July 5th, 2010 by 
When ‘Menimism’ the new male movement was brought to my attention, I was fascinated. I thought it must include an intelligent reaction against the portrayal of men in the media: think Becks showing his pecks (and pecker) in those (glorious) Armani Underwear ads for budgie smugglers. That must rub some members up the wrong way.
The name’s catchy, if a little unoriginal, and why shouldn’t guys have their say? I’m pretty non-PC but even I found, for example, the new Dove ads for men’s care failed to represent ‘real men’ even though that’s what their ad campaign seemed to promise.
The Dove guy looks more like a Gillette G.I. than your average Joe Public, despite the fact that Paul Connell, Dove Men+Care brand manager says: “Dove is proud of its pioneering approach to women and with this new campaign we now have a fresh approach to men as well. We’re taking a light hearted approach and acknowledging the life events that help men become comfortable with who they are, without a cheesy grooming stereotype in sight.”
According to German website iHeartBerlin, Menimism’s a movement which encourages blokes to shout out about their vulnerable side demanding a ‘rethink of masculinity’ and start talking to each other.
So, ‘real men’ are fed up with being undermined in the media. They do want to share; with other men. I didn’t think they had any inclination to do that. How wrong I was.
Women talk at length about female health issues encouraging each other to see the doc, or try out some new remedy for PMT, why shouldn’t men take more responsibility over their health to tackle things like male cancers. I am a great advocate of openness – surely it isn’t just women who benefit from what is perceived as a feminine trait? Knowledge is power and we all have the power to impart knowledge, which could extend our life expectancy. A problem shared…
One Menimalist who seems to have got the right idea is Ben Wild, founder of the University of Manchester’s MENS society. He feels there’s a need for such a society because: “Because issues such as prostate and testicular cancer, male on male violence and rape, domestic abuse against men, stigma against men in ‘unmasculine’ jobs, custody and parental leave inequalities, and general stereotyping of what it is to ‘be a man’ are not being addressed”. At last! Spread the word – http://themoderncaveman.wordpress.com/
Unlike some anti-male feminists who alienate the less than fairer sex, on paper Menimists appear to be the perfect partners. They’re in touch with their feelings, discuss their heart-ache, they talk and listen and they support women. So why isn’t Menimism being heralded as the (second) best movement ever to have been created?
You’ve only got to check out the dedicated Facebook page to see that any hope the movement serving as the making of modern man is little more than a vapid dream, rather a pager for all Neanderthals. The clue is in the title ‘Menimism: It’s all about tits and beer’. It serves only to remind men of their inner ‘blokey’ bloke and seems to have few followers.
I have to hope that I’ve missed the joke and am reacting like some po-faced prig who has completely lost my sense of humour.
Occasionally men will appear in the media railing against the way they are being portrayed but it just doesn’t seem to be a priority to them. There are interesting articles across the world but not enough to make them front page news.
My partner reads Men’s Health religiously and never comments on the six-pack selection of cover men but does comment on the health articles within. Despite his devotion to MH and the fact he’s an avid reader of the broad sheets he has never heard of Menimism but seems to embody less-vulgar perception of it. So maybe others, like him, just quietly get on with their Menimist bent without having to shout about it. I think we should thank our lucky stars for this special breed and reject the ‘blokey blokes’ whose vulgar link on a social media site sets them back to the days of the dinosaur.
