Back in 1982 American author Bruce Feirstein wrote a humorous book entitled “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche” (A Guide to All That is Truly Masculine). This book elicited a lot of fervor in both the media and the women’s movement, resulting in the subsequent book “Real Women Don’t Pump Gas” (click here for my previous article about Real Women). Both books are in hardcover as well as paperback, and is available at www.amazon.com, or probably at Bookman’s Used Books in town.

book cover

Here are some examples of humor from the book’s chapters: Chapter 4 Real Men’s Quiz #2 (Q: “How many real men does it take to change a light bulb? A: None. Real Men aren’t afraid of the dark”), Chapter 10 Three Things You Won’t Find in a Real Man’s Pocket (“1. Lip balm 2. Breath freshener 3. Opera tickets), Chapter 16 Great Lines from Real Man’s Movies (“I stick my neck out for nobody” –Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” – Robert Duvall in Apocaplypse Now.)

Author Feirstein says in Chapter 4, “Essentially, the world today can be divided into two categories of men: those who eat quiche and those who don’t. The famous line from the book (which caused me to purchase it back then) was “Could John Wayne ever have taken Normandy, Iwo Jima, Korea, the Gulf of Tonkin, and the entire Wild West on a diet of quiche and salad?” (Chapter 2)

It is 28 years later, and a decade into the 21st century. What are “real men” like now? Do any still exist? Are they the guys who drive 4 x4 trucks out into this Southwest desert looking for rattlesnakes, with their rifles concealed safely under their seats?

I bet they still don’t eat the quiche & salad at Bentley’s House of Coffee and Tea on Speedway (which serves delicious quiche by the way.) Or do they?

Let me know ladies and gentlemen, what you think about “real men” nowadays. Is President Barack Obama (a smoker) a real man? Is champion snowmobile racer Todd Palin (married to former Governor Sarah Palin)? Does this label have any relevance today?

And if you’re not sure of the definition of a real man, I recommend you hunt down this humorous book and read it. I actually own my own (blue) copy.

Note: I confess I do eat quiche, but author Feirstein says in Chapter 26 (A Few Words About Real Women) that “Real women are not afraid to eat quiche.”