Art of Manliness - 100 Skills

 August 26th, 2020

The list of 100 Skills Every Man Should Know by the Art of Manliness is a very interesting read. It is of course based on someone's opinion and while some of the skills are very valuable, most of the skills provided I believe are not necessary to know, but just cool to know. They aren't necessary but they might impress a couple of people along the way. For example, whistling with your fingers, riding a horse, and riding a motorcycle, are among some of the more unnecessary skills on the list. The list does have some important skills such as jumpstarting a car, changing a car's oil and shaking hands. 

The skill that I decided to demonstrate was No. 45: Shuffling a Deck of Cards. In the description it states, "you should be able to do your part and shuffle the deck, and do it with some flair too." Below I have an awesome video of me shuffling cards. I wouldn't say that I did it with any flair, but I guess I shuffled the cards. Honestly, when I was working on the slo-mo part of the video I realized how bad I was at shuffling the cards. However, that isn't the most important part of the card game at stake. The most important part of the game is winning and having fun. Neither of which were achieved when my roommate obliterated me in a couple games of "Rummy".

While this list of 100 Skills Every Man Should Know by the Art of Manliness is targeted at males, I don't think the skills should single out females. I believe that this list is targeted at men because it is considered "cool" to know and a lot of these skills are just outdated as represented by most of the pictures shown. They mostly represent a past where men "should" have known how to do these things based upon the norms put on men 100 years ago. I also believe that the skills on this list can be targeted at humans as opposed to just men. It is great to know No. 11: How to Negotiate, No. 19: Performing CPR, and No. 34: Shaking Hands. All humans should learn how to do these valuable things. And to reiterate my point earlier, a lot of these are just outdated and don't belong on the list.

Skills are always a great thing to know. This list however doesn't provide the most necessary skills for man or even human existence. In the end we are all just seeking attention and approval from others. Sure, I would love the approval of my peers if I could show them how well and flashy I can shuffle cards. But that is not what skills should be. Skills should be necessary without the need to inflate our ego.