Excerpts: It's a Dick Thing

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Don Koberg, Editor/Compiler is Emeritus Professor of Architecture and Design at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, California. His first book The Universal Traveler; Soft-Systems guide to creativity, problem-solving and the process of reaching goals soon to appear in its 25th Anniversary Edition has influenced the thinking of hundreds of thousands of readers.

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Book-of-the-Month Excerpts

It's a Dick Thing: Secret Thoughts of Silent Men
by

Meet the reemerging multi-faceted talking male of the 21^st Century, too long waiting silently off stage behind a curtain of macho myth and militant misrepresentation. (Back Cover)

Every man knows it takes courage to resolve warm compassionate mothered beginnings with social expectations that he develop into an impassionate, hard-edged gladiator, but real men do it each day. (Back Cover)

We may vary between ‘bad ass’ and ‘candy ass’ and all that lies between. Whether we choose to represent ourselves as silent, senseless brutes or as verbal, wise, and brave defenders of truth, or some combination of both, our worth and credence can only be fairly judged in terms of how well or poorly we play our stated role. (Man-ifesto; Editor)

Maybe a large part of this “dick thing” has to do with self-esteem. Males seem to either have too much, or not enough. We’re always looking for it and either can’t find it or can’t recognize it when we see it. (Late for Dinner; Mike McGee, Water Conservation Consultant)

We need to cry. No question about it. But how nourishing is the simple act of crying? (A Deeper Cry Within; Bob Banner, Window Washer)

I am a man. I am serious. I am strong. I am stoic, often too busy to treat friends with the love they deserve. I show no emotions. I am a man. I have always acted that way, business first, wife second, friends and family third. (Magic and Loss; John Thomas, Electronic Product Manufacturer)

Look beneath an often hard, defensive crust and discover that men are neither more nor less human than other brainy members of the animal kingdom. (Introduction to Part Four; Editor)

Men, of course, have problems of their own. Some men have a gene for baldness that, with age, becomes activated by even standard levels of testosterone. Other more serious long-term effects of testosterone include possible heart disease, susceptibility to infection, enlargement of the prostate gland, and a host of other maladies. Like it or not, men are the “weaker sex” in this regard, which might also explain part of the difference in male/female life spans. (“Mr.T”; William Stansfield, Biologist)

You know I don’t bitch when things aren’t perfect. I don’t whine about a pain or a big bill or something going wrong with the car. When I’m in trouble nobody knows. If something needs taking care of, or a bit of criminality needs doing, then I don’t go round up everyone I know asking for them to agree with me. I just get on with it. (Me; Steve Omega, Wanderer)

From our earliest training we are taught to not show feelings and to be tough, that money is the road to happiness, and that he who has the most toys in the end is the winner. Fortunately not all men conform to this dominant pattern of male behavior. The men I like best are gentle, caring, compassionate human beings and not driven by the motivation for power and wealth. (Confession; Craig Nuttycombe, Carpenter)

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