Art of Manliness – Plug
Posted by kdwolski | Filed under Plugs
Today I am introducing the first in a new series of posts called “Plugs”. A plug is my way of officially promoting “webstuffs”. It could be a great blog, an interesting PDF, or a great piece of open source software; the possibilities are only limited to what can be found on the Internet. My main goal is to highlight “webstuffs” that I value in some way and believe others may find interesting or useful. My intention isn’t to highlight or “plug” a resource that is widely known, but rather those “gems” you only run across on the Internet once in a while.
When it came to selecting the first entry for this series I immediately thought of a blog which I have been following for about a year or so. It is called The Art of Manliness. If I had to make an initial assumption of what many men may be thinking when someone first recommends that they visit this site, the thoughts would probably be classified as a response to a personal attack. Men may infer someone is providing them with this site because they need to consult it for some reason; someone thinks they need to “fix” something about themselves. Truth be told, lessons will be learned, but it isn’t any kind of forced manual to manliness. It is all elective, like calf implants. The Art of Manliness is an exploration of the skills, knowledge, style and the all around virtues of good men. Men like those who landed a man on the moon, or ran across a beach in Normandy France.
When I look at the current state of men’s magazines, the assortment is the same through and through. Covers with large breasted women and a myriad of articles detailing the best ways to sculpt rock hard abs, how to become a chick magnet, etc. It is all a bunch of bullshit jargon cooked up by editors looking to sell magazines to an “emasculated” generation of men. When you look at generations of men from the past and today, it is hard not to see this huge difference in values and virtues. It is not to say one generation is better than the other, but I think some of the great traits and values of older generations were lost in translation. Technology may be a bit of a culprit here. With the advent of the Internet and rapid improvements in technology, messaging and marketing can be disseminated faster than ever and video games and other tech toys can pull boys away from doing other things: like going out for a hike or a round of golf with their fathers. The elements making up these generational differences are not always negative, and it is safe to say generations can learn from one another. The Art of Manliness is a great place for this generational exchange to take place.
One thing that the Art of Manliness does well is topic diversification. The blog discusses everything from dress shirts to Ben Franklin’s 13 Virtues. I found some of the posts about historic male figures to be very interesting. Hate the thought about shelling out $15+ a month on quintuple blade razor cartridges? Check out their post on How to Shave Like Your Grandpa. I think I have spent $10 total this year on razor blades as a result of reading this article. There will be topics and posts you’ll enjoy and others you could care less about. I think this is a typical trait of any blog and is also present at AoM.
The Art of Manliness has its own community site where you can connect with other AoM followers and perhaps discuss and learn more about some of your favorite topics the blog covers. I have to say, this is one of the better community sites I have seen on the Internet lately. It is small (4000+ members) in comparison to other community sites, but the smaller membership makes it feel like your voice can be heard a little more. The member interaction is quite amazing. The easiest way to describe it is as gentlemanly, a far cry from the vulgar-laden comment sections of Digg and YouTube. A great break from the norm indeed.
The Beef
Nothing in life is perfect, so I have dedicated this section to discussing some of the areas of improvement I see in the “webstuffs” I will be plugging. The Art of Manliness fairs well in this section with only a few menial beefs on my end.
1. Advertising
I understand a blog needs to monetize in some way in order to keep the server running, the authors paid etc, etc. But every now and then AoM features a video ad which is set to play on page load. These kinds of things annoy the crap out of me. If I want to view the video ad, I’ll click play. Hell, I often click on an ad or two, just to show a bit of appreciation for a great site of content. My main worry is that an ad like that could deter a first time visitor.
2. Bottom Toolbar
I’ve never really liked the bottom third-party toolbar. I understand the purpose, but I would rather see these types of tools built into the page. They seem to be so disconnected from the site that I just ignore them all together.
Resources
Take a look at The Art of Manliness. I think you’ll be inspired by the frequently updated quality content. It is a far cry from the repetitive crappy content you’ll find in men’s magazines today; it doesn’t cost a dime or require you to begin dressing like Grandpa. See how it can fit into your life, I think you may be surprised.
Main Website: www.artofmanliness.com
AoM Community: community.artofmanliness.com
Twitter: @artofmanliness
I am a professional web developer born and raised in Western Massachusetts, educated in the Ocean State and now residing in Greater Boston. A bona fide web and technology geek.
This website serves as as central landing point for all of my publicly facing viewpoints, interests and resources.