According to Webster, the word modern refers to relating to or characteristic of the present (746). Therefore, the modern man is a present day human. Some would say, as they have throughout time, that today in the early 2000's it is a "man's world." That notion however, is becoming somewhat less defined. In a quest to transform someone into the perfect man, they have sensitized men to what we assume women and the ever-changing society expect the modern man of the early 2000's to be. The modern man of today has more knowledge and technology to ensure the way of life. In the poem "One's-Self I Sing" Walt Whitman describes the modern man as an equal, separate person through his fullness of power, and longing for intelligence and beauty, the modern man of today could be similar to the modern man described in the poem. .
In this poem the quote "Not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say the Form complete is worthier far," is saying that neither facial features nor intelligence by themselves will take you far. In order for someone to succeed in life they need both intelligence and beauty. The man of the 1870's and the modern man of today would not settle for someone that doesn't attain both. Although in the 1870's men didn't need to have both, they could get by with just having brains. Back then it was their brains that kept them alive. Beauty didn't play a big role in men's lives, for women on the other hand it did. If women weren't beautiful or attractive they didn't always have a good chance of finding a husband. Men of all times always seem to choose the pretty girls first. Modern women, however, are no longer as concerned about finding a husband because the female species have become more equal to the male species. .
"The Female equally with the Male I sing." Females were not equal to men in the old days. The primary role for women in the 1870's was nothing more than being the wife, mother, or farm hand for her husband.