I Suck At That Emotion...

That's not what Smokey Robinson said?  It's "I Second That Emotion"?  Ah, that's a whole nother thing, innit?  Nevertheless, it seems to me that there are two main emotions men are allowed to express in American society:  Anger and Love, both of which have been bastardized/co-opted/corrupted and turned on their heads from what they should mean. 

Anger is the single most common emotion that we expect/accept from our men.  We're  (white guys) almost expected to be angry today, mostly because the power and influence we have wielded since the dawn of "civilized" society is on the way out.  Women, blacks, black women, Latinos and Latinas are stepping forward to assert themselves and their relevance to our national discourse, and we white guys, especially the late middle-aged ones, don't especially like that.  The world was ours, and we see it slipping away.

The Tea Party is one prime illustration of this, for me.  They want to return to those thrilling days of yesteryear, and just can't get their heads around the fact that things have changed.  The Wall Street Journal, of all places, has characterized their orchestration of the current government shutdown as "a full-on charge into fixed bayonets."  And yes, I know that there are lots of women who belong to the TP (hmmm, "TP," huh?) and even hold positions of leadership and spokesmanship (no gender-correct terms for those babes), but all that does is put me in mind of East German (nominal) Women's Olympic teams:  the chromosome counts were always off, and I'd bet the same would be true for TP women.

So there's that, the anger of those-in power-but-soon-to-be-dispossessed, but there's also Love;  men are allowed to show it, but only from a position of strength:  we can say we love in a possessive way, but we can't show need.  "I love that bitch, but only when she toes a line I define."  We can't show angst, or anxiety, or grief, or fear, or despair; those are all valid emotions (oh,  Possible-All-Powerful-Being, I've lapsed into Therapspeak), but they're not for Real Men (wow, didn't I hit the capital "R" and capital "M" hard, there).  The all-giving, all-accepting form of Love which women have been conditioned to provide ever since god stopped being a woman is not ours to give.  "We'll give 'Love,' but only on our terms" seems to be the best we can do.

Anyway, this was meant to be a commentary on the current crisis in our "government,"  a look at how men have devolved into second-class (at best) emotional beings, and an examination, again, of gender-defined roles.  Instead, due to to time/intellectual capability constraints, it's just whatever I could put together.  Someday, when I have lots 'o' time, I'll write something good.  I promise.  Anyway, here's the playlist for this week:

True Emotion                                                                         Jennifer Warnes
Sweet Emotion                                                                      Aerosmith
Show Some Emotion                                                             Joan Armatrading
Real Emotions                                                                       Los Lonely Boys
Mixed Emotions                                                                    Rolling Stones
I Second That Emotion                                                         Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Emotional Rescue                                                                 Rolling Stones
Emotional Weather Report                                                    Tom Waits
I Second That Emotion                                                          Jerry Garcia/Merl Saunders
Emotionally Yours                                                                 Bob Dylan
I'm Not Feeling It Anymore                                                  Van Morrison
I've Got A Feeling                                                                  Fabs

Feelin' Alright                                                                        Joe Cocker
Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad                                        Grateful Dead
Prelude/Angry Young man                                                    Billy Joel
Mean, Angry, Nasty And Lowdown                                      Shirley Scott
I'm Not Angry                                                                        Elvis Costello
Angry Eyes                                                                             Loggins & Messina
Angry Blues                                                                            James Taylor
The Angry Monk                                                                    Tony Furtado/American Gypsies
An Angry Blade                                                                      Iron & Wine
Remember                                                                               John Lennon
This Wheel's On Fire                                                              The Band

FYI:  Lennon's "Remember"  references "the fifth of November," Guy Fawkes Day, in memory of the fellow (can't say "guy," right?) who wanted to blow up Parliament; I don't get why we're not all marching on Washington with torches, pitchforks, tar & feathers to clean out the House of Reps. and get things moving again.  Emily Dickinson said that "hope is the thing with feathers...;"  she just left out the tar.

Women.