When Democratic frontrunner Ed Muskie appeared to cry in the snows of New Hampshire in 1972, he sent his presidential campaign off the rails. Yesterday, when Republican Mitt Romney cried on Meet the Press discussing the Church of Latter Day Saints' 1978 decision to allow black people into its priesthood, it appeared, if not a calculated move, then a politically beneficial move. The diverse reactions, just 36 years apart, to public displays of tears in an applicant for the job of commander in chief speaks volumes in American attitudinal changes.

Clearly, the word for this election cycle is 'fraud.'

I would somewhat agree with that. Mitt is a smart pragmatic pol and a tough minded business man. I would highly suspect that he is not prone to emotional outbursts so I think this is bull.

But again, it speaks to the whimification of America when many want their leaders soft and mushy.

Its bipolar.

We apparently love men who cry like that now, but then want them to bomb the flip out of anyone that moves in a turban. This fits my theory of the impact on masculinity wrought by the feminist and homo movements, to wit:

There are now only two kinds of acceptable "men" those who drink lots of beer, scratch their azz watching football and barely contain rage and those who are sissies. That is, there are no longer gentleman, and manliness is separated from being human. To be a man now is either being girly or hyper-testosterone driven.

The cultural glorification of the homo has played a huge role. Since it is unacceptable to dislike homosexuals or criticize them, hetero men overcompensate in terms of appearing "macho" which ends up meaning being obnoxious. The alternative is to be a liberal hipster type, a "sensitive male." Lost is the traditional view of masculinity in all this (being well groomed, well-spokened, chivalrous, restrained, etc.).

In fact the gentleman is now seen as more on the homo bandwidth.

You're right on BW. Good assessment. It's true that feminization has watered down the testosterone pool to the point where real men are mocked and joked about (see Dads) like they’re some other species. What this has done in a lot of cases has put a strain on relationships between men and women as more and more women want their men to be tough and strong but sensitive. These traits do not typically run hand in hand.

I remember this cartoon once where a woman was dreaming of her perfect man. The art work was pretty good so after a series of boxes, she’s dreaming of a handsomely bearded tall slim gent with an impressive package and she says, and he has to be sensitive. So the balloon coming from the stud says “hello schweety” (like a mo’ would say). She says, “well, not THAT sensitive”.

Bottom line is they can’t have it both ways.

Yeah, I don't get the whole "men who cry" thing. I remember trying to watch the god AWFUL Gods and Generals. I had to turn the thing off about halfway through for a number of reasons (horrible acting, pacing, music, beards..etc), but watching Stonewall Jackson well up and bawl like a little girl in EVERY SCENE was too much for me.

"Good morning General Jackson!"

"(sniff) There will be no more good mornings for those brave boys (weep)."

We should treat these pussies the way the Don treated Johnny Fontain.

ACT LIKE A MAN!!!!

Geez Homer. That movie was fantastic, and he had one crying scene. I don't know what you mean by every scene when he only cried once in the film.

On crying I say that real emotion is different from sentimentality, and masculinity has been defined down in one direction into sentimentality and in the other direction into "kill them all and let God sort them out" brutishness of the thugs and the war hawks. But crying itself isn't *always* unacceptable, although being embarrassed by it and trying to pull oneself together etc., is required of a man.

Sorry, but you don't know what the hell you're talking about. He cries in nearly every scene in the first half of the movie.

Sorry, I should have said that he either cries or is on the verge.