Stop Bashing Single Men! We Are Real Men, Too!

Elwood Watson, Ph.D.
Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs
4 min readOct 11, 2024

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Hello, guys (guys literally)! We have all heard conventional wisdom. Real men are economically responsible, strong, rugged, health conscious, sexually adequate, take care of their families, are chivalrous, and are in control of their emotions.

True men are alpha males who are financially successful, in good shape, good in bed, are able to take care of their wife and children, protect their wives or girlfriends, do not cry, break or bend under pressure regardless of how stressful things become. To put it bluntly — to be a “normal” man means being as close to perfection as possible. A superman of sorts. Being excellent and exceptional is the standard and anything less than is frowned upon.

What is even more telling about the expectations we (at least a sizable segment of society) subscribe to men in our culture is that for a man to qualify as “legitimate,” he is expected to be married or in a committed relationship (preferably married). While not as pronounced in our current 21st-century environment as it has been in the past, there is still a common assumption (no matter how quietly) among more than a few people if a man is serious about adopting the “rules” of manhood, that he will do the following.

Most likely in this order:

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Elwood Watson, Ph.D.
Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs

Historian, Syndicated Columnist, Public Speaker, Social-Cultural Critic. Professor of Black Studies and Gender Studies, at East Tennessee State University.