Why men should be more like Brad Pitt (and not for the reasons you think)
From Sheena McKenzie, for CNN, and Jim Stenman, CNN
February 26, 2014 -- Updated 1650 GMT (0050 HKT)
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(CNN) -- Oh Brad. So strong. So virile. So capable of wielding a sword in Troy, destroying zombies in World War Z, and seducing leading ladies with just the tilt of a cowboy hat in Thelma and Louise.
"He's a real man's man," gushed fiancé and mother of his six-children, Angelia Jolie.But that alone is not what makes him such an important role model for men today, says one of America's most distinguished feminists and international affairs professors, Anne-Marie Slaughter.It's his ability to share breadwinning and caregiving with his partner. Which has a lot more to do with empowering women than you might think.
A real man's man? Brad Pitt shares the care-giving with Angelina Jolie.
"Think of Brad Pitt in Troy, he's a real guy, no question," said 55-year-old Slaughter, President of the New America Foundation, and former Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department. "But he's also become a posterchild for engaged fatherhood."
"When Angelia Jolie is on location, he's there with their six children, and when Brad Pitt is on location, she's there with the kids. So that's really sending a very different signal about what an icon, a movie star, and definitely a leading man is."
Of course, as Slaughter admits with a chuckle: "We never see the probably 15 people on the 'childcare train' that I'm sure they drag along with them."
But Hollywood A-lister Pitt -- often seen splashed across celebrity magazines with his brood in tow -- nonetheless represents a shift in how society views men, she says.
And that has big consequences for women.
Last edited by ifanonline on 27-2-2014 04:55 PM
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