Althouse: "The Prada Unman was gotten up in humiliating tutu belts, severe high-collar shirts that buttoned up the back..."

January 17, 2008

"The Prada Unman was gotten up in humiliating tutu belts, severe high-collar shirts that buttoned up the back..."

"... and odd cummerbunds that disappeared in a chevron down the front of trousers conspicuously lacking a fly.... [W]hen designers stop conceding to biological function, they move away from the realm of fashion and into that of social engineering. It is one thing to nudge men toward exploring their girly sides and quite another to suggest they sit to urinate."

Guy Trebay draws the line.

33 comments:

Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...: Forget the fashion-design element. A man who's done anything like his fair share of cleaning bathrooms will be much more inclined to pee sitting down.; 1/17/08, 6:51 AM
KCFleming said...: From Mark Steyn:
"As for Mr. Reade's bit about "the biggest dick in the world so it could urinate on the rest of us"--if it bothers you that much, why not try urinating back? Ah, but in Europe it seems even that simple act is in the process of being feminized. Stehpinkeln--standing while urinating--is disapproved of in Germany, to the point where toilets can now be fitted with voice alarms triggered when the seat is raised. "Hey, stand-peeing is not allowed here and will be punished with fines, so if you don't want any trouble, you'd best sit down," orders the "toilet ghost" in a voice that imitates former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. "

From Reuters:
Talking toilet orders German men to sit down
Tue May 18,11:55 AM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German inventor who developed a gadget that berates men if they try to use the toilet standing up has sold more than 1.6 million devices, his business manager says.

German women fed up with a man with a poor aim can turn to the ghost-shaped gadget, which lurks under the toilet rim and, if the seat is lifted, declares in a stern female tone:

"Hello, what are you up to then? Put the seat back down right away, you are definitely not to pee standing up ... you will make a right mess..."

Alex Benkhardt, 46, invented the "WC Ghost" and its creators are in negotiations to market it in Britain, Canada and Italy.; 1/17/08, 7:08 AM
George M. Spencer said...: Professor, you omitted the preceding sentence in the NY Times article...

It is key to understanding global military trends...

"As usual with the spring NIE collection from the House of Langley Cia, there were things to admire: the lean Ahmedinejad-inspired clerical silhouette, the severity of a nearly monochrome camouflage palette in moonless evening Natanzwear by Seattle's Boeing, and the way color and its absence were used by Predator surveillance drones to mark out in stunning infrared the torsos of Iranian leaders in floating free-fire kill zones."

You don't need a runway to know which way the winds of war are blowing.; 1/17/08, 7:25 AM
knox said...: My beef is with that awful "High School Musical" Zak Efron/Gaiken hairstyle that all the boys are wearing these days. Way too feminine. It makes them look like old women.; 1/17/08, 7:34 AM
MadisonMan said...: It makes them look like old women.

knoxwhirled, there's a blog for Everything!

I agree with the others: a bit of bathroom cleaning duty will purge any man of the need to go while standing.; 1/17/08, 7:45 AM
reader_iam said...: I dunno. My general experience, over time, has been that men who are sloppy standing up are also sloppy sitting down (and vice versa). And Lord knows I've cleaned a ton of bathrooms, private and public, in my time.; 1/17/08, 8:39 AM
SGT Ted said...: I clean the bathroom and I pee standing up.

The End.; 1/17/08, 8:44 AM
reader_iam said...: I think those voice-reminder thingies would be fabulous installed in women's restrooms on turnpikes and in airports--ladies PLEASE don't stand up when you pee! God, what a mess!; 1/17/08, 8:47 AM
reader_iam said...: (I've actually inadvertently sat in other women's pee more often than in men's, I'd bet. Eeew.); 1/17/08, 8:48 AM
KCFleming said...: Like Sgt. Ted, I clean the ceramic god, and he is a messy messy god, seated or no.

The Prada clothes and talking toilet aren't about fashion or mess but social engineering to overcome the shame of having animal requirements.

But gods do not pee.; 1/17/08, 9:13 AM
Original Mike said...: What Sgt Ted said.; 1/17/08, 9:14 AM
knox said...: MM,

Great link! And check it out: 90% of the problem is the hair. Why would a straight guy let somebody give them such a fastidious hairstyle? I don't like the idea of a man spending more time on their hair than moi. *bats eyelashes*

It seems like we're in a weird period for (celebrity) men's style anyway. They either are overly-femmed-up or they lopk dirty and gross, like they're homeless. (see Keith Ledger, an otherwise totally attractive guy covering it up god knows why.)

