१७ सप्टेंबर, २०२२

"He buckled his seatbelt and rested his left hand on his knee, exposing between his knuckles and wrist a tattoo of the words 'want nothing' over the outline of a desert island."

I quoted that because it's my favorite sentence in "Will Welch Leads GQ to ‘the New Masculinity’/When he got the job as top editor, a friend told him, 'Yikes.' Now, with an assist from Brad Pitt, he has remade the men’s magazine for the post-#MeToo age" (NYT). 

What more do you want? Well, he has to want you to want his magazine. And he seems to want you to buy into masculinity, but doubts you'll buy that (or doubts you need him to inform you on the subject), so he came up with "new masculinity," so he must want you to believe that GQ is in the know about what is new.
Mr. Welch’s office on the 25th floor of One World Trade is windowless, befitting a top-of-the-masthead editor in these not-so-high-flying times for the magazine industry. He has a framed photograph of Malcolm X on his desk. Near the red sofa, tucked into a spot that Mr. Welch can see from his workstation, is a portrait of Ram Dass, the spiritual leader and author of “Be Here Now.”

Be here — in this windowless 25th-floor office — now... because now is new, and newness is the product.

“In my first days as editor, I just had this language — ‘the new masculinity’ — because the culture was demanding that men change, straight up,” Mr. Welch said. “We are a longstanding, decades-long men’s magazine. So what are we just going to do? Shoot fancy clothes and hope everybody applauds and keeps subscribing and clicking on our website? That is absurd.”

That really does sound like nothing, and if he can get you to "want nothing" and to believe you need GQ to get what you want, then he will have figured out what are we just going to do.

“We’re not saying, ‘Men of America, dress in a gender-neutral way,’ or ‘Wear women’s clothes,’” he said, adding that the “mission” of the magazine has moved away from giving readers style tips and sex advice. “Instead, we’re going to show different forms of self-expression, almost like a mood board, and let you find yourself in it.”

He will let you find yourself in GQ. You can find yourself somewhere else too. I'll let you find yourself in my blog. Where did Malcolm X and Ram Dass go to find themselves? It's funny to picture them reading GQ!

ADDED: Here's a GQ article by Will Welch, "The Unified Theory Of Ram Dass/In 1967 the noted Harvard psychedelic explorer Dr. Richard Alpert was transformed into Ram Dass by a Hindu guru in the foothills of the Himalayas. He then came back to the States with a vision of spirituality that transformed hippie America. Now the message of this 87-year-old teacher who keeps images of both Barack Obama and Donald Trump on his altar has taken on a profound new resonance."

Excerpt:

“I didn't like Hinduism,” Ram Dass will tell me of the days before he found his guru. “All the gods and goddesses and bells and whistles—agh. I was a clean Buddhist.” Clearly, after devoting himself to Maharajji in the late 1960s, his tastes changed. The living room altar also holds figures of the Hindu monkey god Hanuman (servant to Ram and the deity closely associated with Maharajji and his devotees) and the Buddha, plus images of Christ, Gandhi, Mary, and other saints—as well as those of both Barack Obama and Donald Trump. The message is simple: Love everyone. “I have to work hard to be able to keep my heart open to people whose policies I disagree with,” Ram Dass once said, in a lecture from the '90s. “I have a holy table with pictures on it of Buddha and Christ and Maharajji, my guru.… And I used to have Caspar Weinberger”—the secretary of defense under Ronald Reagan—“on the table, but I now have replaced him with Bob Dole. So in the morning, I say, ‘Good morning, Christ! Hello, Buddha! Good morning, Maharajji! Hello, Bob.’ And I see how far I have to go yet. Because after all, [Bob Dole] is merely God in drag, saying, I bet you won't recognize me this way, will you? They're all faces of the beloved.”

Has this blog post devolved into the issue of interior decoration using portraits of famous people?

५२ टिप्पण्या:

RideSpaceMountain म्हणाले...

"new masculinity"

GQ is now For Asexual Guys.

JMR म्हणाले...

He looks like the kind of guy that will invite you over to fuck his wife.

Buckwheathikes म्हणाले...

Nice 70s porn 'stache. Anybody have his OnlyFans?

Buckwheathikes म्हणाले...

Really? The "new masculinity" is wearing a dress that doubles as an 0-degree sleeping bag?

Hard pass.

n.n म्हणाले...

Tattoos, dresses, and abortions are the modern model of transmasculinity.

Temujin म्हणाले...

