The stages of Manhood
In Dianic Tradition, there are five stages of womanhood maiden, mother, queen, crone and hag. As many of the women of my family have embraced forms of these characterizations and look forward to their crone and haghood, I wonder what the similar iconic stages of men’s live are.
As I enter into my sixties, I have been reading and thinking a lot about this, and I am unsatisfied with what I have found
in Sophocles's Oedipus rex, there are three stages of men that is recognized by the riddle from the sphinx, from a crawling baby to a man and then an old man with a cane. Sophocles seem to think that these are the elements of life.
Yeats differs from him as he says that there are four stages of man taken from the fourth quater of Supernatural Songs. Yeats conclude that in life the four stages are body, heart, mind and God. in my opinion i think this poem is spiritual as it shows that in life everything that is physical, emotional and intellectual in the end is taken back by the Creator. the body leaves then man, the heart leaves the body, the mind leaves the heart and God wins it all back in the fight.
Shakespeare in As You Like It however differs from both Yeats and Sophocles by saying that there are seven stages in life. first the infant, then the school boy,to lover, to soldier, to justice, to the lean and slipper'd pantaloon and finally to the second childishness stage.
In borrowing from all of these, and liking the archtypical names that women have embraced, I propose the following 8 stages of men. The ages are certainly approximate generalizations, and your mileage may vary.
1. Cutypie –single digits in age. Nothing is cuter than a five year old boy. They can be so sweet, so innocent, and yet so outrageous in their anger and joy.
2. Young Stud- 15 – 18 Adolescent puberty brings out the sweat, then body hair, the swagger and the invulnerability in men. These are the years of car racing, drug experimentation and experimentation. Most of the good and some of the bad of the world has been created by men in this stage of their life.
3. Wage-Earner – Father – 18 – 35 As a man enters his twenties he is expected to lean his back into the wheel of life. More than any other person, it is these people that build our bridges, plant our crops, construct our buildings and fight our wars. It is not a good period to be a role model for children, but that is how we have constructed our families.
4. Wise – Grey Hair – As a man enters his 40’s People sometimes actually listen to them. They have some experience in life, they still have a lot of energy and some strength, and they do guide others. These are the people who design bridges, buildings and organizations. These are our politicians and government leaders at local and state levels.
5. Absent minded fuddy duddy. – the 50s. this used to be the end of life expectancy, but now it is considered middle age. These men know so much they can’t remember it all. Their tendency to dredge up the wrong piece from their vast store of information, sometimes causes people to underestimate them. These people can be brilliant for both good and evil. These people are our world leaders, our captains of industry and our mass murderers. – Competence is overrated.
6. Dirty Old Man – 60-s. I honor and rejoice in the blatant sexuality and honesty of the dirty old men. They remind us of the joy of live, and sensuality of taking risks, and swallowing life whole while they still can.
7. Curmudgeon – 70’s and 80s. these men have seen so much, know so much, and have so much to say, but they lack the energy to fight for a platform. They might write books, but mostly they yell softly in their cigar smelling raspy voices to whomever will listen. – usuall no-one.
8. Elder statesman. – these are our countries most valuable natural resources, and we all see what our country does with its valuable natural resources. That is why most of them die alone in nursing homes.
I hope I have managed to offend many people, and cause a few of you to have enough emotion to actually think about your life.
I am personally looking forward to entering my Dirty Old Man stage.
dtilsen on 06.27.08 @ 01:01 PM CST [link]