What is a Man?

Before we dive into this wonderful adventure together, your journey to Manhood, we first need to define our terms. What, exactly, is a Man? I think you’d agree with me that the dictionary definition, “a grown human male,” doesn’t cover it. A Man is much more than that. Let’s look at some examples of grown human males:

·         Richard Simmons

·         Liberace

·         Starfleet Officer Pavel Chekov

·         Kim Il-Jong

·         James Bond (as played by Roger Moore)

·         Robert Pattinson

·         Curly

So, clearly, just being a grown human male doesn’t qualify you for Man status. None of these guys are what springs to mind when the topic of Men come up; in fact, some of them are even dead! By contrast, let’s look at some famous examples of Men:

·         Bruce Wayne

·         James Bond (as played by Sean Connery and Daniel Craig)

·         Chuck Norris

·         Captain James T. Kirk

·         Dick Butkus

·         Moe

·         The “Hero of the Beach” guy in the ads at the back of old comic books who worked out, got muscles and then knocked out the sand-kicking bully with one punch while his girlfriend looked at him adoringly

What do these Men have that the other guys don’t? They understand and live by the Rules. That’s what this blog is for – it will help you learn the Rules that, if properly followed, will move you from the general, run-of-the-mill “guy” grouping to the rarified, hard-to-attain status of Man.

So why do we need the Rules in the first place? Historically, there’s been a tremendous amount of confusion over just what it takes to be a Man. Around 45 B.C., the Roman philosopher Cicero wrote “A man’s chief quality is courage,” which is okay, but it doesn’t take into account other key attributes of Manliness, such as batting average with runners in scoring position. In 1963, Frankie Valli attempted to cut through the clutter by recording his hit song “Walk Like a Man.” Unfortunately, he sang it like a woman, so the confusion continued. It didn’t help that the famous drag queen Divine recorded a cover of the song for his/her album Maid in England in 1985. You can’t begin to imagine the problems THAT caused.

All of which brings us to today, and my reason for starting this blog. Once and for all, Men-in-training will have a single source for the main Rules to follow to become an honest-to-God Man. In many instances, these Rules are supplemented by actual Case Studies, drawn from the real-life experiences of Men like myself, to help you understand, interpret and properly apply the Rules.

So let's get started!

(c) 2012 John Puckett