Male role models are changing in line with our society. Since the 1950s the distribution of power and wealth in the West has moved gradually away from it's traditional location in the hands of old white men and has begun to be shared more evenly amongst women, ethnic and sexual minorities and the young. As the shape of society changes, the old stereotypical alpha male role becomes less meaningful, but is this reflected in what women want from a man, or will muscle and might still win out when it comes to finding a partner? Croydon J Hounslow dons his chest wig...

Time was, men were men and sheep were nervous. Not so any more; one only has to cast an eye over the ranks of current male role models to spot the difference between today's and those of thirty years ago. Ok, the old macho types do occasionally rear their outsized heads, but for every Vinnie Jones or Jeremy Clarkson there are a dozen David Beckhams, Russell Brands, Richard Hamiltons, Graham Nortons, Alex Zanes, the list goes on and it is populated increasingly by the type of men who would have been laughed off the A list as recently as the late 1970s for being too effeminate, too nerdy or just too damn gay! Even the old rock warhorses such as Lemmy and Gene Vincent have given way to camp, foppish figures like Justin Hawkins and Matt Bellamy.

Just what has happened to male role models? Are we suffering a nationwide testosterone crisis? Has the male population lost sight of how to; as Tom Sawyer might have put it; spit, smoke and swear properly? Or could it be that society has moved on to the point where the patriarch is in fact unnecessary, do we no longer need silverbacks to keep our troupe on track?

It certainly seems that, if celebrity is anything to go by at any rate, young men's concept of who they'd like to be has shifted considerably in recent decades; but what of women's attitudes to the way masculinity appears to be changing?

Certainly there is no shortage of women who feel attracted to the new, more sensitive breed of man. One only has to look at the popularity of figures such as Beckham and Hawkins in the pin up stakes to see this, although admittedly such figures do still have a strong element of alpha male status, being sporting or rock stars respectively albeit wrapped in a softer and more palatable package. However the same could be said quite truthfully of a much more macho breed of star such as Vin Diesel or Hugh Jackman. Whether or not this translates into real life is a trickier question to address; not least due to the fact that real people are not the perfect, two dimensional representations of a single character type that pin-up-able celebrities represent. Machoism is a trait that many both male and female still find attractive, but perhaps the truth of the matter is that people in general aspire to more in their lives and in their friends and partners, and therefore require more, or at least more diversity from their role models. Perhaps after all real men are not dying out, simply becoming more real. With this in mind, who will mourn the passing of the silverback? Not I.