According to Dave Barry, the “Men’s Movement” is particularly populated with “loons” and “goobers”. In Dave Barry’s article “Guys vs. Men”, he shows the true mind set of guys, while arguing the stance of a guy’s thought process. For example, Barry writes about how guys like neat stuff, depicting his own stubbornness as owning a top of the line computer, yet only using it to type short, silly sentences. In addition, he writes that guys like a pointless challenge, and he incorporates humor into this paragraph to show how far guys will take a situation, just to prove himself right.
Finally, Barry ends his article with a few paragraphs of how guys do not have a rigid and well-defined moral code. Overall, Barry takes a stance on how guys can be lowlifes, but they are not harsh… in fact, most of them mean well. Despite lacking significant hard evidence, “Guys vs. Men” by Dave Barry is an effective argument because he connects with his audience by incorporating humor, logical reasoning, and anecdotes to tell about the true and underlying meaning behind the mindset of guys.
Barry argues the stance of a guy’s thought process by providing three main instances: Guys like neat stuff, Guys like a pointless challenge, and guys do not have a rigid and well defined moral code. This essay was written and published in 1996. He fits his argument into the context effectively, despite his lack of significant hard evidence.
“Guys vs. Men” was more intended for a male audience rather than a female audience, although it could attract females to read it as well because of the relatable and humorous content.
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The author states that by “neat”, he means “mechanical and unnecessarily complex” (Barry 941). Guys like neat stuff mainly refers to their need for bigger and better, even if not necessary. Barry gives us an example of himself, explaining how he has one of the most powerful computers, yet he only uses it to type in his articles and other simplistic tasks. He then proceeds to say, “In other words, this computer is absurdly overqualified to work for me, and yet soon, I guarantee, I will buy an even more powerful one. I won’t be able to stop myself. I’m a guy” (Barry 941). He uses personal experiences to explain how guys like a really pointless challenge. He describes an instance where he had a foot race to beat a coworker’s 40-meter time. He ended up injuring himself in the process, not being able to beat the time. The coworker teased him about how he still never ran faster than him, and it was a non-beneficial rise to meet a pointless challenge, all in all. The third point of this article states that guys do not have a rigid and well-defined moral code. Barry uses his dog, Zippy (who happens to be a male dog), to compare his disobedience to guys. Zippy tends to get into the kitchen garbage and poop on the floor, even though he knows he is not supposed too.
Guys are completely aware of the rules of their moral behavior, but they tend to stray from them from time to time. While making an excellent use of ethos, the author is a reliable source with plenty of personal experiences. Dave Barry is a reliable source to an extent, because he is a guy. Because Barry is a guy and happens to be writing about the thought process of guys, he could incorporate lies or exaggerate instances to prove his point. However, he does not have a motive that would cause the audience to view him as untrustworthy or dishonest. He even points out flaws in his argument by saying he “realizes that he’s making gender-based generalizations here (women moving furniture in the middle of the night], but my feeling is that if God did not want us to make gender-based generalizations, She would not have given us genders” (Barry 942). Most parts of this article are told in a humorous way, which makes his audience able to relate to him and view his argument as a likable one. Dave Barry states, “Granted, the guys in charge of this program [Space Shuttle] claim it has a Higher Specific Purpose, namely to see how humans function in space. But of course we have known for years how humans function in space: They float around and say things like: ‘Looks real good, Houston!”” (Barry 942). Barry provides logical reasoning rather than hard evidence to support his argument, which makes his stance an easy target to go against.
No statistics or facts are ever stated in the article, but he uses plenty of logical reasoning. However, this makes Barry’s argument easy to prove faulty; as if it is just his opinion on the entire matter. He uses irony by explaining that the audience should “think of men more as guys, that guys do not spend a lot of time pondering their deep innermost feelings,” (Barry 940). Ironically, he continues to write out his deep innermost feelings as an essay. Barry writes his article from an expert’s testimony on how a guy’s thought process realistically works. Since the author is a guy, it is logical to believe what he writes is true and not completely opinionated. In addition to ethos and logos, Barry uses pathos in a strong sense to connect with his audience with relatable examples and humorous anecdotes. By using personal experiences, he connects with his audience on a strong level. His personal experiences range from having a pointless footrace with a coworker that ended in an injury, to his own dog, and he manages to relate guys to each instance in a humorous way. “And so when the humans come home, the kitchen floor has been transformed into GarbageFest USA, and Zippy, who usually comes rushing up, is off in a corner disguised in a wig and sunglasses, hoping to get into the Federal Bad Dog Relocation Program before the humans discover the scene of the crime” (Barry 945). He admits to making hasty generalizations about guys, with the stereotypes he says are quite commonly used. He refers to being masculine as stupid, violent, loyal to the Detroit Tigers and fearful of bridal showers (Barry 941).
In conclusion, “Guys vs. Men” by Dave Barry is an effective argument overall by his ability to hook his audience and explain the reasoning behind a man’s thought process. The three main points throughout this article are about how guys like neat stuff, a pointless challenge, and how they lack a rigid and well-defined moral code. Dave Barry could potentially change these instances within a guy’s brain, just by the typing of an article on his extremely powerful computer.
A Comparison of Guys and Men's Mindset. (2022, Jul 26). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/a-comparison-of-guys-and-men-s-mindset/
