan wrote: »

Gone are the days when one could just turn to FHM , Nuts, Zoo, Rizzle

And no, it is not okay for men to cry uncontrollably. Crying is one thing, but uncontrollably? No. Never has and it never will. Be a man, not a dag

Since when did Breslin, whose career has failed, come remotely close to being a voice for the men of Ireland? What on earth has he achieved? Dating Rozz? Meh she is caked in make up and has a weird looking alien head (what has she done on the international scene?)

RTE chose him. He had a meltdown on the Voice and he suddenly realised that he had depression/anxiety. Then all of a sudden had a book out with loads of different stories of his meltdowns as a child and adult (even though he only realised he had this when he went on the voice).

Now that the Voice has been cut by RTE, so have the Breslin stories and any reference to him on RTE media. It wasnt just Breslin that exploited his issues, RTE did it to promote The Voice.

Pac1Man

Fuking Bressie.

The 'oul mental health poster child.

conorhal

Richard Hillman wrote: »

I have been flicking through it this morning with my eyes permanently lodged to the heavens

http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/how-to-be-a-man

As if calling it "How to be a man" is bad enough, the headings include

• How much should you work out? is it worth looking at the Squat?
• Seven of the most popular beauty products for men
• Bressie: Crying uncontrollably is liberating...and admitting you are vulnerable
• Irish men on Masculinity, feminism and violence

It seems like a section for Men made by women. Or it confirms that the bitchification of males has been complete.

This newsreader says, yes to both.

But it's missing the most important bullet point...

• Hand the lifestyle section full of all this kind of BS to the missus, fold up the sports section, tuck it under your arm and head for the jax.

K-9

Seems very cringe worthy and some attempt for a male version of "female" sections in the Indo, Mail etc. Best avoided.

Still, whoever uses words like bitchification is also best avoided!

OhHiMark

conorhal wrote: »

But it's missing the most important bullet point...

• Hand the lifestyle section full of all this kind of BS to the missus, fold up the sports section, tuck it under your arm and head for the jax.

GLaDOS

Newspaper desperately attempts to be relevant

valoren

There's a new ad out for L'Oreal with Cheryl Tweedy.
Something about getting the right foundation, skin tone?

There's the usual guff from an assortment of ladies about how it's perfect, makes skin flawless etc etc.
Then there's the man at the very end expressing a similar sentiment.

Make-up ad's featuring men.
A sign of things to come.

Bob24

dav3 wrote: »

Perhaps you should pen a strongly worded letter and send it into the Times telling them how outraged you are, instead of crying about it on an internet forum. What kind of man does that?...

I just stopped buying their paper and only read their website for basic information about what is happening in Ireland. Much more efficient to make sure they get they eventually get it in my opinion. The Guardian who has been on the same editorial line for a longer time is starting to feel the pain.

OhHiMark

OhHiMark wrote: »

He has people talking about mental illness openly. Do you need to be a Nobel laureate to start a discussion?

If there are concerns about the veracity of his claims, it is fair to raise them.

There might be a perfectly good explanation as to why he categorically stated in 2013 that he did not have depression, and subsequently claimed he did.

tigger123

seamus wrote: »

It looked like there might actually be an interesting debate in this, but then the OP bemoaned the "bitchification" of men and then got joined in by the other alphabaters.

Both funny and sad that the OP and the other cheerleaders don't see the whole point of articles discussing men's depression, men's health and domestic violence come about precisely because they possess this closed-minded view of what being "a man" is, and anyone who tries to change that is apparently "bitchifying" men.

On another day no doubt they'd be moaning that the feminazi media only ever talk about the struggles that women face and never acknowledge men's issues.

Very true.

Lads, if you don't feel it falls into your definition of being a man, you're more than entitled to not read it.

The more these things are talked about, the better. The traditional male roles in society aren't all that relevant anymore, and it's left a gap in terms of role models and aspirations for a lot of young men.

fly_agaric

tigger123 wrote: »

Lads, if you don't feel it falls into your definition of being a man, you're more than entitled to not read it.

True enough I suppose.
It was exactly what you'd imagine from such a set of features/articles in the Irish Times. What else would you expect from a pig but a grunt?

Samaris

Deleted User wrote: »

If there are concerns about the veracity of his claims, it is fair to raise them.

There might be a perfectly good explanation as to why he categorically stated in 2013 that he did not have depression, and subsequently claimed he did.

Don't know this guy from Adam, but in 2013, I'd have categorically stated I didn't have depression either, putting it down squarely to a long-term illness. 2015? Yeah, had to come to terms with it and start fighting the underlying issues rather than hoping physical health would improve.