Analysis Of Gretel Ehrlich's 'About Men'
Jacques Epangue English 101, 9M2
Professor Rolando Jorif Spring 2013
The Narrative
In “About Men”, by Gretel Ehrlich, the author describes cowboys like men who seem to have trouble communicating with and relating to women, yet cling to an "adolescent dependency" on women to take care of them. This trouble of communication with women can be perceived by others as a sign of weakness even a lack of virility. However, according to Ehrlich it may be because of historical and geographical factors. Cowboys who are mostly from the South kept that "chivalrousness and strict codes of honor" when the came to the Wyoming. This is why men would show a stand-offish and respectful attitude vis-à-vis the women. Also, due to the geographical vastness of the North, cowboys often work where there is no human beings or women. He is physically and socially isolated which "make emotional evolution seem impossible". Therefore, if it happened that he feels something for a woman, he would have trouble communicating because he is not use to the code of seduction that …show more content…
Keep in mind that the purpose of her writing is to "reveal the complex nature of the American cowboy", so she tries to show how the stereotype of the cowboy does not reflect the reality. This man who is "usually thought of as a rugged and tough" individual, is not only full of manliness, but has his own kind of femininity reflected in his altruism, but also in his relationship with women, characterized by what the author names "Those contradictions of the heart between respectability, logic and convention on the one hand, and impulse, passion, and intuition on the other". In fact the author stands that cowboys are vulnerable too, and according to her and Ted Hoagland "No one is as fragile as a woman but no one is as fragile as a
Professor Rolando Jorif Spring 2013
The Narrative
In “About Men”, by Gretel Ehrlich, the author describes cowboys like men who seem to have trouble communicating with and relating to women, yet cling to an "adolescent dependency" on women to take care of them. This trouble of communication with women can be perceived by others as a sign of weakness even a lack of virility. However, according to Ehrlich it may be because of historical and geographical factors. Cowboys who are mostly from the South kept that "chivalrousness and strict codes of honor" when the came to the Wyoming. This is why men would show a stand-offish and respectful attitude vis-à-vis the women. Also, due to the geographical vastness of the North, cowboys often work where there is no human beings or women. He is physically and socially isolated which "make emotional evolution seem impossible". Therefore, if it happened that he feels something for a woman, he would have trouble communicating because he is not use to the code of seduction that …show more content…
Keep in mind that the purpose of her writing is to "reveal the complex nature of the American cowboy", so she tries to show how the stereotype of the cowboy does not reflect the reality. This man who is "usually thought of as a rugged and tough" individual, is not only full of manliness, but has his own kind of femininity reflected in his altruism, but also in his relationship with women, characterized by what the author names "Those contradictions of the heart between respectability, logic and convention on the one hand, and impulse, passion, and intuition on the other". In fact the author stands that cowboys are vulnerable too, and according to her and Ted Hoagland "No one is as fragile as a woman but no one is as fragile as a