Macho, macho man!

"Art is based on emotion, but being macho is based on ego; the wall protecting that emotion." - Miguel

Macho Man.  He’s part of the culture. The disco group The Village People sang about him.  He’s been portrayed in endless movies.  But what is he?

In the recent animated movie “Despicable Me 2” the hero, Gru, must battle the super villain “El Macho.”  The subtext is rather obvious.  Gru, a former super villian who recently adopted 3 small girls grew as a person, becoming a caring and compassionate father.  To further grow as a father Gru must defeat the villain “El Macho,” a former peer from his past who he admired.

Sub-textual psycho-babble aside, we’re still lacking a good understanding, or even definition, of what macho is.  To make our task a little easier, let’s agree that the macho we’re concerned with is the stereotypical macho from the disco era. 

El Macho fits the character to a “t”.  Loose shirt open to nearly the waist to show off his hairy chest and gold medallions.  Slicked back hair.  A smooth talking womanizer with a flashy smile.  He concerns himself with shows of his physical prowess, usually involving violence.  He is overly concerned with making himself look good as a “physical” specimen, and totally unconcerned about anyone or anything else.  To call him “self-absorbed” is to call the oceans “wet”.

And so we come to my definition of “macho”, circa 1980s:    

m  men

a  acting

c  childish,

h  hopelessly

o  oblivious

The Macho Man of the 1980’s fancied himself the perfect male, the pinnacle of evolutionary perfection.  In truth he was a child playing grownup, too immature to understand how inappropriate his behavior is.  He was a Neanderthal in a museum, proud of himself for pooping in a Ming Vase because his feeble brain thought it was a chamber pot.

The Macho Man of the 1980’s impressed no one but the other children, mostly drug addled teenagers in heart and soul if not in actual years and chemistry.

And he does not impress today.  He is in fact a child, a clown, a pathetic joke.

How then do we redefine “Macho” so that he is a “fit specimen” for the world today? 

“M”, male.  The macho man of the real world is male.  He simply recognizes himself for what he is, whatever that is.  His sexuality is not something he is afraid of nor does he feel a need to flaunt it. 

“A”, accepting.  He simply is what he is, and he does not expect or insist that other people conform to his ways.  He’s a human, you’re a human, he accepts you and respects you for what you are.

“C”, compassionate.  Compassion is the natural result from having the ability to see beyond yourself.  We all exist in this world together, and we can only survive and flourish if we recognize this fact.    

“H”, humility.  A true Macho Man knows he doesn’t need to take all the credit for who and what he is.  Whatever positive physical features he may have are more blessings from God than his own handiwork.  And it can all go away in the blink of an eye.  Humility is not only about recognizing where your gifts come from, it is also about knowing they can all go away in an instant, and appreciating what you’ve been given. 

“O”, originality.  Each of us is a unique expression of the human spirit.  Perhaps one of the most laughable things about the 1980’s Macho Man is his cookie-cutter personality.  Every one of them doing the same things, dressing the same way, saying the same tired catch phrases.  Each of them claiming they are “doing their own thing” while the only real difference between them is the color of their shirt.

So for me, I’ll continue trying to be a macho man circa 2014.  You know, the kind of man that thinks it’s okay if his mother is proud of him, goes “aww” when he sees photos of kittens, and believes he should be judged by his character.

You can best believe that ... I’m a macho man!