Althouse: "Always wanted to ask if Meade wears shorts. If he doesn't, did he used to and give them up for you?"

August 1, 2015

"Always wanted to ask if Meade wears shorts. If he doesn't, did he used to and give them up for you?"

"Or did he never wear shorts and was that a point in his favor with you? Or did you just tell him that if he ever wears shorts you'll kill him?"

Email from a reader, which I answered "Meade does whatever he wants."

My problem with men in shorts has always been that it makes the man look like a boy. I don't want a boy-man. You know what else makes a man look like a boy? When mommy dresses him.

37 comments:

bleh said...: Such a female response. I love it!; 8/1/15, 7:28 AM
Meade said...: "Meade does whatever he wants."

Most if the time. Sometimes -- in order not to scare women and children -- I do shower, shave, and put on clothes.; 8/1/15, 7:41 AM
Beldar said...: Re this: "You know what else makes a man look like a boy? When mommy dresses him."

No, that doesn't make him look like a boy, it means she's acting like he's a boy.; 8/1/15, 7:46 AM
Sydney said...: Ha! Good answer!; 8/1/15, 7:51 AM
campy said...: A Real Man does what Mommy wants without being told.; 8/1/15, 8:26 AM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: "You know what else makes a man look like a boy?"

Overweight 40 year old high school football coaches in gym shorts.; 8/1/15, 8:40 AM
Charlie said...: So I'm guessing the answer is, he used to but doesn't anymore.; 8/1/15, 8:50 AM
William said...: I'm willing to defer to a woman's judgement regarding the choice and style of clothes for certain occasions. For everyday wear, however, jeans in the winter and shorts in the summer are the meat and potatoes of menswear. There needs must be pressing and important reasons to deviate from these God mandated garments.; 8/1/15, 9:28 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: You must have missed little Larry running around the web screaming about the Charleston massacre and listing the names of the victims, people he never met and couldn't have ID'd if he walked past them on the street when they were alive. You would have thought Larry just lost his best friends.

You've got a little boy, a cowardly little backstabber constantly trying to prove to mommy that he's the goodest of good little boys living up to mommy's fag hag orthodoxy.

He does this shit for a living, prof. You might want to take a look at this ass kissing toddler in your house.; 8/1/15, 9:43 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "No, that doesn't make him look like a boy, it means she's acting like he's a boy."

Spoken as if the man has no will.

Rather boy-man of you to think like that.

A man is absolutely responsible for getting and staying in a relationship with a woman where he gets to be the boy and she's his mommy.

She has a problem too, of course. But to blame her for his predicament is childish.; 8/1/15, 9:59 AM
Desert Rat John said...: If you lived in Palm Springs where 115 degrees is not uncommon, you'd wear shorts too.; 8/1/15, 10:17 AM
Meade said...: "A man is absolutely responsible for getting and staying in a relationship with a woman where he gets to be the boy and she's his mommy."

What if the woman had given birth to the boy-man? I can see how he would have responsibility for his part of staying in that kind of relationship with her but isn't it she who is absolutely 100% responsible for "getting" in the relationship?; 8/1/15, 10:20 AM
Rusty said...: The fact is, no matter what I wear, I will never look like a boy.

It is hot and humid out. I have to paint the trim on the front of the house. I'm going to wear shorts and a T-shirt.
If decorum allowed it I'd do it naked.
But even I have some respect for my neighbors.; 8/1/15, 10:45 AM
stan said...: Part of what's great about being a man is not having to give a rip what old biddies think about my choice of comfortable clothing in summer.; 8/1/15, 11:16 AM
MacMacConnell said...: Professor what's your stand on kilts?; 8/1/15, 11:16 AM
Roughcoat said...: Should Caitlyn Jenner wear shorts? What's the judges' ruling?; 8/1/15, 11:28 AM
Roughcoat said...: Where do we stand on the tricky issue of sweat pants?

Personally, I think they're too boyish. Or proletarian. Or both.; 8/1/15, 11:30 AM
Roughcoat said...: Baggy khaki chinos ... okay, or no?; 8/1/15, 11:31 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Professor what's your stand on kilts?"

