So Unnecessary

Mary Malone writes:
Boys go to the gym because they think about their body image. They want to look attractive to us girls in the consumer market. They sell themselves on street corners as much as any East End tart ever did.
So what does it mean to be a man these days?
It means to be unnecessary.
Fifty years ago, at a time when divorce was difficult and rare, a man was a husband, a father, a worker.
After he left school and began work a young man might be a bit of a rascal for a few years, but once he married, and became a father, he became a real man.
A real man took care of his wife and his children. He was a worker. He worked for his family.
A sorry, despised man, wasted his earnings on drink and gambling, on himself.
A real man didn't take drugs, he didn't sleep around. A real man was a provider.
The life of a man was a life of service; not that it was without its recompense.
He could be fairly sure that he would not end up divorced  and lonely in some dingy bedsit, that it would be he, and not some other man who would be living with his beloved children.
He would be a father, not a sperm donor.
He would probably work Saturday mornings, and overtime too when available, but his wife would cook him a tasty meal. She would wash and clean for him. She would look after his children, their children.
And if he were lucky, his wife might put on a nice dress, a splash of perfume, some red lipstick, to welcome her man when he returned home tired and aching form a day of toil.