Have you ever heard this term before, “testosterone poisoning”? The term originates in the anti-nuclear weapons book Missile Envy, which posits the not-terribly-original-but-fairly-truthful idea that militarism, to some extent,is based on the desire to essentially say “my penis is bigger than yours”.
The term was popularized by the Darwin Awards to denote instances of men getting themselves killed doing stupid macho stunts, but I amusing the term in the way that the website TV Tropes uses it, to denote depictions of cartoonish, overblown, silly masculinity. These are always used for comedic or satirical purposes.
Not sure what I’m referring to? Here’s an example:
L
If you weren’t familiar with the term, then you definitely recognize it now—that low, guttural, “Cram it in your face hole!” sort of goofy machismo that comes off as more of a parody of late 90s Mountain Dew commercials than any of the actual masculine virtues.
Surely, this trope has always existed to some extent, but it seems that in recent years (and by recent years I basically mean the last decade) this has become a stock parody and punchline, being seen everywhere from children’s cartoons to advertising.
I specify this distinction and proliferation because, as mentioned previously, there have always been occasional uses of this cliche of comically overblown machismo. But, in the past, I can’t help but notice that it was used specifically as a central theme in the work, to prove a point about one thing or another. To cite a few very diverse examples of this at random:
- Norman Spinrad’s novel The Iron Dream uses this in order to satirize the alleged fascist undertones in science fiction and fantasy literature
- The Disney film Beauty and the Beast uses this to compare inner and outer masculine worthiness, and
- Paul Verhoeven’s film adaptation of Starship Troopers works broadly similar to The Iron Dream in that the film uses overblown masculinity and Hollywood clichés to criticize the very source material of the movie (ie: the novel Starship Troopers) as being fascist.
In all these cases, hyper-masculinity is a theme used to satirize or make some sort of point. But during the time period when all of those works were made (1978-1999), you would never see random kid’s shows and cartoons doing episodes or recurring characters depicting the LOL MASCULINITY stereotype.
So, once again I ask: why the sudden proliferation? Do we live in an age where the average man is an overwhelmingly belligerent Chad?
Please, in the age of the incel, it is highly unlikely that we’re living in a time of unbridled,free-flowing masculinity. In fact, we’re living in a day and age where there is less masculinity than there ever has been. This is reflected in the declining sperm counts, testosterone levels, physical strength, and pretty much every other objective measure of masculine virility. So, no, I don’t think that those who use this trope nowadays are poking fun at themselves and their fellows.
Instead, I think it’s something of the opposite: Look at who makes media these days. Look at the roving packs of degenerates that make the cartoons that your children watch, and the noodle-armed losers that write the superhero comic books. Look at the fatbodies who direct action movies. In all these cases, can you imagine Joss Whedon or Kevin Smith or Dan Harmon ever being in a fist fight in their lives, or doing anything remotely masculine?
No, of course not. In most of these cases, it’s inevitable that this cartoonishly simplified and exaggerated “masculinity” is set up as a strawman to be cut down by the forces of righteous thinking, or at the very least just some silly thing to be used as a cheap gag. In either case it bears a similarity to how every anti-masculine work in the last 40 years has basically used the 49% Majority masculine strawman specifically to cut down—whatever the reason, masculinity is stereotyped and caricatured rather than accurately portrayed.
In other words, the reason that masculinity is increasingly seen and portrayed as caricatured foolishness is because men are less manly today, and the people who make media have no experience with actually being masculine and thus can’t conceive of it being subtle, nuanced, or at all realistic. Hence, it’s some fantastical bit of nonsense, just as unrealistic as a superhero or a mythical creature.
Examples of this are rife in cartoons: Look at the way Ren and Stimpy creator (and recently found-to-be-child molester) John K. portrays masculinity, whether it be The Ripping Friends or his George Liquor character: as loud, belligerent, bumbling cloddishness without anything worthwhile in it. Look at how the aforementioned Dan Harmon (who is, surprise, also a sex fiend) portrays it in Rick and Morty (the previously linked to “Ball Fondlers” show). Both men are effete–and like many effete men, have completely loathsome sexual proclivities—and perhaps fittingly, both portray masculinity negatively.
Ultimately, it all boils down to the same old “Fuck you,Dad!” mentality that anything worthwhile or traditional just has to be cut down, and of course the people who want to cut masculinity down are those who utterly failed at having it in their lives. And since these people likely see masculinity as just some vestigial “thing” that couldn’t possibly benefit anybody’s life, it is thus a target of mockery.
So what is to be done? The first thing that could be done is to get men who are both smart AND masculine into the arts—remember that action movies used to be made by guys like Sam Peckinpah and John Milius, men who had actually had sex with women and fired guns and done badass things in their lives.
And the second thing is to vote with your eyes and your wallet, if you see some media product that makes a mockery out of virtue (remember, the root word of virtue is virile), don’t consume it. Simple as that.