Ehrlich's narrative focuses on what the life of a cowboy truly is when compared to the image of them created by the media. Generally, a 'cowboy' is a male rancher who is thought to be an insensitive, hard-bitten, tough young man who will accomplish any job needed for the ranch with no emotional reactions of any kind. This means no matter how demanding, dangerous, or exhaustive the job may be a cowboy will accomplish the task at hand. If a cowboy's entire persona was judged on how they acted while working and nothing else this may be an accurate representation of who they are. However, cowboys are multi-faceted people just like anybody else and by painting this half-true image of them it becomes clear how it may lead to a sense of alienation
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The Marlboro Man is always shown as a solitary, stern, rugged man unwinding after an honest day’s worth of grueling labor and adventure as he rides off into a picturesque sunset on horseback. He is never shown to display any emotions of any kind but is rather constantly presented as a mysterious and stoic figure. Marlboro’s romanticized version of a cowboy may be great for sales but it provides no context whatsoever into the events leading up to the day’s end and leaves out crucial details that could be used to paint the full picture of who these ranchers truly are. By doing so, purposefully or not, an unrealistic role model with unobtainable traits is created who only alienates men in today’s society as they strive to achieve this gross misrepresentation of …show more content…
Cowboys act in such a stoic manner simply because their job requires it, not because they have an inability to show emotion. Ehrlich describes this as “it's not toughness but 'toughing it out' that counts. In other words, this macho, cultural artifact the cowboy has become is simply a man who possesses resilience, patience, and an instinct for survival” (Ehrlich 83). They are not the dangerous-adventure seeking individuals society believes them to be but instead understand that “courage has less to do with facing danger than with acting spontaneously - usually on behalf of an animal or another rider” (Ehrlich 83). This distinction of courage being “linked to someone or something outside himself” (Ehrlich 83) is crucial to emphasis because a man’s true courage “is selfless, a form of compassion” (Ehrlich
The Marlboro Man is always shown as a solitary, stern, rugged man unwinding after an honest day’s worth of grueling labor and adventure as he rides off into a picturesque sunset on horseback. He is never shown to display any emotions of any kind but is rather constantly presented as a mysterious and stoic figure. Marlboro’s romanticized version of a cowboy may be great for sales but it provides no context whatsoever into the events leading up to the day’s end and leaves out crucial details that could be used to paint the full picture of who these ranchers truly are. By doing so, purposefully or not, an unrealistic role model with unobtainable traits is created who only alienates men in today’s society as they strive to achieve this gross misrepresentation of …show more content…
Cowboys act in such a stoic manner simply because their job requires it, not because they have an inability to show emotion. Ehrlich describes this as “it's not toughness but 'toughing it out' that counts. In other words, this macho, cultural artifact the cowboy has become is simply a man who possesses resilience, patience, and an instinct for survival” (Ehrlich 83). They are not the dangerous-adventure seeking individuals society believes them to be but instead understand that “courage has less to do with facing danger than with acting spontaneously - usually on behalf of an animal or another rider” (Ehrlich 83). This distinction of courage being “linked to someone or something outside himself” (Ehrlich 83) is crucial to emphasis because a man’s true courage “is selfless, a form of compassion” (Ehrlich