I was driving home from work when Brad Paisley’s new song “I’m Still a Guy” came on the radio. I sang along: “It’s hip now to be feminized.” I got to thinking about the song, which describes a guy who will not give up his manly activities to fit into the new breed of men, the breed that, as Paisley puts it, gets “facials, manicured, waxed and Botoxed.”

Over the past few weeks I have heard four guys talk about needing a pedicure, and the other guys around them agree. I appreciate a well-groomed guy, but when men are more worried about their appearance than girls, I feel the universe has lost its balance.

I asked my girlfriends what they thought about men tanning and getting pedicures. They are as baffled as I am. We don’t mind tan guys, but knowing the tan came from working outside without a shirt on is so much more attractive than knowing it came from a bed with artificial lights.

It seems as though guys in our generation are not doing what men do anymore. I want a guy who knows how to work with his hands and enjoys his physically demanding job. I don’t mind seeing a guy with grease-stained hands because it is the mark of getting down and dirty to get the job done.

I formerly thought guys did not appreciate the time I put into getting ready for a date, but now I feel like maybe I don’t appreciate the time guys put into getting ready. I know guys who take as long as I do to get ready to go out for the night. They don’t have to shave their legs, and they don’t have to put on makeup. They don’t even really need to style their hair, so what takes them so long to get ready?

When I’m out with a guy, I like to talk about things we have in common. I don’t want those things to be where I go tanning or what I do to keep my teeth white. I want to know that I am on a date with a guy, not sitting around gossiping with my girlfriends.

If I have something that needs to be fixed, I would appreciate it if my guy friends knew how to repair it. I do not want to call my dad and have him talk me through fixing things myself. Having a “man’s man” around is more satisfying to me than having a guy around who makes sure every hair on his head is in place.

Kelsey Henninger is a junior magazine journalism major and columnist for the Summer Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].