Masculinity

“The Power of the Dog” may have been difficult viewing for some viewers (me included) who may have had some trouble in working out what it was really about. But, with some help from reviewers, I can now see that it was a thoughtful exploration of what it means to be masculine in the modern world.

Such a reappraisal is long overdue. We have lived too long with a concept of masculinity that inflates the value of “macho” attitudes and has produced in consequence an unacceptable rate of family violence, and the disrespect and doing down of women. It is time that we recognised that the proper role of the male in society is to love and cherish, to provide and protect, and to ensure that the world our children grow up into is one that allows and encourages them to fulfil their best selves whatever their gender or lack of it.