Big Trucks for Sensitive Men

By Sam Sweet

Today, the definition of what a man is has been spread out over a wide spectrum of different characteristics instead of just a couple like it used to be. Everyone has their own idea of what a man is, but for Chevrolet, the idea of an American man still remains the same where a man can get up in the morning and leaves for work, to provide for and protect his family.

The Chevrolet 3500HD commercial expresses to the viewer that to be a man is to work hard and do physical labor and to do so you must drive a Chevrolet truck. The essay that fits in perfectly with this idea is about the four main attitudes of being a man submitted in the book Rereading America 7th Edition. This essay says that you have to be tough, self reliant, and strong to be a man which is somewhat accurate, but that is mostly found away from the inner cities and towns these days. In the commercial the idea that you can still provide for your family in every single way in and outside of the home is expressed tenfold.

Chevrolet expresses the idea that men in the country should live and work in the dirt which builds up muscle from physical labor. The essay about a manly man and a sensitive man addresses this almost directly. Most people think of country men as big, dumb, and sometimes even stupid. They are thought of as big burly men who walk around thinking “must work and be manly” but this is not the case. As human beings, men feel some form of compassion for at least one thing that is present in our lives and to that subject, object, or person men are sensitive towards and swallow the manly man routine momentarily.

While Chevrolet has expressed many manly ideas to the viewers over the course of their commercial, the very end catches you by surprise but demonstrates that Chevrolet is changing with that times. Today men should be manly and tough, but when they have a family they are expected to be sensitive and warm and take care of them, not letting their testosterone get in the way. The shifting gender roles essay in Rereading America 7th Edition is a perfect example of how the roles of men and women in a family are changing slightly. As women used to be only given charge to the baby, now they are leaving home like the man and going to work. When the truck pulls up to the daycare center and the man pulls his sleeping daughter out of her car seat you see that although he drives a giant truck and is ready to go to work he is still willing to take care of his daughter and bring her to a daycare center while he and his wife go to work.

The modern day idea of a man has changed so much from the old time cowboy who works outside the home from sun up to sun down and makes the best out of what he has to a man who is always looking to gain more power and make even more money. Today, the man is clean cut and dressed in less rugged clothing accompanied by other accessories such as a watch. To most people, Chevrolet’s insinuated claims might seem extreme and too country western, but America was started in the country by men who hardly had anything to their name but a family. The real men are those who work for the good of their family and not just for themselves.