Nick Offerman is the epitome of a manly man in Hollywood. But his recent definition of what it is to be a real man is swoon-worthy. In 2013, the Parks and Recreation comedian outlined steps on being a man in a book titled Paddle Your Own Canoe. Here is an excerpt:
Step One: Eat a steak, preferably raw.Step Two: Wash it down with your whisky of choice, preferably a single-malt scotch. My two favorites are Lagavulin and the Balvenie, but I won't turn my nose up at Talisker, Oban, Laphroaig, Ardbeg, and many more.
Step Three: Find a socialist and punch him/her in the face.
Step Four: Craft a small wooden watercraft from cedar (for the hull) and domestic hardwoods, like ash or walnut or white oak (for the gunnels and other trim). Carve a paddle from cherry and Alaskan yellow cedar.
Since then, Offerman, who is the authority on all things manly, revisited virility in a recent interview with Men's Health magazine.
When asked if woodworking would make someone a "manly dude," Offerman offered up this observation: "Making anything with one's hands is a very healthy pursuit. Whether that makes you manly or profoundly more of a winning human is fifty-fifty."
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"We have a lot of great women in woodworking and there are plenty of men I know who are talented knitters," he added. "Stereotypically, those activities are not what you’re not supposed to do with your gender, but the world of craftsmanship doesn’t fall into neatly drawn gender lines."
But when Men's Health asked about the last thing that made him cry, Offerman gave this eloquent response.
I went to theatre school. I took two semesters of ballet. I’m the sissy in my family. I cry with pretty great regularity. It’s not entirely accurate to equate me with manliness. I stand for my principals and I work hard and I have good manners but machismo is a double-sided coin. A lot of people think it requires behavior that can quickly veer into misogyny and things I consider indecent.
We’ve been sold this weird John Wayne mentality that fistfights and violence are vital to being a man. I’d rather hug than punch. Crying at something that moves you to joy or sadness is just as manly as chopping down a tree or punching out a bad guy.
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To answer your question, I recently saw Alicia Keys perform live. I’d never seen her before and the sheer golden, heavenly talent issuing from her and her singing instrument had both my wife and me in tears. What a gorgeous gift she has. Her voice is so great. And I had no shame [about crying.] If you live your life openly with your emotions, that’s a more manly stance than burying them.
Spoken like a real man.
He was admired for his eloquent assessment on manhood.
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H/T - huffingtonpost, menshealth, twitter, laweekly
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