American Man

As a man, I couldn’t disagree more with Paul Theroux’s opinions about what it is like to be a man. To me, being a man is one of the things that brings the most joy in my life. The comradeship that is shared between my male friends and I is something that I have enjoyed and look forward to for the rest of my life.

Not only did I disagree with the majority of his narrative, “Being a Man,” but after reading it, it left me a bit confused. He hates being a man, but yet, he does not like the idea of being a woman either. So, what does he considers himself to be? In his narrative, he expressed his

hatred with being an American male because he did not like American society’s definition of a man. His personal paradigms he experienced along with not having a desire to be molded into an American male caused his hatred of what he represented. He stated, “I have always disliked being a man.

The whole idea of manhood in America is pitiful, in my opinion” (p. 160). Before, I read further, I was thinking that Theroux may have wished he was a woman instead, but that was not the case. He went on to describe femininity as “an oppressed sense of nakedness” (p. 160).

I think while he was growing up from a little boy into a man, he grew tired of hearing boys should do this and men should do that. I would imagine he grew tired of hearing what little girls were suppose to do as girls and what things women where only to do as women.

He had a desire to be a writer, which was unheard of during his time because men did not grow up to be writers. Writing was a career for women not men. If he would have not listened to his heart to become a writer, then he would have had a more than unhappy life.

He ended up traveling or moving out of the country in order to be embraced as a writer. He simply abhorred the stereotypes of American men. He did not fit any of them. He even felt that the mere definition of men separated men from the company of women.
He went on to say that he hated organized sports. To him engaging in sports did not define masculinity. Overall, Theroux does not like being a man, and he does not care to be a woman either. I guess he is a person who does not want his life’s work to be defined by society’s definitions. He is a successful writer and teacher whose career has taken him all over the world.