The photo of Will Welch is the consummate photo of a Beta New Yorker that has replaced the real New Yorkers. I wish them all good luck in their corner of the world and hope that none of their psychological break spills beyond the borders of that once great city.

PS- I doubt if Malcolm X would approve of his photo used in this place. But BoJack Horseman might.

Aggie म्हणाले...

..."And he seems to want you to buy into masculinity, but doubts you'll buy that..."

Not much left to say, is there? The 'new masculinity', where it's not masculine and it's nothing new, except maybe in NYC. His eyes say 'Vacancy'.

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

Who in the world would buy GQ?

Malcom X? A racist and a criminal.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

If that's 'masculine' these days, then things are worse than I thought.

At least the leather gays are doing it right...

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

A ridiculous tat on his hand. A pimp diamond ring on his pinky. Dork glasses. Porn star mustache. Stupid sideburns.

Puke!

wayworn wanderer म्हणाले...

What a crock.

Weyland E. Yutani, Super Genius म्हणाले...

I never understood the audience for GQ, even when I was a sharply-dressed young, single lawyer in the early 2000s. Bought one copy, threw it away after maybe browsing 30 percent of it. Just seemed like Cosmo for vapid men who were overcompensating for something. It doesn't look like it's gotten any better. And that guy looks like an unserious douche I'd never trust with a substantive assignment.

William म्हणाले...

He's apparently straight. I would have expected a gay man to hold down the position. The clothes he's wearing aren't unreasonable, but my guess is that those tattered jeans probably cost a fortune...I have no plans of reading GQ, nor any memory of ever having read it. GQ, rap music, tattered jeans, ostentatious tattoos: these are all things beyond my field of reference. I did see a few Brad Pitt movies, however.

donald म्हणाले...

There as never been anything masculine about GQ as far as I can tell.

tim maguire म्हणाले...

JMR said...He looks like the kind of guy that will invite you over to fuck his wife.

There's something skeezy about carefully manicured 5 o'clock shadow. I've never seen one on a guy who didn't turn out to be a total douche.

Kate म्हणाले...

I used to subscribe to GQ when I was in college because it felt sophisticated, I think. Women's magazines were vapid. Men drank whisky. Something like that.

I'm not clicking through to see the porn stache. I did see a Brad Pitt (on T-Lo) red carpet with him wearing a kilt-like linen skirt and blazer with heavy boots and all his shin tats on display. He looked freaking awesome, although the lesser gods would never be able to pull it off. If GQ can bottle his magic, they may survive.

William म्हणाले...

There are parts of the zeitgeist that I actively avoid. He looks very knowledgeable about those parts....Brad Pitt, in his weary journey through life, has probably learned many useful lessons about how to express his masculinity. Unfortunately, those lessons are only applicable to men who look like Brad Pitt. Brad Pitt could probably go full Weinstein on some production assistant and she would not only not be traumatized by the experience but would probably be flattered by the attention. Maybe even list it on her resume.

gspencer म्हणाले...

GQ has always been a mag for girlie "men."

Buckwheathikes म्हणाले...

In New York, the "new masculine" is a chick with a nice cock.

Those clothes look like they came out of Frank Costanza's attic. That belt looked much more hip in 1982. I bet it has the long end that hangs down too.

"Want nothing" right above a "diamond" ring tattoo on his finger, because you know he can't afford a real diamond ring.

This guy is a poster boy for metro-sexuals who never saw a Steve McQueen movie so they have no idea what masculinity is. He has zero masculine appeal except to gay men and even then he's a power bottom.

Narr म्हणाले...

"The kind of guy who would invite you over to fuck his wife."

What's she look like?

Narr म्हणाले...

"The kind of guy who would invite you over to fuck his wife."

What's she look like?

mikee म्हणाले...

When I was but a callow teen, way back in time, I thought of GQ as being very similar to the more textual parts of Playboy that I so rarely read, full of the newest consumer products and opinions on the most current fads for men. In other words, pretty unnecessary for a young man who could barely afford Wranglers and wore $10 Chuck Taylors unironically, and who hadn't yet totally lapsed as a Catholic.

So good luck on getting the readership to continue buying the adverts and the indoctrination, Mr. Editor. "Want nothing" from Ram Dass his own self, huh? How about "Warmth is good" (mine) or "Never eat anything bigger than your head" (Kliban) instead? Be careful in choosing your permanent markings, people can see them.

JAORE म्हणाले...

The new masculinity.... penis optional.

Narr म्हणाले...

I've never been attuned to current male fashion, as my wife will attest. I once bought a couple of pullover shirts on clearance that my wife insisted were women's articles.

