The modern man

Lifestyle magazines, the advertising world and the urban yuppie all talk of metro sexual men. The in epitome of masculinity.
The dictionary defines him as man who spends a lot of time and money on his appearance and likes to shop. He is supposed to be sensitive, he is supposed to be the evolved glorified new age man
The feminist magazine heralds him as the complete man, as opposed to the caveman or even the masculine model of our father’s days.
During my two months stay in the hospital I was at the women’s only ward. Interestingly the labelled metro sexual men sent in paid care-takers for their mothers/wives as the ward did not allow men to stay overnight.
It was that section of men who otherwise would go about minding their business career’s leaving the home to their wives who stayed looking after their spouses, or mothers. There was this one worker who worked during the day at a construction site and in the night stayed at the hospital corridor in case his wife needed him along with his two-year old daughter. In the morning he gave his wife her bath, their one year old child a wash got fed the kids and left. He had left his mobile number with the nurse in the case of emergency.
There was another medical representative, who stayed till 10 in the morning ensured that his wife was comfortable and left for his work. He would stay the night at the corridor too. The only redeeming factor was their children were with his parents.
Nagavva a construction worker fell of the site, during the day her husband stayed with her and son stayed the night.
As my mother observed it could be the gift of nuclear families, or small families many families do not have enough women power. Gone are the days when a woman relative obliged. Even if she did the men were not comfortable it was as if they did not do their duties.
To me these men that I saw from sixteen to sixty in the women’s ward are truly the icon of empowered men, unlike their media heralded metro sexual models.