OK I'm beating a dead horse now.; 1/17/08, 9:21 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "(I've actually inadvertently sat in other women's pee more often than in men's, I'd bet. Eeew.)"

Yes, these women... what are they doing? It's mystifying.; 1/17/08, 9:31 AM
KCFleming said...: Hovering?; 1/17/08, 9:34 AM
KCFleming said...: Space invaders?; 1/17/08, 9:39 AM
Trooper York said...: Crop spraying?; 1/17/08, 9:41 AM
Trooper York said...: For #2, dive bombing?; 1/17/08, 9:41 AM
Paddy O said...: "Talking toilet orders German men to sit down."

Any man who would actually obey a talking toilet, sitting in homage to its programmed derision, isn't really a man.

What a sad plunge of once virile German manhood. From conquering the world to kowtowing to a shitter in a single generation is a precipitous decline.

But, I think this might overall be a losing battle for Standers. I don't remember seeing too many flies in any depiction of the future. Mostly jumpsuits, without handy access. John Luc Picard, from all appearances, had to sit for #1 and for #2.

Of course, Firefly is an exception to this feminized future.; 1/17/08, 10:18 AM
save_the_rustbelt said...: I'm with Sgt. Ted.

I wonder if the inventors of the Internet anticipated this conversation? "Hey, let's talk about useless fashion and how men pee."

Is there any straight man on the planet who would wear these clothes? I can imagine asking my wife to button up my shirt, she would injure herself laughing.

Besides, real men are not 6'2" and 105 lbs.; 1/17/08, 10:25 AM
MadisonMan said...: I have not brushed or combed my hair in more than 6 months. Maybe more than a year. Curls are a godsend.

I think you'd have to be insane to wear a shirt that buttons up the back, by the way. And since when did a lack of a fly prevent someone from peeing standing up? Sweatpants and sport-type shorts are routinely yanked down far enough for access. There's more than one way to expose yourself.; 1/17/08, 10:28 AM
Anonymous said...: Prada is doing penance for western civilization's supposed penis envy by eliminating it.

Penis envy/penis hatred.; 1/17/08, 10:49 AM
Kirk Parker said...: Oh my, the dreaded sitzpinkler raises his head.; 1/17/08, 11:56 AM
Trooper York said...: Was that the Dutch guy who had the silver skates?; 1/17/08, 11:57 AM
Original Mike said...: "Any man who would actually obey a talking toilet, sitting in homage to its programmed derision, isn't really a man."

Exactly. Ask yourself, "what would Dirty Harry do?"; 1/17/08, 12:40 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: What will we doo with all the urinals? And what will be the fate of urinal cakes?; 1/17/08, 1:47 PM
reader_iam said...: Yes, these women... what are they doing?

Pissing me off? Forcing me to carry larger bottles of sanitizer than I normally would?

Betcha most of 'em have made jokes about men being slobs in bathrooms before, too. Any takers?; 1/17/08, 1:55 PM
reader_iam said...: "Doo"?

LOL. Perfect!; 1/17/08, 1:56 PM
rhhardin said...: I hope they keep men's and women's buttons opposite, as they are now, so men and women can still undress each other easily.

There a review of la femme, a Stehpinkler urination device for women, here (real audio, June 9, 1998, John and Ken, KFI); 1/17/08, 2:07 PM
Jennifer said...: Shirts that button in the back...? Isn't that more Kriss Kross than feminine?

That said, men who closely follow conceptual haute couture are already pretty in touch with their girly sides.

And I completely agree, knoxwhirled! The guyliner is bad enough, but Efron's hair is ridic.; 1/17/08, 2:53 PM
michael farris said...: I'm surprised no one has brought up the horror that is the German stool-inspection toilet.

http://www.asecular.com/~scott/misc/toilet.htm

These used to be common in Poland too (an example of copying form without understanding the reason, Polish people aren't as interested in their excrement as Germans are in theirs). Nowadays, they are less and less common (yippee!!!).

Another side 'benefit' of the German toilet is that it makes standing and peeing difficult (without spraying a urine mist) so sitting to pee on one of those makes more sense than standing.; 1/17/08, 3:40 PM
KCFleming said...: The only shirt a man should wear that buttons up the back is a straitjacket.; 1/17/08, 3:43 PM
Jennifer said...: Are you saying Kriss Kross is krazy? :P; 1/17/08, 4:00 PM
Synova said...: The last coat design in the slideshow seems to have been shamlessly stolen from Vash the Stampede.

All the guy needs is little round colored glasses and spiky blond hair.; 1/17/08, 4:40 PM