70
PART ISAN R EV I EW
At the end o f John Ford 's
S tn}?ccollrh,
th e boy ish Iz.in go Kid rides o ff
w ith hi s w ho re with a hea rt o f go ld. There is no t much th ere fo r imagin–
in g manhood beyond J ohn Way ne's awkward limitatio ns as masculin e icon .
Yet the scene provides us w i th an effec tive contras t to what men in
Ameri ca wo rship to day-powe r. The ability to iJ11pose one's bodily pres–
ence on o th ers is now co nsidered the o nl y indi spens ible aspec t of being a
man .
In
busin ess, in spo rts, in the uni ve rsi ty, even in domes ti c li fe, men are
urged to celebrate how th ey ca n bull y o th ers into submi ssio n . A " real
man " is meant to impose hi s w ill and power UpOIl a hos til e wo rld .
It
is no t
enough that we hail th ose abl e to press th eir needs upon o th ers. N ever
befo re in hi sto ry, no t even durin g T he Cilded Age, has thi s nati o n been so
open in its wo rship of wea lth and power. We are qui te willing to igno re
those w ho behave w ith courage o r integri ty, sin ce th ese are th e qualiti es
th at make us un comfortabl e. Like Jo nah in th e bell y o f th e beas t, we sense
th e sea heavin g aro und o ur darkn ess . Th e w ind howls us in to sil ence, the
waves lash aga inst th e beas t's body. And m y f:lth er's God remains intent on
pin chin g us in the midst of o ur fli ght from all th ose obli gations m y fa th er
beli eved He wanted us to assume. Th at men oft\i'n make o f necess ity a
virtu e is amo ng th e o ldes t of cl iches. Yet th e one trul y unfo rgivable sin a
man ca n commit in today's Ameri ca is to show that he is physica ll y afraid .
Oth er sins are easil y fo rg iven . T he cheat, the li ar, th e bully-each is
excused by a nati on whi ch vi ews manh ood itself as a fo rJ11 of chea ting,
lying, and bullyin g. For a man to brag is considered poor taste on ly w hen
braggin g fails
to
match perfo rmance. Even young boys recogni ze th e truth
of Vin ce Lombardi 's di ctum , "Winnin g isn' t everythin g; it's th e o nl y
thin g." Like underwea r, mora lity changes. l3ut losin g places a man beyond
redempti on.
Ameri can sons lea rn to wo rship not strength of characte r no r the abil–
ity to endure hardship in the pursui t o f som e Llrge r interes t. O urs is a
nati on content to wo rshi p th e puri ty o f powe r and th e impos iti o n o f force.
N o t by acc ident has foo tball surpassed base ball in the affec ti ons o f
Ameri can men. Foo tball ca n spea k direc tl y
to
our love of power. T he
appeal of the game is th at it is open abo ut th e ways thi s nati o n rewards bul–
lyin g. Its essence is how o ne team ca n impose itsel f
0 11
ano th er team.
It
is
probabl y also no t by acc ident that in no other gam l' is th e wo rd
co ll raJ!c
bruited about so fj-equ entl y. Exaggerated obli gations of success and pur–
pose fj-a me the game o f foo tball , just as th ey in creas ingly refl ect o ur
moments as men .
J
sit
0 /1.
thc stOIlCsteps
C!f
th c 5111 nl/ npnrtlll cllt bllildill}? ill lllhieh Ill y broth er nlld
1 lille with oll r parellts.
111
th e strect IIlhere I ollre slashed n horkey stirk illto the
clllpt y nir, tryillg to Snlla,{?e the blnrk pllrk nrross the lIIallhole (Oller, A bc is playillg n
