By host Tom Ashbrook:

Harvard professor Harvey Mansfield has whipped up a small storm in the last few weeks with his call for the new embrace of an old idea: manliness.

Men acting manly, says Mansfield, are what this world needs more of. John Waynes and Teddy Roosevelts, Papa Hemmingways and Schwarzeneggers who stride the modern range and get things done.

The post-feminist dream of a gender-neutral society, says Manfield, has hurt both men and women, and it’s time to bust out the manly men inside.

Critics are agog. With Cheney and Rumsfeld and Dubya on the march, they ask, is that not enough saddle burn?

Hear a conversation with Harvey Mansfield about manly men and the call for more manliness.

Guests:

Harvey Mansfield, author of “Manliness,” and professor of government at Harvard University

Katha Pollitt, columnist for The Nation and author of the forthcoming book “Virginity or Death and Other Social and Political Issues of Our Time”

Jack Beatty, On Point News Analyst