The Cowboys and the Cossacks are both regarded as symbol of manhood and freedom in their respective countries, America and Russia. Examining both of these groups sheds light as to the character of the manhood of both countries.
Both the Cowboys and the Cossacks are looked back upon fondly by many people because both groups were largely independent from the government. That carries appeal to those people who see government as organ of oppression. What people who think in this way fail to realize is that government is not the only organ that is capable of oppression, and both the Cowboys and the Cossacks were themselves guilty of brutal and oppressive tactics. But that does not reduce their appeal to people who have little perspective besides that of "government bad, people good." What is however instructive about both Cowboys and Cossacks is that these groups, operating in relative absense of government, give insight into the character of both American and Russian people in its raw form.
The Cowboys were settlers in America who moved to the frontier wanting to be away from the government. The Cossacks were peasants in Russia who likewise struck off on their own. Both groups valued their independence, and yet both groups were intensely patriotic. The Cossacks provided troops for the Russian army while demanding from the government some distance and tax breaks in return for their collaboration. The Cowboys likewise were likely to volunteer for American army, having it understood that the American government followed its promise of remaining true to its constitutional principles.
The Cowboys were focused primarily upon economic gain and went out to the Frontier to ranch. They also knew how to fight and fought to drive out the natives, to protect their property, and to defend their settlements from raids both by natives and by one another. They were both farmers and warriors - farmers by choice, warriors by necessity. The Cossacks were first and foremost warriors and fought for Russian army in its wars. They were the best warriors in Russian army, with Napoleon claiming that, if he had soldiers such as Cossacks, he would rule the world.
The Cossacks were led by a chief known as the hetman, with a Band Assembly known as Rada having legislative powers. They were sworn to an unwritten law of the Cossack tradition. The Cowboys followed a cowboy code as well that had frontier and Victorian influences. While the Cossack code was totally sworn to Cossack tradition, the cowboy code likewise had many traditional influences but also stressed self-reliance and was more tolerant of individualism.
The Cowboys were seen to be real men when they were able to hold their own in battle and to provide for their families. The Cossacks were mostly measured by their military success. The Cowboys had far more interest in economic gain than did the Cossacks, who had far less respect for property or wealth and frequently conducted raids of neighboring people and taking their property.
The Cowboys and Cossacks were both masculine and violent cultures. But whereas the Cowboys had some chivalric notions to go along with their
violence, the Cossacks were blatantly misogynistic. Both cultures were full of brutality; but Cowboys also had some noble notions regarding treatment of women that Cossacks did not. Alongside Cowboys there were also "cowgirls," or women who went to Frontier to farm and to ranch. There is no record of women Cossacks, or of women having any place in Cossack society except as bearers of children.
So were the Cowboys better than Cossacks? Not on all modes of quantification. In the contemporary times, the Cossack descendants score higher than their neighbors in literacy, whereas the Cowboys and their descendants are aggressively anti-education and see schools and universities in the same derogatory way in which they see the government.
Take all these things and put them together, and you know everything you need to know about manhood in Russia and America.