The Brawny Man and the Job 29 Man by Steve Watters on 10/04/2006 at 9:21 AM

Well, guys there's a new standard for masculinity you need to be aware of -- the Brawny Man. For years, he just had his picture on paper towels, but now he's whipping men into shape to be the man their wives and girlfriends want. At BrawnyMan.com you can catch the story of 8 men who get made over by Mr. Brawny.

The program blends lots of tongue-in-cheek humor with straight-up reality show material that at times actually tries to make a point about what a well-rounded man looks like. Of course, the primary goal is to sell a lot of paper towels -- or at least enough to cover the thousand or so rolls used in the production of the series. Who knew paper towels could be used in so many manly activities? Could Brawny paper towels replace duct tape in the contemporary man's tool chest?

Some of the best points Mr. Brawny makes have to do with men being responsible protectors and thoughtful romancers. Of course, the big message Georgia-Pacific hopes men catch is that they need to do more around the house ... using a lot of Brawny paper towels.

He may never get his picture on products in grocery stores or get his own clever Web production, but my favorite role model is still Job. While none of us would want to experience the kind of suffering Job endured, the profile that emerges in Job 29 is a perfect male counterpart to the Proverbs 31 woman we often hear about.

Job 29 holds up a man who is blessed by intimacy with God and his family and is respected and honored by young and old alike. Why is he honored? Because he is a strong protector who rescues the poor and the fatherless, cares for the widow and the dying man among other compassionate acts. But he's also a man of justice and righteousness who breaks the fangs of the wicked and snatches victims from the wicked's teeth.

Months from now, the Brawny man model may go the way of the urban cowboy, the metrosexual and other fads of male models, yet Job, one of the oldest stories in the Bible continues to hold up a timeless model for today's men.