The
world today has unique definitions of gender roles in society. Recently, there
has been much discussion on topics such as gay marriage, the breakup of the
family system, and the overall definition of what a man is in the 21st
century. Many of these issues can be traced back to the social movements and
changes that happened during the 1960’s and onward. Because of the women’s
rights movement many women today have equal opportunities in the workplace and
have surpassed men in graduating college. These changes have brought a lot of
benefits to our society because now the female voice has a say in many of the
decisions that go on at home, at the workplace, and in the world. However, while
women have risen to new prominence in their roles today, men have diminished in
theirs. Men today are more self-centered, less masculine, and have lost their
sense of responsibility. Men of our grandparent’s generation were dependable,
took action, and they defined what it is to be manly. Popular characters of
their generation like James Bond personified this idea of the alpha male and
masculine traits. Actually, Bond was so masculine and direct in his demeanor
that when the Bond novels first came out they were considered edgy by many and
even downright misogynistic by some. Still, today he remains the man that men
want to be, and the man that women want to be with. So although James Bond is a
flawed and sometimes overtly sexist character, he does represent a kind of
masculinity that men in our society desperately need right now.
The
first James Bond book was printed in 1953 in a time where the entire world
seemed to be searching for and settling into their new identities. The United
States and the Soviet Union became the new world powers after World War II and
countries like Britain had taken a smaller role in the governance of the world.
The James Bond novels were Ian Fleming’s
answer to the decline of British superiority in the world stage and they
hearkened back to the glory days of Britain. He was their ultimate hero, a one-man
army on Her Majesty’s Secret Service who could solve the world’s problems
without the help of Britain’s larger cousin the United States. Long gone were
the times when Allied soldiers were fighting against evil and oppression in the
vast areas of the world. Tales of duty and good vs. evil were now found in the
James Bond novels and their popularity rapidly increased among the general
populace. Bond provided escape and excitement to readers in a time of peace. He
has timeless qualities that can be admired in any generation and culture. They
are the reason why he has remained immensely popular to this day.
As
mentioned earlier the James Bond novels are a form of escape and can be
categorized under the umbrella of “Escape Literature”. According to Harmon and
Holman’s A Handbook to Literature “Escape
Literature” is defined as “Writing whose clear intention is to amuse and
beguile by offering readers a strong world, exciting adventures, or puzzling
mysteries. It aims at no higher purpose than amusement. Adventure stories,
detective stories, tales of fantasy, and many humorous stories are frankly
escape literature, and they exist for no other purpose than to translate
readers for a time from the care ridden actual world to an entrancing world of
the imagination (Harmon and Holman, p.209).” The Bond novels are an escape for
men because while we read them we can be in the exciting world of Bond for a
few hours. We can get the beautiful exotic girl, we can travel round the globe,
and we can save the day. All of the fantasies of the male mind are written into
the novels, and he represents the epitome of those fantasies. His masculine
qualities and instincts are just as relevant today as he was in the 1950’s. We
need him now more than ever as men in our generation further lose sight of the
definition of manliness and sink deeper into states of irresponsibility.
Several
young men today live at home with their parents and they go out into the real
world much later than the past generations. According to a recent survey, 19%
of men today ages 25 to 29 still live with their parents. The percentage has
risen 8% just from the 1980’s (Snider). Though he is a fictional character,
Bond’s life story can be an example of independence and self-worth. Orphaned at
the age of 11 because of his parents’ death in a sudden mountain climbing
accident, Bond had to become self-reliant at a young age in order to support
himself. Later, he served in the Royal Navy as an intelligence officer during
WWII and started his work with the British Secret Service afterwards to fight
Britain’s battles behind the scenes. The talents he perfected during his
military service prepared him well for his later career.
In
the beginning of the novel Moonraker, James more than qualifies for his
marksmanship scores when he practices on the shooting range. “[His instructor]
was pleased with Bond’s shooting, but he wouldn’t have the thought of telling
him that he was the best shot in the Service. Only M was allowed to know that,
and his Chief of Staff, who would be told to enter the scores of that day’s
shoot on Bond’s confidential record” (Fleming, Moonraker p. 4). Because he honed his shooting skills in the
military Bond was able to continually impress his superiors, and making a good
impression on our bosses is something wanted in every profession. After
shooting practice Bond used some of his analytical attributes and abilities to
examine “Two days [worth] of dockets and files” (Fleming, Moonraker p. 5). James Bond was able to use the training he
received during his service not only for his deep cover intelligence missions,
but for his desk job as well.
Many
young men of Bond’s generation also answered the call to serve in WWII, and
later the Korean War. Afterwards, many of these men were able to assimilate back
into society and contribute to said society with the skills they gained from
their service. This is not to say that every young man these days should enlist
in the military to gain the necessary experience and skills for life and career.
