self-help
In honor of its 75th anniversary the May
Esquire has a big pullout feature called "75 Skills Every Man Should Master." The premise — Magazines! Lists! — is not exactly revolutionary, and the "skills," such as practicing "brand loyalty to at least one product" and "making three different bets at a craps table" are not exactly universally vital, but I'm writing about the feature precisely because it's so classically
Esquire. Esquire is a magazine about "how to be a better man" or some John Wayne shit like that.
Esquire doesn't try and tell its readers they are fine just the way they are.
Esquire likes rules, definites, moral "absolutes" to substitute for the old moral absolutes in which modern society is so woefully deficient.
Glamour would, for whatever reason, never tell its readers they
needed to know how to deliver a eulogy or install a thermostat without asking for help, because they are too busy telling their readers to not feel guilty about being too emotional to deliver the eulogy without breaking down, or ask a dude for help installing the thermostat. Thank the nonexistent moral authorities that
I don't get paid
Glamour rates to write this stuff, right?
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