A recent new story in New Zealand included the little morsel "KFC [only] allowed beards to be worn for legal, religious or medical reasons". And this gave me a serious WTF moment. And I'm like, I am used to tattoos and braid and bright hair colors being treated as somehow shocking. But beards? What kind of anti-hipster hellscape is this?
The situation with beards is unusual only in that the other normal
grooming habits that are banned link to a specific moral panic. Tattoos
-- dangerous biker gangs hoodlums (clutches pearls). Colored hair --
anti-social punk feminists (think of the children!). Braids -- things
black people do (I guess?). But Beards? Things every man does unless
they actively choose not to at least once a day? What is the underlying panic? Does someone out there
think beards shed like a cross between a stressed Persian and a
porcupine, embedding themselves in every surface?
Free the Beard!
And not only because beards are sexy as smurf. But because this is the thing about service work. You can hand people a chicken sammich with a tattoo, with green hair, with braids, with a mustache, and with a beard (on a boaty, with a goatee etc). Sure you may be required to wear one of those ludicrous beard snoods if you are involved in actually cooking or assembling the food--but big whoop.
When it comes to service work your employer is hiring your labor, not your body and any intrinsically attached parts thereof. They don't own you. And if they think their customers can't deal with seeing perfectly normal forms of personal grooming--let alone forms that probably pre-date homo sapiens as a species like having a hairy chin--then the employers and/or customers need to grow the fuck up.
Fashion that crosses, blurs, or ignored gender lines is currently very hip. But, as many commentators have noted, this general means both genders dressing more-or-less masculine. The taboo against men dressing in traditionally female ways is far, far stronger than vice versa.
And in modern times the idea of what is suitable for men is much narrower than many other times in history. Take high heels for example. Throughout history you can find examples of men wearing heels.
These days men in heels are generally cross-dressing, making a statement about a women's issue, or ritually self-humiliating for charity. But men have been wearing heels sporadically clubs over the last few years for simple reasons of fashion,
I rarely wear heels myself but will admit to thinking they are super-hot on men, so I hope this is a trend with, as they say, some legs.
One of the ore fun side effects that anabolic steroids can have is the development of excessive breast tissue or "gynecomastia". Kind of ironic, right? And very unwelcome to the super-buff male bodybuilder
You would think that getting off anabolic steroids would be the answer. Which it is, for six weeks so that you can get it surgically removed and then get back to doing crazy things to your body.
Harsh gender pressures, distorted body images, self abuse: totes not just for women.
A recent story about the Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk presents very common scenario. I have seen this happen myself, first hand, and over and over. A statement is made about domestic violence. A comment is made that the statement or initiative embraces only female victims. Adjustments are made, but very shortly afterwards the gender bias of the DV community reasserts itself.
Domestic violence is, as Palaszczuk notes, one area in which gender is relevant in that there is often a dynamic where the "issue is the attitude men have to women as their possessions". But gender is also at play when men are victims and the seriousness of their situation is not respected, their experience is not validated, and there may be little of no help available to them as male victims because services and shelters in the area accommodate only females.
Palaszczuk's argument seems to be that we should essentially ignore, or resist paying undue attention, to male victims because they are a minority. When Australia long history of discrimination should sure teach us that ignoring the plight of vulnerable minorities is a mistake that the government just keep on making. Any initiative to address domestic violence must accommodate male victims as equally 'valid' victims of this crime with equal access to assistance.
a) Paint the can gray
b) Make a video where a man punches a snake
c) Use the tag line: "It's not for women"
d) Make a diet soda that does not taste like anti-freeze.
A lot of energy is devoted to fashion that displays the upper torso assets of the female to best advantage. But in the last century fashion that does the same for the lower torso assets of the male have been neglected.
JLS (a.k.a. Jack the Lad Swing) seems to have broken some new ground in groin-enhancing trouserwear in a recent appearance. While not going the full codpiece, JB is certainly making the most of what he has.
Much has been made of the recent Old Spice ads (see also YouTube) and I have to agree that they are pretty cool. They are trading pretty heavy on the trope of 'you can love it honestly, or you can love it ironically'. This is the same basic principle that lets me wear a Princess Sparkle (My little Pony) T-shirt without having to turn in my feminist card. (And, personally, the centaur ad is my favorite)
What seems to be less clear is whether the heavily ironic mantitty of Isaiah Mustafa is actually selling any aftershave. Some guy (I don't remember the name of men who leave their shirts on) on the Slate Culture Gabfest podcast asked whether you would wear something in order to smell ironic, is that even possible? Well my answer is that there is at least one kind of person who can wear a symbol of masculinity ironically, no matter how it is produced.