The men of our grandparent’s generation did it because it was what they had to
do. They either volunteered for service or they were drafted. There really weren’t
any other options. Actually, today men have more opportunities because without
an active draft they can choose to spend their early years building and
educating themselves in universities or even vocational schools. Gaining an
education will help more than anything else for getting ahead in today’s
society. But unfortunately men today are slacking in this department. In 2003
there were 1.3 female four-year graduates for every male, contrast this with
1.6 male four year graduates for every female in 1960 (Francis). Men are
clearly not stepping up to the plate these days and if something isn’t changed
about our culture soon they will find themselves ill-equipped in the workplace.
If men today were able to look at getting a college degree with the same sense
of duty and zeal that Bond’s generation looked at their military service then I
believe that this problem could be alleviated. With the skills gained in post
high school education they could not only get ahead in the workplace, but they
could also make a profound difference in the world.
Additionally,
men in recent times have not been shown as much respect in the home as they
were previous decades. This is reflected in media portrayals of the clueless
and ineffective dad on modern sitcoms such as The Simpsons and Arrested
Development. These sad portrayals of men were unheard in the time of the
Bond novels. Men back then were the providers of the family. They established
themselves, married, and then strived to support their family. It was expected
of them to do so because it was their duty. Although not portrayed as a family
man in the novels, James Bond certainly had a similar sense of duty and
responsibility. He could have spent his time in idle pursuits; instead he
devoted his entire life to a higher cause which was the protection and the
safety of the Western world. Sure he pursued his own interests, but they were
always secondary to his greater mission and purpose.
A
relatively unknown and somewhat surprising fact about Bond is that several
times in his life he had seriously pondered the idea of getting married and having
a family, especially with his lovers Vesper Lynd and Tiffany Case. In On Her Majesty’s Secret Service however,
he actually did succeed in marrying the beautiful and resourceful Countess
Teresa “Tracy” di Vicenzo. He had planned to settle down with her and start a
new life, but unfortunately for Bond she was killed shortly after the wedding
by his arch-nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofield (Fleming, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service). This shows that Bond was not the
heartless womanizer that many people make him out to be. He was a man who
believed in love as most of us do and he was willing to sacrifice his personal
interests to do so. Today we find that many men put their own interests first
by marrying much later in life, or sometimes they decide to live as bachelors
indefinitely. Many men waste their lives away with video games, television, and
seemingly endless internet browsing, all of which only leads to stagnation
career wise and personally.
Men
today also have a problem with the way they treat women. Often we hear the
saying that “chivalry is dead”. Many
have claimed that James Bond was just a sexist womanizer in the past, but a
closer look at the novels reveals that he certainly knows how to treat women.
There is a reason why so many women are attracted to him and that most of the
women aren’t fictional. He sincerely complimented all of the women he pursued
and made them feel like they were the most beautiful women in the world. He was
confident and assuring, he courted women without looking desperate or needy.
And often times throughout his adventures he even treated his female
counterparts as important assets to his success. This Bond quote from the short
story Quantum of Solace offers some
insight into Bond’s character: “Quantum of Solace-the amount of comfort. Yes, I
suppose you could say that all love and friendship is based in the end on that”
(Fleming, p.76). That may come as a shock to some who think of Bond as a sexist
and misogynist. Bond understood that in relationships there has to be genuine
care for the comfort of one another, that it isn’t something that is one sided.
There has to be mutual respect and care between the two parties. Men in the
dating world today could learn a lot of lessons from 007.
Just
as the countries of the world were searching for their identities after WWII,
men today are searching for their own identities within the modern world. Much
has changed since the time that James Bond burst onto the scene with his
novels. Social reforms and movements have given us new characterizations for
what men are and how they should act in society. Once the sole providers in the
home, men are now being consistently outmatched by women in college and in the
workplace. Men of today need to step up, but many don’t have the knowledge or
motivation to do so. Thankfully history is often our greatest teacher. Men in
our grandparent’s generation went through the Great Depression and the Second
World War. After that they went to work to provide for themselves and their
families. This generation of men and their great examples of manhood were
epitomized in the James Bond novels. Men
of today can look back to the James Bond novels and learn about what has to be
done to progress now. He was and still is the definitive man: stalwart,
responsible, and unwavering in his display of masculinity. He was developed
partly to rescue Britain’s declining sense of worth and return Her to her glory
days, today he can be used similarly to help us strive to become the best men
that we can be.
Works Cited
Harmon,
William and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to
Literature, p.209.
Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.
Fleming, Ian. For
Your Eyes Only, “Quantum of Solace”, p.76.
New York, New York: The New American Library,1964.
Fleming, Ian. On
Her Majesty’s Secret Service. New York, New York:
The
New American Library, 1963.
Fleming, Ian. Moonraker,
p. 4-5. United States: Penguin Books, 2003.
Francis, David R. “Why do women outnumber men in college?”
National Bureau of Economic
Research, Website. 6/12/13.
http://www.nber.org/digest/jan07/w12139.html
Snider, Julie. “Living with Parents”. USATODAY. Survey. 8/1/2012
Interesting analogy between the declining status of Britain and the state of men. Glad you addressed some of the counterarguments!
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