Macho Heroes

Some of you will probably know I’ve just made a massive change in my life. We’ve sold our business and I’m officially a full time writer again. It has been a battle but I’m finally establishing a writing routine. And I’m now only one scene away from finishing another story.

When I started this latest story, I wanted a macho hero. Someone who could stand up to the sometimes harsh conditions of living on the land in Australia. But also someone who was man enough to show what he was feeling when necessary. Hopefully I’ve managed to achieve that. I grew up in the Australian bush so I knew men like that from the time I was a little girl.

But it got me thinking about the whole macho thing.
The Compact Oxford English dictionary defines Macho as aggressively masculine.
The Encarta® World English Dictionary, North American Edition, lists it like this: stereotypically masculine: having or showing characteristics conventionally regarded as male, especially physical strength and courage, aggressiveness, and lack of emotional response

Huh? “aggressiveness…lack of emotional response” Ah, no, not my men! Okay, okay, so my heroes are aggressive if the situation warrants it, but I would have called it assertiveness coupled with a belief that what he’s doing is correct. And he’s always ready to back down and apologize if he’s proved wrong.

It was the lack of emotional response that really threw me. To me, a macho man is someone who can take control when necessary. Yes, he’s assertive and that often rubs the heroine up the wrong way. But there’s another side of the macho heroes I use in my stories. He does have an emotional response and he’s man enough to own up to it. It doesn’t make him less of a man to show his softer side on occasion.

No doubt everyone has differing opinions on what a macho male is, but a reader recently gave me three little words that I truly think defines the macho male. “Tough but tender.” I kind of like that. It’s simple but says so much. That’s the type of man I want to read about. Someone who can stand up and take it, but also show his feelings when necessary.

So what about you? What do you see as the traits of a macho male?



Alexis Fleming
http://www.alexisfleming.net/