A man's world?

At one time or another, our three main political leaders have all been referred to as boys in a pejorative sense. To my mind the term seems to be more than a simple insult - there is something boyish, something not particularly masculine about these guys.

Just look at them.

I don’t mean to imply in that they are not rampantly heterosexual, although the image conjured up by that caveat is not a happy one. Yet I do think they lack the overt masculinity we once expected from most if not all of our male political leaders. Our female leaders too I suspect, but that’s another issue.

These men are not warriors wielding a blood-spattered broadsword high over their heads. They do not lead from the front, urging us on with a maniac war-cry ringing across the field of battle, sending a shiver of pure dread down the quivering spine of every foe – ie the EU.

Of course not, this is the twenty-first century.

This is the era of grey suits, trim hair, shiny shoes and neatly-pressed trousers. Clean-shaven and somewhat fleshy faces suited to the sterile atmosphere of the meeting room. Soft handshakes, manicured nails and a faint smell of soap mingling with the coffee and the faint, almost imperceptible hum of real life so very far away in a distant background.

Maybe it is no longer a man’s world and we should not be surprised at the lack of real men willing to demean themselves by climbing the greasy pole without so much as a decent sword to hack the enemy into tiny quivering pieces.