Chris Rock Takes on the Challenges Facing Men Today in “Tamborine”

What stood out to me were the gems of advice he dropped to the men in the audienceamp160 Many of his very forwardthinking comments were synonymous with some of the talking points in Jack Myersamp8217 2017 TEDWomen talk which pretty much boil down to his belief that todayamp8217s men are being done a disservice by the leftover influences from a negative patriarchy that was once the normamp160 He believes there are several solutions to this problem and one solution that he and Rock seem to agree on is educationmentorshipAs mentioned above Rock is a father and that means more parentteacher meetings and orientations than one would like amp8211 and more material for his comedyamp160 At one such event he notices the vice principal telling students that they can be anything they put their minds toamp160 This is a nice thought but far from the truthamp160 According to Rock the real truth we should be telling our kids is amp8220You can be anything youamp8217re good at as long as theyamp8217re hiringamp8221amp160 He goes on to add this dreamshattering cherry on top amp8220And even then it helps to know somebodyamp8221The common idea here is that this new generation of men isnamp8217t being prepared as vigorously for the real world as women are now and have been since the womenamp8217s movement started around 60 years agoamp160 Women have always had an uphill climb during their fight for true equality gaining the necessary skills and ambitions along the way while men have been nonchalantly enjoying the spoils of their perceived victory in the battle of the sexes for years either to the point of complacency or harelike bravadoamp160 Remember the hare lost that race with the tortoise because he was too full of himselfBoth Rock and Myers feel that educatorsmentors would better serve the next generation by being honest about not only the worldamp8217s trials but menamp8217s own limitations as wellamp160 Realistic expectations are necessary but impossible to have when no oneamp8217s willing to tell you the truthRelationships arenamp8217t easy but according to Myers men need education in the emotional maturity department as well mainly to keep up with the nononsense attitudes of the women recently empowered by all this positive change for their genderamp160 In his opinion itamp8217s the lack of positive father figures and emotionally healthy domestically capable male archetypes in the media that have contributed to this imbalanceamp160 In his TEDWomen talk he mentions that statistically a whopping 85 of all the longterm relationships in America that are ended intentionally are terminated by womenamp160 Furthermore most of those dudes havenamp8217t the slightest idea what actually went wrongThis is an issue that was also identified and addressed by Rock who says amp8220Fellas take care of your wives or girlfriends Take care of heramp160 Or she will leave youamp160 She will leave you either physically or mentallyamp160 A woman can leave you mentallyamp8221amp160 He further sells his point by adding amp8220Thereamp8217s guys that think they are with their wife right nowamp160 No nga she left you months agoamp160 She just came amp8216cause you got ticketsamp8221Besides illustrating the horrifying experience of being in a relationship that was over long before one realized it these jokes also speak to the urgency with which both the male gender and the people helping shape the next generation of men need to wake upamp160 Women are teaching women what they need to know to survive in what was once absolutely amp8220a manamp8217s worldamp8221 but now that that world is gone whoamp8217s teaching men how to survive in the new oneJust to be clear the last thing Iamp8217m doing is trying to start a pity party for the male genderamp160 Iamp8217m fully aware that men in general have been just fine over the ages white men mostly but I digress and women have unarguably had it worse amp160That said Iamp8217m obviously not asking anyone to shed tears for my Y chromosomecarrying brothers but I do feel as though there are unfair expectations placed on us at times and very little sympathy or understanding about the collective impact on usamp160 Itamp8217s as if we have to earn through our deeds the same love that seems to be easily afforded to othersRock expresses the same concern but not in so many words amp160amp8220Women children and dogs are loved unconditionallyamp8221 he saysamp160 amp8220A man is only loved under the condition that he provide somethingamp8221In his TEDWomen talk Myers essentially makes this same pointamp160 According to his research more than 50 of men born between 1990 and 2000 have been raised in fatherless homes in which the mother was the primary caregiveramp160 This naturally leads to the scenario where for these men gender norms and stereotypes are less important but again the stigma of being taught to pursue dominance economically physically politically and in relationships puts them in a state of personal conflictamp160 Do they conform to society39s hopeful idea of what they should be ie vulnerable or reluctantly accept the potentially crippling pressure of all that responsibility ie man upThis to me is the most poignant of these sentiments because itamp8217s something thatamp8217s been instilled in human beings for thousands of yearsamp160 This is perfectly summed up by the rhetorical questions Rock asks the audience while making this pointQ amp8220Fellas when you meet a new girl what do your friends ask youamp8221A amp8220What does she look likeamp8221Q amp8220Ladies when you meet a new guy what do you friends ask youA amp8220What does he doamp8221The name of Rockamp8217s special Tamborine isnamp8217t just the name of a Prince songamp160 Itamp8217s the ethos of his whole setamp160 It comes from the idea that in a band everyone has to play their role whether theyamp8217re the lead singer the drummer or the person on tambourineamp160 This sentiment remains the same when it comes to how we as a people can make the future of both men and women a brighter oneExpectations for the men of the future are high and the mentoring and support they need to survive in a more feminist world is sorely lacking if present at allamp160 But most of the time men are meant to just suck it up and dealamp8220I know itamp8217s hard being a woman but thereamp8217s a coldness you have to accept being a manamp8221 Rock saysamp160 I agree and I think that reaching a future where true equality exists for all genders sexual orientations and creeds is anything but impossible as long as we all work togetherTambourine can be seen on NetflixClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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Chris Rock Takes on the Challenges Facing Men Today in “Tamborine”

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Chris Rock Takes on the Challenges Facing Men Today in “Tamborine”

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