Australia's male culture is in crisis, with "mates and good blokes" being replaced by "nervous wrecks, metrosexuals and nerds", a former prime ministerial candidate writes in a book published yesterday.
Mark Latham, who left politics after leading the Labor party to defeat at Australia's general election in 2004, blames changes in the workplace and -families, a rise in leftwing feminism, and neoconservatism for creating "a crisis in male identity" and "debilitating" the language.
"Instead of calling a spade a spade, our national conversation is now dominated by weasel words and the pretence of politeness," Mr Latham writes in his collection of favourite quotes and political anecdotes, A Conga Line of Suckholes - a phrase he used to deride John Howard's centre-right government in its support of the US invasion of Iraq.
In his book, Mr Latham laments the loss of the Australian language's "larrikin" character - a word used to describe a fun-loving troublemaker who bucks authority and conventions, considered a cherished aspect of the Australian character.
"One of the saddest things I have seen in my lifetime has been the decline in Australian male culture - the loss of our larrikin language and values," he writes. "Australian mates and good blokes have been replaced by nervous wrecks, metrosexual knobs and tossbags."
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