Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2006, Blaðsíða 52

50
ONCE WERE MEN
there is no choice. There is only one ac-
ceptable male identity - the cowboy’s.
The cowboys, greeting modem post-war
consumer-culture, celebrate lifestyles based
on the comfortable leisurely media-culture
supporting their values and societal position.
The cowboys are a product of Faroese soci-
ety’s developments towards a modem wel-
fare society 1950-70, and didn’t exist as cat-
egory in premodem times, even if the cow-
boys indeed have loose cultural roots to past
centuries (Gaini, 2004). In some respect the
cowboys are closer to American suburban
culture than to life in the Faroe Islands in the
early 20th century. The cowboys dislike
deep societal changes and propagate the
safe, relatively isolated and non-radical fam-
ily-based society. The cowboys distrust most
critical intellectuals, controversial artists,
and other public voices advocating alterna-
tive styles, youth cultures and masculinities
in the Faroe Islands.
The cowboys are in general very satis-
fied with Iife and don’t worry much about
the future. Their simple way of life with fam-
ily and close friends as centre of rotation
seems very uncomplicated, peaceful and in-
dependent (Niemi, 2000). They do not
search foraltemative lifestyles or exoticcul-
tural inspiration as they always prefer what
they already know - what is safe and does-
n’t involve any risks or big sacrifíces. Man
needs his friends, family, community, house
and car (and boat). Cowboys use their social
capitai to fmd a job, often manual and in-
dustrial, and are flexible and very practically
minded when at work. Cowboys are, as men-
tioned, handymen building houses, fixing
engines, slaughtering sheep, navigating
boats through strong currents on the sea and
adapting easily to different situations. Cow-
boys have very strong ties to local commu-
nity and culture, but are at the same time a
product of radical societal shifts on the is-
lands during the last turbulent decades.
Aki is living in a town in Eysturoy and has no
plans of moving to any other place. He is 20
years old and lives with his parents in a nice
and relatively new house with a beautiful view
of the Skálafjørður. He has three younger
siblings, two brothers and a sister, all living in
the same house, and many relatives in the local
community. Both parents are from the town, but
Áki has indeed also close relatives in other parts
of the Faroe Islands. His father is working on a
big modem trawler and is therefore away from
the family most of the time. The children don’t
see him very much. Áki ’s mother is not working.
She is a housewife taking care of the small
children. They children don’t attend nursery
school. Áki works in a fish factory in the
neighboring village and has no plans of taking
any higher education. He hopes to get a work
on a trawler, like his father, in the near future,
and his prospects are good. His father knows
every man in the region and has been a member
of the municipality’s board for many years.
Áki’s mother is taken part in a local religious
free church’s meetings and activities every
week. She has a good voice and is singing in
the religious communty’s choir. Áki used to
attend religious meetings with his mother as a
boy, but during the last years he has participated
in only a few religious activities. He has a car,
a sporty Toyota, that he drives every night
together with some close friends. They drive to
the capital almost every weekend. But weekday
nights they drive to neighboring villages to meet
friends, buy some fast-food, rent a DVD movie,
or just cmise while listening to music and talking
in mobile phones. Áki is proud of his car, that
he himself has fixed up as it was an old wreck