Real men don’t ask; they tell.
Real men are dominant.

(Following an explosion on the spaceship, ZOE is in critical condition, and WASH, her husband and the pilot of the ship, is in the medical bay with her.  The captain, MAL, enters.)

WASH: Come on, baby.  You’re strong, strongest person I ever met.  You can do this!

JAYNE: She gonna make it?

SIMON: Please.  I need to work.

MAL: Wash.  Wash, I need you on the bridge.

WASH: Zoe’s hurt.

MAL: And the doctor is gonna do everything he can.  Meantime, I got to have you on the bridge.  We need to know how bad it is.

WASH: How bad?  It’s bad, okay, Sir?  My wife may be dying here, so my feeling is it’s pretty damn bad.

MAL: Wash.

WASH: I’m not leaving her side, Mal!  Don’t ask me again.

MAL: I wasn’t askin’.  I was tellin’.

“Out of Gas”, Firefly season 1, episode 8, October 25, 2002.

Real men are protectors.
Real men don’t ask; they tell.
Real men are dominant.

ANGEL: I need you to be out of here.

NINA: That’s typical. You sleep with a guy and he sends your entire family out of the country. No, wait, that’s actually not that typical at all. You couldn’t just not call?

ANGEL: It’s not safe here.

NINA: Is it ever? I want to be with you if there’s trouble.

ANGEL: You don’t want to be with me. You don’t want to be near me.

NINA: Because I might get hurt?

ANGEL: Because I’m the thing that’ll hurt you.

NINA (holding up plane tickets): What do you call this?

ANGEL: How can I convince you that I want to be with you?

NINA: Show me a fourth ticket.

ANGEL: Okay. If I get through this intact, I’ll come for you. We’ll have time.

NINA: You’re the most amazing man I’ve ever met, but you’re a crappy liar.

ANGEL: Go. I’m not asking.

NINA: I’ll go. Why on Earth would I stay?

“Power Play”, Angel season 5, episode 21, May 12, 2004.

Real men don’t ask; they tell.  (Real men don’t care what others think.)
Real men are dominant.

DR. MANHATTAN: Pay attention.  You will all return to your homes.

RIOTER: Oh, yeah?  And what if we don’t, ya big blue fruit?

DR. MANHATTAN: You misunderstand me.  It was not a request.

[The rioters disappear.]

LAURIE: Jesus.

DR. MANHATTAN (internal monologue): The next day, I am reading in the paper of two people who suffered heart attacks upon suddenly finding themselves indoors.  More would have suffered during a riot, I’m certain.

Alan Moore, Watchmen issue 4, December 1986.

Real men don’t ask; they tell.
Real men are dominant.

DALET: I like that you talked about your grandmother, but when you need to be a man, are you okay putting your foot down and letting me know that hey, this is the way it’s gonna be because of this reason?

Conveyor Belt of Love, Season 1, Episode 1, January 4, 2010.

Real men don’t care what others think.
Real men don’t ask; they tell.
Real men impose discipline.
Real men make tough decisions.

While visiting Afghanistan last July, I met a key provincial governor who every U.S. official told me was the best and most honest in Afghanistan—and then, they added, “We have to fight Karzai every day to keep him from being fired.” That is what happens to those who buck the Karzai system.

This is crazy. We have been way too polite, and too worried about looking like a colonial power, in dealing with Karzai. I would not add a single soldier there before this guy, if he does win the presidency, takes visible steps to clean up his government in ways that would be respected by the Afghan people.

If Karzai says no, then there is only one answer: “You’re on your own, pal. Have a nice life with the Taliban. We can’t and will not put more American blood and treasure behind a government that behaves like a Mafia family. If you don’t think we will leave—watch this.” (Cue the helicopters.)

So, please, spare me the lectures about how important Afghanistan and Pakistan are today. I get the stakes. But we can’t want a more decent Afghanistan than the country’s own president. If we do, we have no real local partner who will be able to hold the allegiance of the people, and we will not succeed—whether with more troops, more drones or more money.

—Thomas Friedman, “Not Good Enough,” The New York Times, Oct. 13, 2009, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/opinion/14friedman.html?_r=2 (via digby, “Hey, Pal,” Hullaballoo, Oct. 14, 2009, available at http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/hey-pal-by-digby-while-i-appreciate.html).