This weekend I spent a very entertaining 15 minutes reading Boris Johnson's article "Where can women find real men? In a book, of course...". How could I resist such a title?! It's an intriguing twist on our discussion about the general decline of moral standards in our culture and whether art is purely mimicking us or giving us more inspiration. Boris suggests that women, frustrated by the lack of "real men" in their lives, are turning to novels to restore their faith in the male of the species. In men's defense (?) he suggests that they are being emasculated by an education system which has "gone soft", downplaying competition to succeed (male strength) and promoting creativity and teamwork (female strengths).
If these things are true, could it be that some forms or art (i.e. books) are saving us from further moral decline? Or maybe they are creating unrealistic images of masculinity?
Philomena
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