Dwindling Masculinity

[The Hammer]

And the rampant rise in "masculine" product branding.


5 Ways America's 'Masculinity Industry' Eats Men's Brains | Cracked.com

I find all this fake bravado and hullabaloo to be silly. I can't be the only one that thinks it's all bassackwards?

 

[Meow Mix]

I'm going to say the thing everyone expects me to say: I think toxic conceptions of masculinity are a big problem, and it couldn't start fading away fast enough for me.

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

And the rampant rise in "masculine" product branding.


5 Ways America's 'Masculinity Industry' Eats Men's Brains | Cracked.com

I find all this fake bravado and hullabaloo to be silly. I can't be the only one that thinks it's all bassackwards?

good article

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Interesting article. It definitely has some pretty good points. It definitely seems like a very insecure masculinity that is being promoted.

 

[Stevicus]

And the rampant rise in "masculine" product branding.


5 Ways America's 'Masculinity Industry' Eats Men's Brains | Cracked.com

I find all this fake bravado and hullabaloo to be silly. I can't be the only one that thinks it's all bassackwards?

Interesting article. I haven't looked at Cracked in a long time.

I don't know if the article was about masculinity or about survivalists preparing for a zombie apocalypse.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

And the rampant rise in "masculine" product branding.


5 Ways America's 'Masculinity Industry' Eats Men's Brains | Cracked.com

I find all this fake bravado and hullabaloo to be silly. I can't be the only one that thinks it's all bassackwards?

You're not the only one.
That was an interesting read, btw, thanks.

 

[The Hammer]

Interesting article. It definitely has some pretty good points. It definitely seems like a very insecure masculinity that is being promoted.

Yeah, I lump this BS in with the (what I see as) false "Viking" aesthetic that's been getting pushed since the Vikings tv show aired too. Or the men determined to call themselves "Alpha" (they most certainly aren't), etc.

It's as @Meow Mix said, Toxic.

 

[The Hammer]

Interesting article. I haven't looked at Cracked in a long time.

I don't know if the article was about masculinity or about survivalists preparing for a zombie apocalypse.

They consider themselves one in the same. Or at least it targets the same insecure men, IMO.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Interesting article. I haven't looked at Cracked in a long time.

I don't know if the article was about masculinity or about survivalists preparing for a zombie apocalypse.

I think it was about a particular brand of masculinity being peddled by marketing departments, and small businesses to sell material items. Quite successfully.

No doubt they'd use a zombie apocalypse to do that, but it seems a more successful way is to simply question men's manhood or patriotism.

Why did the chicken cross the road?
Because he was a leftie with a man-bun, and he couldn't protect his side of the street.

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

Yeah, I lump this BS in with the (what I see as) false "Viking" aesthetic that's been getting pushed since the Vikings tv show aired too. Or the men determined to call themselves "Alpha" (they most certainly aren't), etc.

It's as @Meow Mix said, Toxic.

Given that the whole "alpha" theory of wolf packs has been discredited, and was wrongly arrived at from watching unrelated individuals in captive settings, any time some guy calls himself an "alpha", remember two things; A. he doesn't know what he's talking about, and B. he's claiming to be a scared, isolated individual acting out with violence against a situation he can't understand.
There's no such thing as an alpha male.

 

[We Never Know]

And the rampant rise in "masculine" product branding.


5 Ways America's 'Masculinity Industry' Eats Men's Brains | Cracked.com

I find all this fake bravado and hullabaloo to be silly. I can't be the only one that thinks it's all bassackwards?

"“God, Guns & Diapers”. What a joke. Stereotyping at its best.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Given that the whole "alpha" theory of wolf packs has been discredited, and was wrongly arrived at from watching unrelated individuals in captive settings, any time some guy calls himself an "alpha", remember two things; A. he doesn't know what he's talking about, and B. he's claiming to be a scared, isolated individual acting out with violence against a situation he can't understand.
There's no such thing as an alpha male.

It's used as an insult in the company I work for. Basically, many of us previously worked for a large company with a pretty misogynistic culture, where the sales guys were overpaid and drove too much of the accepted behaviour. Those guys positively live for the whole 'alpha male', 'hunter not a farmer' rubbish. Pretty funny given I work in the software industry, but whatever. We're proud of the fact that our company doesn't support that sort of behavior, and won't hire people who act like that. It's let us actually retain staff, and have a male/female ratio of 50%, which is not common in our industry.

It was pretty amusing when we'd do team building and they'd all convinced themselves that they were legit hard-arses. I mean...a lot of software consultants aren't super sporty, but some of us love sports, and sales guys are all sizzle and no steak at the end of the day.

 

[Stevicus]

They consider themselves one in the same. Or at least it targets the same insecure men, IMO.

One thing the article touched upon was older conceptions of masculinity.

I've noticed is that, when I was a kid, a lot of the popular culture role models for masculinity were kind of balanced, at least in the way the "good guys" were portrayed in Westerns. Tough, fair, decent, law-abiding, patriotic.

But at some point, the masculine ideal was somewhere between Rambo and the WWF, with a bit of Scarface thrown into the mix.

But as the song goes:

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong

 

[We Never Know]

One thing the article touched upon was older conceptions of masculinity.

I've noticed is that, when I was a kid, a lot of the popular culture role models for masculinity were kind of balanced, at least in the way the "good guys" were portrayed in Westerns. Tough, fair, decent, law-abiding, patriotic.

But at some point, the masculine ideal was somewhere between Rambo and the WWF, with a bit of Scarface thrown into the mix.

But as the song goes:

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong

"masculine ideal was somewhere between Rambo and the WWF, with a bit of Scarface"

Thats scripted masculinality, not reality.

 

[Stevicus]

"masculine ideal was somewhere between Rambo and the WWF, with a bit of Scarface"

Thats scripted masculinality, not reality.

I think that's one of the points raised in the article. A lot of guys feel like they have to follow some sort of script. Some guys seem to believe that masculinity is about acting a part in a play.

 

[We Never Know]

One thing the article touched upon was older conceptions of masculinity.

I've noticed is that, when I was a kid, a lot of the popular culture role models for masculinity were kind of balanced, at least in the way the "good guys" were portrayed in Westerns. Tough, fair, decent, law-abiding, patriotic.

But at some point, the masculine ideal was somewhere between Rambo and the WWF, with a bit of Scarface thrown into the mix.

But as the song goes:

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong

And.....
There's battle lines being drawn
If everyone is right then no one is wrong

 

[We Never Know]

I think that's one of the points raised in the article. A lot of guys feel like they have to follow some sort of script. Some guys seem to believe that masculinity is about acting a part in a play.

I agree. Many times I have seen or heard someone do something and compare it to a movie character/scene.

 

[The Hammer]

I think that's one of the points raised in the article. A lot of guys feel like they have to follow some sort of script. Some guys seem to believe that masculinity is about acting a part in a play.

"All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players..." -Shakespeare

 

[The Hammer]

I've noticed is that, when I was a kid, a lot of the popular culture role models for masculinity were kind of balanced, at least in the way the "good guys" were portrayed in Westerns. Tough, fair, decent, law-abiding, patriotic.

Idk... Even Clint Eastwood or whatever was a bad stereotypical hyped up masculine ideal. "Do you feel lucky punk"... And his schtick was an act to make up for draft dodging.

Edit: I am not correct...
Famous Veterans: Clint Eastwood

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Yeah, I lump this BS in with the (what I see as) false "Viking" aesthetic that's been getting pushed since the Vikings tv show aired too. Or the men determined to call themselves "Alpha" (they most certainly aren't), etc.

It's as @Meow Mix said, Toxic.

Yup.