Guys vs. Men

Dave Barry explains some things about boys that I think are mostly true. I agree when he says, “But men tend to attach great significance to Manhood. This results in certain characteristically masculine, by which I mean stupid, behavioral patterns that can produce unfortunate results such as violent crime, war spitting and ice hockey” (102). I don’t understand why boys feel the need to make themselves manly. Of coarse we don’t want girlie men because that would be weird but I think that boys can take it to far sometimes. This is what Barry is pointing out in this quote. Another point that he brings up is, “One of the major characteristics of guy hood is that we guys don’t spend a lot of time pondering out deep innermost feelings.” (103) I agree with this and I think that this might be one reason why boys have to be so masculine. It could be to prove to other people that they are more manly and it isn’t considered manly to be all emotional and sensitive. I also agree when he said that men have the need to have “neat” stuff. I think it is something that adds to the manliness. I don’t agree when he said the space shuttle was a main drive of this need for “neat” stuff. I might be for older men but for teenagers I don’t think so. I really like the part when he talks about the men having pointless competitions because I think that is so true. I have seen that so much in the guys that I know. They will be talking about their cars or something boyish and then they all have the need to see who can do the stupidest thing in their car like going the fastest or peeling out. They always seem to bragging about different features one their cars and they will have a debate over who has the coolest whatever. Of coarse it isn’t always cars that they will have competitions about but that is one thing that I have seen a lot of. I also really like the quote, “When they’re being just plain guys, they aren’t so much actively evil as they are lost.” (407) I think that this is so funny because I agree with the part about guys being good people but sometimes they wonder away from the path sometimes and don’t really think. So they need some sort of unwritten rules to help put them back on the path. “Guys are aware of the rules of moral behavior, but they have trouble keeping these rules in the forefronts of their minds at certain times, especially in the present.