Monday, July 15, 2013

on the courage of men

I'm fascinated - from a strictly socio-anthropological point of view - with the two men in the office, the boss and his brother. The boss is a macho guy, the Alpha male. He is generally well liked but all the employees cower a little when he walks into the room, just because of his assertive body language and don't-talk-back-to-me voice. His younger brother cowers most of us all because he is at the receiving end of a lot of unfiltered older-brother rudeness. He quietly obeys the bossy instructions, and the rest of us pretend we haven't witnessed his humiliation. Even though it's hard to miss anything that happens in our tiny office.

And yet, I have to conclude that the younger brother is  the braver one  of the two. When I was new in the office, he made an effort. He made small talk, asked about my weekend, tried to get to know me. The macho boss displayed the typical behaviour of a shy man hiding behind a tough facade: avoiding situations where he might have to make small talk to a stranger like me, because he doesn't know what to say.

Most women like strong men. I like macho men, but I admire even more the quiet, genuine strength of men who dare to be themselves.

No comments: