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Posts Tagged ‘Bloke’

I stumbled across a thought today in the super market. I was looking around watching the men shopping for weekend before Australia Day barbecue probably, because there was an unusual amount of men around. I like watching Aussie men because they feel so comfy. And then it hit me: “They are not confused about what they are or what they should be.” The Australian culture is pretty clear about its ideal man, agreed upon by all, mothers, sisters, brothers, mates, teachers, customers, children… Everyone agrees on what a decent, good Aussie bloke is like. It’s not like that in many countries. We have sub cultures, different ideas and ideals, metrosexuals, gangs, players and stayers, in Australia, all of those fall under one; A good Aussie bloke. (Or maybe it’s fair dinkum Aussie bloke?)

A good Aussie man has a great sense of humour. That is the requirement number one. Maybe that’s why I haven’t yet seen one believable emo in this place. They have to know how to joke and how to take a prank. They are a cheery bunch, and when I met my nephews(-in-law) for the first time, the most prominent feature of either one was a beaming smile. (Both of them are so damned skinny they nearly disappear behind all that smiling they do.) Even when the Aussie men are serious, you can’t completely wipe out the humour, which is similar to the men of my home county back in Finland, maybe that’s why I feel so at home here, someone described them as: “being with a straight face but not serious”.

The Aussie bloke loves his shed where he pretends to be working on things – sometimes he even manages that. Mainly the shed is for male bonding purposes, but working is definitely allowed. The shed is an important part of even the life of Aussie gay men, who instead of chopping wood or working on a boat create art in their shed. Completely allowed.

Ideally, the Aussie Bloke is a sports man. What ever sport he chooses is good, but the heights of masculinity cannot be surpassed if you are an Aussie Footy player. (That’s Australian Rules Football.) Whether you like footy or not – some idiots here hate it, they’re all women though, and if not, they at least should wear a skit – everyone is in agreement that a footy player is definitely a good bloke (or in trouble with the police for violent behaviour or sexual offences, which is definitely not looked favourably upon and is not fit for a good Aussie bloke).

It is also worth a mention, that it is very much allowed for that Aussie bloke to be a good father and a family man. In many cultures, when a man marries, he loses some of his masculinity, and automatically becomes “pussy whipped” as they say here. That is the general assumption, and men with family and kids are kind of snickered at for getting themselves “trapped”. The same is not true in Australia. A man with a wife and kids is still every bit the man as he used to be before he fell in love. (Just to compare, some American male celebrities are instructed to hide the fact they have families in order to still be cool.)

But really, these rules are not that rigid. As long as you’ve got a sense of humour and you can make people (girls) laugh, and you’re fair (dinkum?), you’re alright, no matter what banner you march under…

And not all that surprisingly the best clips to describe Australia are beer commercials…

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