Men

Half tempted to put this into the "inane studies" category but not totally sure ... what do you think?

A bloke for all seasons

MEN behave like larrikins around the boys, "wit warriors" in mixed company and "fly guys" when they want to impress women, research shows.

They are also likely to use up to five different personas throughout their lifetime, the study by brand consultancy Added Value has found.

"A big finding was that masculinity is not singular... it's actually plural," said a director at Added Value, James Pike.

"In a nutshell, masculinity is the varied ways guys use to express themselves.

"Masculinity is an occasion for display and self-presentation for men, which varies from culture to culture, and from place to place and is constantly changing and shifting.

"We found that men play many different parts in any given occasion."

The two-stage study involved talking to experts and men aged between 18 and 29 about their perception of masculine.

"Masculinity is a performance," Mr Pike said.

"The better the performance, the more masculine guys will feel and appear."

The research found that the average male will use five personas throughout their life.

He said that most men adopted a contingency-based approach to the persona they used.

"A guy would maybe express his larrikin persona with the boys and with mixed company be more the wit warrior or the fly guy," Mr Pike said.

"It depends on whether he is looking to impress the ladies."

The top seven personas:

The good bloke: Down to earth, genuine, always know where they stand and holds family values. Examples of men who were seen to personify this are former tennis star Pat Rafter and cricketer Michael Clarke.

The larrikin: These are men who like to have a laugh and make playful wise cracks - think comedians Dave Hughes and Merrick and Rosso.

The wit warrior: These are men who use humour to reveal the truth and like to provoke and challenge. They are personified by comedy group The Chaser and Wil Anderson.

The fly guy: These are men who have confidence, creative flair and a sense of style. They tend to be into music and are exemplyfied by Jason Kay of band Jamiroquai and musician Daniels Johns.

Understated power: These are self-assured men who do not big-note themseves. They are cool, have hidden depth and respectful. Men who were seen to personify this were retired NRL player Hazem El Masri and actor Eric Bana.

The urban tribalist: These are men who stick to their to beliefs and striving for change from the ground up. The British artist Banksy is one example.

The lionheart: These were men who were physically strong and had emotional toughness. This tended to be associated with certain types of sports stars like NRL player Darren Lockyer and cyclist Lance Armstrong.

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I like the sound of the urban triablist wonder who (or what) Banksy is?

Had a bit of a read of the wiki entry on him and wasn't impressed until I got to this bit ...

Statements by Banksy in Wall and Piece

“ We can’t do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves. ”

“ We don’t need any more heroes; we just need someone to take out the recycling. ”

“ When you go to an art gallery you are simply a tourist looking at the trophy cabinet of a few millionaires. ”

“ Sometimes I feel so sick at the state of the world I can’t even finish my second apple pie. ”

“ Think from outside the box, collapse the box and take a fucking knife to it. ”

“ Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place. ”

“ If you want someone to be ignored, then build a life-size bronze statue of them and stick it in the middle of town. ”

“ People who should be shot: Fascist thugs, religious fundamentalists, people who write lists telling you who should be shot. ”

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Not exactly my definition of an "urban tribalist" but amusing anyway.