The Drama Of The Dog In America

I wrote a quick post this morning at Worthwhile about this new book by Jon Katz about dogs. Check it out.

I like what he says about "dogs are not people with fur." And his statement "That's the drama of the dog in America: All their natural instincts are either illegal or considered disgusting," of course, got me thinking about men.

Raising a son, one thinks about some of the less pleasing habits of men on a daily basis. Raising a son, one notices that a lot of women teachers, women psychologists and other women (oh boy oh boy is this going to get EVERYONE pissed off at me) would rather men simply not be ... well ... men. I'm not in that camp.

As Jon Katz says, dogs are not people with fur, and let me just say for the record, that boys are not girls with penises. They shouldn't be raised like "girls who aren't okay"-- and I get the feeling, often from my son's school that there is a standard for behavior and success that is determined by women and set with girls' abilities in mind.

But my son is a boy in every boyish way and I think it's terrific. I really love men. And I love the manly impossible things about men. Yes, I see them from a woman's point of view -- they're too big, they're too loud, they smell (I like it actually), they sweat, they break things, they drive too fast, they eat like pigs half the time, they try to give you a pat on the back and send you flying half way across the room, they get completely crazy if we cry in front of them, they want stuff -- cars, girls, money, houses, gadgets, they are ambitious, they are strong, they show off, they grab you, they kiss you, they want to make love to you but use a shorter word to describe it, they'll tell you anything to get what they want. But this is all really GOOD. Like we wouldn't have a civilization without it.

Do I like men who do smell good, who are kind, who do have good manners? Sure, but I like it when they show their passionate side as well.

And I want my son to know being a boy is really a great thing to be. And I think he's going to be a really great man one of these days.