I disagreed and wore them out.

GQ is Queer Eye for the Straight Guy in print form IMO.

Michael K म्हणाले...

GQ. Isn't the gay men's magazine ? I read that somewhere.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

'I never understood the audience for GQ, even when I was a sharply-dressed young, single lawyer in the early 2000s.'

Hint: It's for pretentious gay men...

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

"He looks like the kind of guy that will invite you over to fuck his wife."

I don't think this comment can be beaten. Thread winner.

Rabel म्हणाले...

Oddly enough, there is no specific name for the part of the back of the hand between the knuckles and the wrist.

You could use "dorsum," but that is simply descriptive and would generally mean the entire back of the hand.

We got palms, don't we. So this seems like something the medical community should get to work on to begin to restore the public's faith in their omniscience.

Backy McBackhand maybe?

Also, I spelled omniscience right on the first try!

Richard म्हणाले...

He has city hands and he wants you to know it.

MayBee म्हणाले...

We used to say guys we “GQ” in high school and college when preppy was in. But I didn’t know any guys who turned out to be straight to actually read GQ. My friends and I did, but we couldn’t imagine most of the guys we knew to actually dress that way

Iman म्हणाले...

I don’t think GQ has even the first clue on what is “masculine”.

Tina Trent म्हणाले...

He apparently can't even find a good bespoke tailor.

And brags about it.

M म्हणाले...

Poser.

Jupiter म्हणाले...

Is he actively homosexual? If not, why not? Homophobe! Bigot! Hater!

Jupiter म्हणाले...

"GQ is now For Asexual Guys"

Hah! I read that as "Assault Gays". A lot of that going around these days. Don't drop the soap.

madAsHell म्हणाले...

If you're searching for masculinity in the pages of a magazine.........

Big O's Meanings Dictionary म्हणाले...

opisthenar - definition

The back of the hand.

Friendo म्हणाले...

Jeezus H. Christ.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

'Is he actively homosexual?'

No. But he is willing to learn : )

Caligula म्हणाले...

“We’re not saying, ‘Men of America, dress in a gender-neutral way,’ or ‘Wear women’s clothes,’” he said, adding that the “mission” of the magazine has moved away from giving readers style tips and sex advice. “Instead, we’re going to show different forms of self-expression, almost like a mood board, and let you find yourself in it.”

I have to assume there will be plenty of advertising for products to help you achieve those "different forms of self-expression. For, after all, isn't that what all magazines have always been about (except for a few very pricey ones)?

Narayanan म्हणाले...

Also, I spelled omniscience right on the first try!
======
does omniscience mean science of all things?


Narr म्हणाले...

Actively homosexual, like "Rammed Ass"?

Maynard म्हणाले...

GQ. Isn't the gay men's magazine ? I read that somewhere.

No. It is for the sophisticated artsy NYC types who know that they are far better than the rest of us rubes.

Jupiter म्हणाले...

"A desert island"? How do you figure?

And that is one shitty tattoo. It looks like one I gave myself with ballpoint ink when I was 15.

Jupiter म्हणाले...

"If you're searching for masculinity in the pages of a magazine........."

Try the ones that are stuck together.

Josephbleau म्हणाले...

Like was said of Gandhi, it looks like it took a lot of money to keep Rham Dass in poverty.

Big O's Meanings Dictionary म्हणाले...

opisthenar - definition addendum(?)

NOUN

1. An almost exclusively medical term meaning the dorsum (back) of the hand.

from Greek: opisthen - behind + thenar - palm

Currently the word is only used as a noun but we feel it should be verged due to its cadence possibilities in certain scenarios yielding:

opisthenate

VERB

1. To strike someone with the dorsal side of the hand.

eg: Like a pimp applying corporal punishment to one of his stable: "He opisthenated the shit outta tha bitch."

It could catch on.

walter म्हणाले...

Bob Dole: "Bob Dole appreciates the reference. Gentlemen unite!"

sestamibi म्हणाले...

His mustache looks like it was velcroed on. And for someone running a fashion magazine, his outfit looks utterly ridiculous.

As for his muse, I remember when he was referred to as "rammed ass".

Fûz म्हणाले...

GQ is now For Asexual Guys.

I suppose MGTOWs need their own magazine just like everyone else.

Need nothing

What MGTOWs don't need is feminine companionship. I can see the appeal.

Fûz म्हणाले...

"Never eat anything bigger than your head" (Kliban)"

I prefer the evergreen "Never Give A Gun to Ducks."

Big Cat म्हणाले...

I just puked in my mouth.