The world could use some more men like John Wayne

My dad’s all-time favorite actor has always been the famous rugged, western actor John Wayne. Growing up watching his films and many other westerns, I have grown to love these big, tough, strong cowboys. John Wayne doesn’t put up with any nonsense. He’s blunt, forward and, at times, tactless but you know where he stands and can’t help but respect his honesty and love the 6 foot 4 inch man of a man. These fearless cowboys were known for fighting for what was theirs, standing up for what was right and protecting their women and their land. They respected women and were willing to fight for them. If there was a lady that they wanted, there wasn’t any messing around. They simple went up to the woman and asked her to be his wife. They might not have been the most sensitive men or the smartest scholars, but they were not afraid of hard work. So my question is where are all the men like this today? It seems like today men wait on the woman to make the move. Men have gotten accustomed to the women coming after them and most of them don’t seem to have a problem with it. What happened to the man being the leader and going after what he wanted? Are guys intimidated to go up to a girl and ask her out now? Is rejection such a scary thing that it’s worth risking your chance to take a pretty girl out? Maybe it’s the way children have been raised the past twenty years or so. Parents should raise their boys to treat women like a treasure and with the utmost respect but also learn to take the lead and not be afraid to talk to a girl. Parents should raise their girls to act like little ladies that deserve respect and not to call boys or ask them out but to wait and let the boy be the one to make his move.

I wish I lived in the days when cowboys would tip their hat to a woman and stand up when a woman entered the room; the days when it was “unfit” for a woman to drive her own carriage or to go somewhere unaccompanied by a man. I wish all women still acted like ladies and men still acted gentlemen. I would have loved for a man wearing cowboy boots and a cowboy hat to pull me up onto his horse and ride me off into the sunset. John Wayne once said, “I’m the stuff men are made of!” and I couldn’t agree more. I only wish there were more men like him living today. It’s sad but I am starting to believe the introductory lines to Gone with the Wind which say, “There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind…”