What makes a man?

With the end of November comes the end of a relatively new phenomenon; Movember, the charitable initiative for Prostate Cancer.

Most of you know the deal: to participate, a person must refrain from shaving their moustache for the entire month. Participants can register with the official Movember organization, or just show their support with a furry upper lip.

This is the second year I have known and participated in Movember, although it has been around for many years, since it originated in Australia.

But, where are the men in our culture? Surely I'm not the only one who noticed the change in the look of 20-somethings since the last generation?

Consider our generations' movies: the most successful one show the man as one who sticks with his buddies, and has a poor perspective of the woman. Consider Anchorman, where a news team of bro's try to keep the only aggressively competitive female from joining their crew; might as well be The Lil' Rascals. Or I Love You Man, where the story seems to be about a man's wedding, but is actually about his relationship with his best friend. The list goes on with Old School, Wedding Crashers, The Other Guys, etc. In the eye of the filmmaker, boys who used to become men in their 20's were becoming something different: a man-child.

Also, the number of young men living at home through their 20s has greatly increased in the past decade. In her book Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis: Advice From Twentysomethings Who Have Been There and Survived, Alexandra Robbins cites the following statistics: that more than 56 per cent of men between the ages of 22 to 31-years-old live with their parents. Furthermore, since 1970, the number of young adults living at home has increased by 50 per cent. Lastly, we are the first generation not projected to do financially better than our parents'.

Our generation, men and women included, have been titled "The Pampered Generation" (I'm not joking, Google it, it's now a common phrase), we have not undergone any true suffering. Our war is one fought on what might as well be another planet; while new social media allows us to stay up to date with foreign affairs, it also desensitizes, further distancing us from the palpability of conflicts such as those in Egypt and Libya. While other generations made men with wars, ours does not.

Furthermore, our standard of living has even spawned a farce of the difference in suffering between us and third world countries: "first-world problems". This meme, not unlike "that's what she said", has become a common tag to complaints in our society, implying that not only the spoils, but also the troubles of people in our financial demographic are exclusive.

All in all, the man of our generation is a bro-child who hangs out with his buddies all day, parties all night, has no financial stability and lives at home. However, he is considered particularly manly if he manages to refrain from shaving for 30 days straight.

I'm not condemning Movember, I think it's an effective and enjoyable fundraiser, that I plan to participate in every year. What troubles me is the man I'm expected to become in the next few years, and whether or not I can do it.

As a man-child myself, who is accurately described by most points in the above statement, all I can say is that I really hope we clean up nice and learn quick; because if we don't, its going to be one hell of a long childhood.