“Lynne Cheney is kind of manly, too.”

Anyone else read “Of Manliness and Men” in the 3/12/06 NYT and think, this is like some kind of Monty Python skit? If you missed it, here’s an excerpt:

Questions for Harvey C. Mansfield
Interview by DEBORAH SOLOMON

“Q: As a staunch neoconservative and the author of a new feminism-bashing book called “Manliness,” how are you treated by your fellow government professors at Harvard University.”

“Look, if I only consorted with conservatives, I would be by myself all the time. …

“What about President Bush? He’s a risk taker, but wouldn’t his penchant for long vacations be a strike against him?

“I wouldn’t say industriousness is a sign of manliness. That’s sort of wonkish. Experts do that.

“What about Dick Cheney?

“He hunts. And he curses openly. Lynne Cheney is kind of manly, too. I once worked with her on the advisory council of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

“In your book, you say Margaret Thatcher is an ideal woman, but isn’t she the manliest of all?

“I was told by someone who visited her that she is very feminine with her husband.

“Why is that so important to you in light of her other achievements?

“We need roles. Roles give us mutual expectations of what is either correct or good behavior. Women are neater than men, they make nests, and all these other stereotypes are mostly true. Wives and mothers correct you; they hold you to a standard; they want to make you better. …

“When was the last time you did something that required physical strength?

“It’s true that nothing in my career requires physical strength, but in my relations with women, yes.

“Such as?

“Lifting things, opening things. My wife is quite small.

“What do you lift?

“Furniture. Not every night, but routinely.”

–Ann Bartow