And that is a woman. (Yes, I did buy some bodywash and deodorant. Advertising wins again!)
So we want you to make a cover where he looks really, like, manly--you know. Because this guy is the ultimate he-man. He is... the Penetrator!
Um, he's what?
He's the Penetrator. And he is super macho so have him being super macho with a bimbo.
You mean fucking her?
Oh, God no. But there should be a half naked woman looking like she's really asking for it. And he should be there being really masculine. Like shooting a gun or something.
Shooting a gun at a naked woman?
Oh, God no. Just shooting a gun with something threatening there like a black guy shaking his fist, and there's a naked woman, and like... pointy stuff, pointing at her. Like all subtle and symbolic of how macho he is because....
He's the Penetrator.
Right!
Sigh.
#
Okay, that thing you did last time was okay, but a bit subtle.
A bit subtle?!
Yeah, I mean this guy, he's the Penetrator. And he is super macho so have him being super macho and a guy being shot.
Wouldn't that imply he was fucking the guy?
Oh, God no. There should be a half naked woman looking like she's really asking for it. And he should be there being really masculine; I mean REALLY manly. Like shooting a gun and holding a bomb or something. Make it really clear. And this women she's been shot....
You mean symbolically?
No, she's actually been shot. In the shoulder so you can sort of show part of her booby. That'll be sexy. There will be the woman who's been shot and the black guy being shot, and him with a gun being like the perfect man.
I like the shows on the History channel about crab fishermen, the ice road trucker series was not quite as good, the one about loggers is another notch down but still worth watching. There was an Ax Men marathon today, getting ready for the new series. As reality shows these ones have a higher reality to show ratio than most. The testosterone overload is all part of the fun of getting some kind of feel for who these people are and what they do. It is like the flip side of that pageant Mom show.
But History channel could you please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please refrain from playing the ad for the show where the guy goes on about how a chainsaw is like a woman 5 times in one day. 1) I am already watching a marathon session of the show and so ads seem rather a waste of time and 2) by using that staged clip repeatedly rather than any others you appear to endorse it as a network rather than just observe it as a journalist. (And 3) if I see that clip one more time I will be a live demonstration of how a woman can be a lot like a chainsaw.)
Once upon a time the British went all over the world collecting "exotic" specimens and generally going on about how weird everyone else in the world was. And it seems that this aspect of their culture persists in behaviors such as putting the Maori Haka in their "Odd Box" along with chocolate pedicures, a stoat freaking out and the philharmonic orchestra doing a comedy piece with whoopie cushions. The coverage itself was no more than mildly condescending but the exhibition of the Haka as an oddity is just not respectful--especially with no effort made at all to understand its real purpose and meaning.
I wondered for a moment if this post was off topic, but it isn't. This blog deals less with "women" and more with gender. And the Haka is not a curiosity, it is a dance and demonstration that is a crucial part of performing both masculinity and femininity within Maori culture. The dance types referred to more generally as Kapa Haka include the Haka which is a challenge made to a visiting group to determine their intentions, they come in male and female forms and range from a rejoicing welcome to a prelude to battle (or an attempt to avoid it by demonstrating overwhelming prowess).
The All Blacks (national rugby team) use a ceremonial Haka, Ka Mate. Other Haka for women include Ka Panapana and Ake Ake Kia Kaha. These dances are every bit as important and meaningful as a national anthem, flag, religious icon or prayer. And the Maori performers are taking them to the UK with goodwill and respect. Perhaps they should receive the same in return? The Haka is, at its very heart, a statement that these are people worthy of respect.
Ka Panapana
A ra ra! Ka panapana, A ha ha Ka rekareka tonu taku ngakau Ki nga mana ririki i pohatu whakapiri Kia haeramai te takitini, Kia haeramai te takimano, Kia pare-taitokotia ki Rawhiti ... A ra ra,
It is throbbing! A ha ha! My heart is throbbing with delight for the common people, like stones stuck together They've come in their multitudes They've come in their thousands and alighted upon the Eastern sea.
Ka Mate
Ka mate, ka mate Ka ora, Ka ora Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru Nāna nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā Ā upane, ka upane Ā upane, ka upane Whiti te rā, hī!
'Tis death, 'tis death 'Tis life, 'tis life This the hairy man that stands here who brought the sun and caused it to shine A step upward, another step upward A step upward, another step upward The sun shines!
