DOMI: My hands are blistered and glorious

"Ty Domi" is a pen-name of a 24 year old man from New York City. Mr. Domi, until recently, was a chubby man. A man of vice and excess. However, one 2-hour-surgery changed all that. Ty Domi is now 100lbs skinnier and is viewing the world thru completely different eyes. In this, his first of a weekly blog on REMAIN ALERT, he takes a look at the place men have taken in our world in a theory he calls "the glass floor."

Can someone please explain to me what happened to masculinity? I don't want this to be confused with another word that begins with M - "maturity". I'm talking about manhood, that celebration of certain inherent traits that we are born with. OR, should I say "used" to be born with. I'm seeing more and more today that the shelter and security of being a true man is disappearing.

Now, as a disclaimer, please allow me to say that while i say that the truth of masculinity is disappearing, I do not mean to impede on homosexuality at all. You shall see what I mean a little bit further down the page...

In the 50s, there was Frank Sinatra. Here was a man! Politically connected, handsome, a talented singer... all true. Elegantly wasted at all times (or wasted elegance if you ask my grandmother), here was a man that had charisma and a swagger that was undeniably male. He wasn't a girlie man by any stretch of the imagination. Sure, he wore make up and sang, but the guy was less an entertainer and more of a gang leader. The Rat Pack - a blessing and a curse; a blessing because they were a gift to American entertainment, but a curse because too much testosterone in one place... the beginning of the end.

In the 60s, we had movie stars and singers. I focus on Steve McQueen. This man might possibly be my idol. Stone cold fella, McQueen was a race car driver, a stunt man, a ruggedly handsome man. When starring in The Towering Inferno with Paul Newman, there is a story of the poster for the film. Paul Newman wanted top billing, but McQueen was getting the push from the studio (because obviously, he was the man of the film). Sitting down in a meeting, agents and managers were fighting. McQueen stood up and told the room, "Go ahead and put that nancy up top. Who gives a shit about movies anyway?"

In the 80s, we had a fictional character that best exemplified manhood. Sonny Crockett drove a fast car, was an All-American athlete, set trends, and even had an ALLIGATOR for a pet at his house, which was a HOUSEBOAT! Unwilling to allow the "no man is an island" line get past him, Crockett proved that he WASN'T an island... he was a boat. His style was more made up than McQueen, but at the same time, was there ever any thought that he wasn't a man? Never. His relationship with Rita showed that even a man's man can be vulnerable and insecure, but when Crockett wasn't sharing a bed with hotties, he was cracking heads and being a man. Calderone had no chance.

In the 90s, the REAL slide began. Who did we have to call a man's man in the 1990s? Brad Pitt. Nothing against Mr. Jolie, but the guy made his name through his pretty boy face. "Ooooh, there's fire in his eyes." No there isn't. What you're seeing is dollar signs. Brad Pitt has started to turn himself around through his associations with a certain Mr. Clooney, but he's still a questionable character. Can you truly trust a man in underwear advertisements? Sure, his doctor knows he's male, but is he a man? Time shall tell.

These days, metrosexualism has taken over. It's okay to get pedicures. It's alright to wear eyeliner. A tone base never hurt anyone. Hair product is a must. Tight pants are all the rage. This is simply unacceptable.

- MEN wear loose pants because the python within needs room to breathe.
- MEN do not get penis envy, or feel insecure in their jock size, because a MAN knows he's going to pleasure the shit out of someone with his member.
- MEN don't need to style their hair because a MAN's hair should be short, not like some surfer dude.
- MEN don't wear eyeliner... only women and confused teenagers do.
- MEN don't get manicures because their hands are broken from handling nails and wood and large automobiles and wrestling bears.

Some men are trying to take it back for all of us. George Clooney is my personal hero. A writer and an actor, Clooney has taken the money he shamelessly made on fun, plotless Ocean's movies and put it towards thought-provoking political films (harkening back to the 1970s, the era when man was legend). He wears his grey proudly. He dresses like a Kennedy, and he carries himself like one too. He is above tabloid fodder and regularly makes fun of himself in public (see his "South Park" associations for further proof). He handles his own publicity. That's right, men don't need publicists. OUR fathers told us to stand up for ourselves and fight our own wars.

Vince Vaughan is another, although he also fits into the "man-slob" subcategory. Robert Downey Jr. Christian Bale. That brooding guy from The O.C. These are men. And I dare say, Anderson Cooper.

Anderson Cooper is gay. Is there any denying it? He's gone on dates with men. He works out at David Barton Gym. He has a vast interest in musical theater and art. However, Anderson Cooper has never publicly spoken about his sexuality. Why is that? Because men don't gossip, EVEN IF that man makes out with other men.

And so, I live my life. I appreciate the finer pleasures of life, but I keep things manly. I like wine, but I couldn't tell you what the "texture" is. I have a cleaning lady, but she basically just dusts - no handling of my unmentionables and I can clean up after myself. I appreciate style and fashion, but I focus on comfort and not on fashion credibility. If you can do both, then good. Men of the world - shape up! This slide into prissiness must stop somewhere. Let us draw that line now.