They should not be so long that I can stand on them.; 8/1/15, 11:34 AM
Mark Caplan said...: Shorts on a sweltering, muggy day are sensible and grownup, as long as the man isn't riding a skateboard and sporting a backwards baseball cap.; 8/1/15, 11:37 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "What if the woman had given birth to the boy-man? I can see how he would have responsibility for his part of staying in that kind of relationship with her but isn't it she who is absolutely 100% responsible for "getting" in the relationship?"

Well, this post and my comments thus far have been about the husband-and-wife relationship, but if you want to extend it to an actual mother-son relationship, the "getting" part doesn't apply to the son.; 8/1/15, 11:40 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "If you lived in Palm Springs where 115 degrees is not uncommon, you'd wear shorts too."

I've always made an exception for genuinely hot weather, but my question is how do you dress indoors where it's fully air-conditioned? I doubt if you're spending much time outdoors when it's that hot.

As for me, when it's hot, I much prefer a skirt or sundress to shorts. It's cooler and it's also prettier.; 8/1/15, 11:51 AM
Bob Boyd said...: I still wear shorts, but I have given up the propeller beanie.; 8/1/15, 11:52 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Part of what's great about being a man is not having to give a rip what old biddies think about my choice of comfortable clothing in summer."

And yet, you wrote that. You don't have to care. But you do.; 8/1/15, 11:53 AM
campy said...: "A man is absolutely responsible for getting and staying in a relationship with a woman where he gets to be the boy and she's his mommy.

She has a problem too, of course. But to blame her for his predicament is childish."

Nonsense. We just need to teach women not to infantilize.; 8/1/15, 12:00 PM
Achilles said...: Does the general attractiveness of the lower legs matter? Can guys have kankles? And if they do does that preclude them from wearing shorts like it should preclude women with kankles from showing them off? How about the tan? Women can cheat and wear nylons but if a man has pasty white freckled hairy legs I can see limitations needed.

Does this prohibition also extend to open toed footwear? What if you have dermatophytes?

I am glad we get to discuss these first world issues. It is way more fun than discussing how to properly dismember a fetus so the organs are harvest-able and salable.; 8/1/15, 12:30 PM
walter said...: "Such a female response. I love it!"

True. She didn't answer the question.

For Meade, maybe chaps are an option.; 8/1/15, 1:17 PM
Birches said...: +1 for Althouse; 8/1/15, 1:52 PM
Skyler said...: Good answer.; 8/1/15, 2:34 PM
clint said...: Will this forever be known as The Post in which our Hostess implicitly called herself Meade's "mommy"?; 8/1/15, 4:23 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: My problem with men in shorts has always been that it makes the man look like a boy. I don't want a boy-man. You know what else makes a man look like a boy? When mommy dresses him.

This seems like a potential point of friction.; 8/1/15, 4:47 PM
Ray said...: Some women can wear a burlap sack and look pretty. Some men can wear anything (including shorts) and look masculine. My wife says I'm one of those men, although I prefer a skirt or sundress when it's hot out.; 8/1/15, 6:19 PM
Tom said...: I grew up playing golf in pants. I worked at a country club in college where it was required. I prefer golf be played that way. And so I normally wear pants or jeans. Now, when I go on vacation, I take the shorts and it wearing shorts in Mexico just feels right (during the day - at night it still pants or jeans).; 8/2/15, 1:47 AM
Rosalyn C. said...: If a man has nice shapely legs and is willing to shave them I'm all for shorts, skorts, or kilts. Boney or flabby or hair legs -- I'd rather not see those. I don't mind the "boy man" look, but they do look a little silly and not at all attractive. Does that make me a sexist?; 8/2/15, 1:23 PM
Unknown said...: I wish shorts made me look like a boy, but even in shorts I look like a graying cave troll.

My wife and have an agreement, unless it is a special occasion I can display my usual utter disregard for fashion. If it is a special occasion she has a say in what I will be standing next to her in.; 8/2/15, 4:05 PM
stan said...: "And yet, you wrote that. You don't have to care. But you do."

Logic fail. Try harder.; 8/3/15, 6:09 AM
Nichevo said...: Stan, that's her go-to. Without it she has nothing except stamping her little foot.; 8/4/15, 9:03 AM