Top 10 Manly Jobs: Popular Mechanics’ Cool Gigs List

http://wmbriggs.com/blog/?p=2171 ^ | William M. Briggs

[mattstat]

Popular Mechanics published a list of four dozen or so “Coolest Gigs on Earth.”

They ought to have said “manliest.” This isn’t The Atlantic or Time. This is Popular Mechanics!

The catalog is admirably inclusive, but it smacks of padding. For example, “Food Scientist” is pegged. This is a job which I’m sure is at least interesting—the guy profiled develops, among other things, blended iced coffee—but it isn’t manly.

Like “Food Scientist”, “Statistician” can be interesting. But is it a manly gig? “Don’t mess with him, Jim. He’s a statistician!”

Before laughing, try swapping your own title for mine. See if the sentence becomes less ridiculous. We “Account Managers”, “Financial Specialists”, “Insurance Brokers”, “Customer Relation Managers” are all in the same meek boat.

What’s a manly job? One that if you were to announce it at the bar—a drinking establishment where Pinot Grigio is not on the menu—the men sitting there would not smirk. Preferably, it is something that is done with your hands. Bonus points if it requires dangerous tools. A manly job is one that makes something tangible. It does something noticeable. It’s one that, at the end of the day, you can look back and actually see progress.

Here, then, are my entries. I’ve taken as many as I could from Popular Mechanics (marked with PM) and made inclusions where they were negligent. The entries are in rough order of what I’d rather be doing. Daydreaming is, of course, the real purpose of the list...

[Tax-chick]

“An actuary is an accountant without the fascinating personality,” we used to say when I was a financial services employee. “And they have *really big calculators*!”

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

“An actuary is an accountant without the fascinating personality”

I’ll have to remember that one, LOL.

[HospiceNurse]

I comfort dying people and their families. I wash and care for the newly deceased. People still assume I am a woman. Go figure.

There are no manly jobs, just men who do jobs.

[ASOC]

“What’s a manly job?” A rather odd question.

Farmer
Rancher
Ironworker (high rise)
Public Health Doctor (think plague fighter)

There are others

Seal
Ranger

Grunt

Some are not near as glamorous as others, but all are needed at one time or the other.....

[smokingfrog]

Lumberjack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zey8567bcg

[Tax-chick]

There are no manly jobs, just men who do jobs.

Excellent observation.

[Regulator]

Gee, those jobs all have one thing in common: low pay.

How Manly.

[taxcontrol]

Top of the manly list:

Any military special ops gig:
Army Ranger / Green Beret
Navy Seal / Frogman
Marine Force Recon
Air Force Pararescue
etc

Second on the list, any combat arms job or government security detail

Third, cop, fireman, prison guard, etc

[ASOC]

LOL

If you think someone is a RANGER or suffers thruogh BUDS for the PAY, think again.

Some MEN think that the pride that come with the gig is worth more than the dough they get.

But, maybe they are just silly - eh?

[Mr Rogers]

You miss the point of this article. It has nothing to do with real manliness, IMHO. There is nothing more manly than a good husband and father, both of which are pretty tough jobs.

This is about impressing dweebs at a bar, or impressing an 18 year old girl who hasn't figured out yet that macho and asshole are often synonyms.

As a WSO/EWO - and you lose HUGE macho points if you have to explain what your job is - I've spent lots of time with fighter pilots and test pilots. Some are truly outstanding men, and some are just self-serving jerks - but "I test fighter jets" is pretty high on the cool list.

Me? I've done Mach 2, gone M 1.6 at 500', done .9M at 400' at night, I've been in combat, as a youngster I cut down trees for a living for a while...but in my 50s, I'm at that happy stage in life where folks look at my bifocals, and don't even ask.

And with my marriage at 23 years and climbing, my house paid for, 3 kids, 1 granddaughter and 2 more on the way...I don't give a rat's rear end about what other folks think. I'd much rather go ride my horses than hang around a bar and try to impress strangers. (And yes, I'm old enough to wear a helmet doing it...)

[Textide]

Hate to be a stick in the mud as I know the list is meant in the spirit of fun, but this fellow is an idiot.

6.Soldier. The profession of arms is nowadays seen as low class when it’s not downright despised. People say, “We support our troops” by which they mean, “Those fools couldn’t find any other job.” An army is an indulgence and not a necessity. History is filled with societies anxious to beat their swords into plowshares only to find their neighbors have done the opposite. But what of men like Alexander, Patton, Ceasar, Joshua, Nelson, Washington, Wellington. That I can just write their last names and that you know exactly who I mean and why, shows the true importance of this profession

[WSGilcrest]

Judge at a rib cook-off would be the ultimate job.

Otherwise, I like my job...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tKuX3HKKTA

[Tax-chick]

but this fellow is an idiot

He spelled "Caesar" wrong, and he thinks Alexander, Joshua, and Wellington are last names. If he's not an idiot, he's certainly poorly educated.

[Regulator]

Y'all keep workin' for that pride thing.

The guys you work for will smile and retire to the upstairs office...

[redhead]

Heavy Equipment Operator
Truck Driver
Oilfield Roughneck
Construction/Carpentry, etc.

[Mr Rogers]

Something that is incredibly UNMANLY is working for cash. If the only thing you care about in your job is your paycheck, you aren’t worth spit as a man!

[KrisKrinkle]

None of these jobs, nor the ones listed in the posts so far, seem to be anything where a man is in much of a position of leadership, management, etc. Implied is that business leaders, teachers, politicians, etc are all supposed to be women or “unmanly” men.

[Regulator]

Something that is incredibly UNMANLY is working for cash

Ah. So you work for free? That nice hacienda style house with a stable there in what, East Tucson came for free? Retired out of DM or Luke and they gave you a house gratis, right? Right...sure they did.

A "manly" job is one where you keep your family housed, clothed and fed, and provide for their future. That's it.

Your earlier post alluded to that. So stay on that track, it's the right one. Any idiot can be trained to ride horses, shoot a big gun, drive a tractor; that's why the pay is low - simple skills. The difficult things in life require patience and dedication to develop talents and abilities that people have in varying degrees - and it's when all of those stars align that you have real value.

An acquaintance of mine is a 4 star. He's the sort of guy who doesn't talk about the illustrious past: he stays in the now. Working with him, you notice that there are very few rough spots, and he takes you along for the ride quite nicely. At the end, everyone gets it: that's how he ended up where he is.

No big noise, no chest thumping, no screaming...just the right mix of perception, organization and knowledge.

That's um, "manly". And he doesn't even have to wear the nice little epaulets every day: everyone knows.

[Seven plus One]

The guys you work for will smile and retire to the upstairs office...

As long as they stay the hell away from me, so I can do my job, I'm cool with that.