Beginning with Q-tips with a label that actually says "Men's Ultimate Multi-Tool/Detailing/Cleaning/Building." That's at Buzzfeed, where I arrived via a Metafilter thread about a Details article titled "Make Way for Brosé: Why More Men Are Drinking Pink/Forget craft beer. These days, guys are toasting summer over bottles of blush, turning rosé into the drink of the moment." A Metafilter commenter says: "Don't Bro at me, yo. Rosè is for picnics where people will wander off to have sex against a tree with their half cousin from Switzerland. Sometimes there are peacocks."
Some one else says: "Part your lips for the Dude Stick. Drag your lush yet masculine mouth up the Dude Stick’s smooth, blood-warm side, coating your lips with a pearly trail of tactical moisturizer." Which gets the immediate response: "Dude stick is mostly infuriating because the pre-existing major brand is already CHAP STICK. CHAP. As in FELLOW, DUDE, BRO."
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On the one hand, I do think it's odd that a company is trying to market a special box of Q-Tips "for men", but on the other hand, what the hell is going on with the ridiculously resentful and smug commentary attached to each of these items?
Seems like most men like expressing masculine identity, just like most women enjoy expressing feminine identity. I don't get why that's a problem. Lots of black folks like being black, and like expressing that. But when I see someone wearing kente cloth I don't yell "oh my god, your blackness. is. so. fragile!"
Looks to me like these people are expressing their own fear and hate of masculinity. But that's not surprising, they get taught that in school.
The commentary looks coordinated- they use the same phrase over and over again. What is so hateful about masculinity to them?
What is so hateful about masculinity to them?
It doesn't provide any resources for women, or make them feel better about themselves.
Pink wine blows. It has nothing to do with creating some kind of ersatz masculinity out of whole cloth. Learning to enjoy fine scotch might, or acquiring a taste for fine cigars. Maybe even learning to enjoy baseball. But not liking pink wine requires no social construction.
I think the point is that some rosé is good and the bad reputation is an overgeneralization.
Metrosexualized to extinction.
Metrosexualized to extinction.
modern Feminism's real goal.
It's embarrassingly unmasculine to worry about whether a product like lip balm is for men... except that it's not, really, because these things often have added fragrance or color that's supposed to appeal to women. I think the "for men" label is often just a way to say: plain.
Dry rosé from the south of France is one of those things that makes the heat of summer worth enduring. Since we men aren't supposed to wear shorts.
I think the point is that some rosé is good and the bad reputation is an overgeneralization.
Well, I was served a bottle of fine Riesling once. It was selected by the chef and paired with the dinner. Before that, I would have thought that impossible.
Rosè is for women who don't like wine.
one of those things that makes the heat of summer worth enduring.
I like campari for languorous heat, cold beer if I have been working up a sweat.
Jeeze I have a lot of rules....
Campari's good too. With soda if it's really hot, in a Negroni if you've stopped caring about the heat.
Chapped lips and ear wax. Shit guys don't really put a lot of thought into.
Aperol, Pimms, Campari, Prosecco, Rose.
The drinks of summer.
Rose is really pretty and nice on a summer afternoon. Although I don't imagine most men ordering it without a woman or gay man with him.
Oh remember White Zinfandel? Men drank it - everyone did. it was the 90's! Everyone's starter wine back then.
I guess I"m having a problem with the idea that this proves masculinity is so fragile.
There are QTips marketed for babies, for everyone, and for women. Men were the only ones not directly targeted until these came out.
I don't think this attitude about masculinity and white being "bad" is good for us. It's the hip thing to say, but I don't find it acceptable.
Great is Goddess (fill in blank) and subservient are her limp eunuchs.
Its the Brave New World without the Bravery.
I don't mind "added fragrance or color" on lip balms, at least when a woman has transferred them with her lips to my cock.
I am Laslo.
The drinks of summer.
Biermischgetränke, preferable altwasser, is the only "drink of summer" for me.
I don't mind a woman getting her mascara on my cock, either, although it usually is an odd circumstance for that occurring.
I am Laslo.
"27 Gendered Products That Prove Masculinity Is Incredibly Fragile."
Eight words and a number that prove buzzfeed is already dead, stabbed with a white wench's black eye, run through the ear with a love song, the very pin of their heart cleft with the blind bow-boy's butt shaft.
Marketing says nothing about masculinity. It says a lot about the assumptions of marketers and the author of the article, to be sure.
I think the "for men" label is often just a way to say: plain.
Pretty much. I prefer plain old chapstick or carmex to flavored chapstick when my lips are too dry.
This article is really just a smear aimed at men, disguised as cultural commentary.
"Part your lips for the Dude Stick. Drag your lush yet masculine mouth up the Dude Stick’s smooth, blood-warm side, coating your lips with a pearly trail of tactical moisturizer."
That's pretty gay right there. NTTAWWT.
Massengill® wines have always tasted a little too vinegary to me.
Maybe chicks like it that way.
I am Laslo.
We used to roast a whole pig in the sand at the beach and have rose with that. The pig was delicious. I don't remember much about the rose except it was a cheap Portuguese whose name escapes me in my old age. Not surprising: the pig's name escapes me too.
My partner is always asking me if my lips are chapped, or if I need a Chap Stick. I stop and think for a minute, and then respond in the negative. I figure most of the time, it is probably one of those things that you can build up a need for. I never have. I do carry spares for her, and tend to buy 10 packs and the like from Sams Club to keep the price down (below a buck each for the named brand because the generic apparently burns her lips). All the women in my life use the stuff (though most can use the generic), and the guys don't. I just chalk it up to female narcissism. Their narcissism used to bother me. Not any more, after realizing that it is probably an evolutionary adaption that aids in the selection of long term mates.
Men invented all these products.
I never had any success with Massengill. It's supposed to remove skunk odor.
I brought a bottle of Rose wine (along with two darker reds) back from my honeymoon in Spain. It's made at an organic vineyard and winery. It's damn good. But it'll still play second fiddle to the beer this summer. Wine always plays second fiddle to beer.
I like watching hot chicks apply lip balms and lipsticks to their lips. I like the way they make their lips pouty, then lick their tongues along them after the sensuous application.
I also like to watch hot chicks eat bananas.
The simple things in life.
I am Laslo.
What would Buzfeed know about real masculinity?
Whole pig in the sand. Mateus Rose (from Portugal). Not a bad combo.
Now as for plain old Chapstick--if you are going to spend a week outdoors in the desert (as I sometimes do) you'd better carry and use Chapstick. If you don't, the skin on your lips will get deeply sunburned and peel. I know whereof I speak. It's an effective sunblock.
And as I suspect the Drill Sgt. knows, "real" men don't give a flying fig about whether something has a masculine identity or not. Their personal identity suffices.
"Did you ever know anyone who didn't like Mateus?"
I remember the ad and I remember that I am the guy.
"I think the "for men" label is often just a way to say: plain."
-- This is true. As a guy, I get a lot of crap for using soaps or shampoo that smell nice. I just use the excuse "It was on sale and the plain kind wasn't!"
Being cheap is masculine enough to overcome the scent of freesia, apparently.
I'd love to see the corresponding article about femininity being so confusing but that one is hard to write because, well, it's confusing.
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