Death of Macho RA

Death of Macho RA

                The Death of Macho is an essay by Reihan Salam. The Death of Macho is about men’s dysfunctional “macho” mentality, how it could have affected the recent economic collapse, and how women are gaining power all over the world because of it. I believe that the intended audience is middle class working families because of the language that he uses, and the issues he speaks about affect those most. I also think he is speaking to middle class families because it refers to a power switch between men and women. The purpose of this article is to address the issues around “machismo” and how we can avoid the issues that it is greatly involved in. He claims that there is a power shift starting around the world from men to women.

                The first writer’s strategy is the audience that Reihan Salam chooses. I believe that his audience is working men and women. I think that the audience doesn’t know much about the topic based on the time period it was written in. I think that what he says influences his audience because more women are becoming the bread winners of the family and the change is positive and significant. For working men it shows that the “machismo” model of leadership isn’t effective and can only hurt the country.

                The second strategy is the context and situation of the writing. The situation that caused this piece of writing is the economic collapse of 2008. He claims that the “Macho Man” mentality could have a large influence the men in Washington, and that the death of Macho is having a dramatic effect on many men who are out of the work force. He stated “Long periods of unemployment are a strong predictor of heavy drinking, especially for men ages twenty-seven to thirty-five, a study in Social Science & Medicine found last year.” (633).This information is significant because it shows the dysfunction of society and presents an overlooked problem that needs to be addressed about male psychology regarding their masculinity.

                The third strategy is Salam’s development of ideas. He develops his ideas using great examples in regard to the acceleration of women into positions of power, how the macho mindset effects male leadership, how macho is becoming less evident in society, and how this is affecting men. He asks the question “How will this shift to the post-macho world unfold?” (633). He states that it depends on whether men are able to adapt, or whether they simply resist. For the sake of society Salam makes it clear that we should adapt.

                I agree with what Salam is saying, personally I agree with and support the changes that society is making. I believe that if men are able to give up this negative macho mindset that the world could prosper. Women and Male leaders can work together to utilize each other’s best qualities and hopefully we won’t make the mistakes we have made in the past.