On manly men

I’m here for this kind of content. Absolutely. That man in the commercial seems as subversive as they come. One, he's not overly muscular, he's not particularly young or classically handsome. And two, the setting cannot be more pedestrian: suburbia. But the absolute abandon he embraces when the music starts cannot be tamed. Lack of inhibition. Sensual abandon. A man not afraid of appropriating moves considered 'feminine'. Add all of those things and you've given me a boner. And they're selling Pandora. Is there anything lamer than Pandora? That was rhetorical.

This kind of image is especially important to be in the airwaves right now with the kind of toxic (and misguided) masculinity stinking up to high heavens from the the White House: IMPOTUS is lauded by the right wingers, the xenophobes and the ammosexuals as 'strong' and the followers of his cult find his incompetence and ignorance part of his populist appeal:

In interviews and emails, these backers tell me they regard Trump as “strong.” His battles with adversaries reveal him as “tough.” What in a conventional light looks outrageous—the bragging, the insults, the defiance, the rule skirting, the shredding of familiar standards of how a president should act—in this more sympathetic light looks like charisma. It gives him the aura of “a winner.”

 Politico published a piece from where that quote is taken and it tore apart the mask of 'manly man' Cheeto projects. They uncover that he's a coward, he's a bully and he has actually demonstrated that he's exactly the opposite of what's been considered as 'manly' throughout the XXth century. The transformation of the conservative mind at the beginning of the XXI century has been complete, backed up by religion and the gun lobby which are two of the most homophobic and sexist currents in America nowadays.

That's why that man in the commercial functions in my mind as Kryptonite for the mid-twentieth century ideals that Trumpanzees seem to long for. The thing is, they 'long' for the colored, the queer and the little women to stay on their lane but at the same time despise conventional XXth century notions of 'manliness'. Talk about cognitive dissonance...

So, if you happen to have that DILF's phone number, send it my way. He could mow my lawn any day of the week.

XOXO