In the hunt for masculinity and being a better man, there is, unfortunately, no escaping the politics associated with “Masculinity.” We often hear politicians bickering back and forth, claiming that one has moor hutzpah than the other (read: bigger balls) and the debates go ad infinitum. This can readily be seen in New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Christie is a man known for his “bullying tactics,” both in rhetoric and actions. But more than just Christie, it shows the divisive, bullying, trying-to-be-masculine-but-not-really, nature that politics has taken.
We hear it all the time—send the troops to war, invade this country, invade that country, but the politician with the strong so-called “Masculine” demeanor is never the one doing the fighting, they’re just the one sending people to do the fighting. Yet, it’s these politicians who talk a big-game who are often referred to as “Masculine.” Case in point, again: Chris Christie. Brit Hume, a political analyst for Fox News, described Christie as an, “old fashioned masculine muscular guy.” Christie is the same politician who once verbally berated decorated Navy SEAL William Brown. Christie called Brown an “idiot,” and had him escorted out of a town hall debate.
Let me repeat that… Chris Christie had a decorated Navy SEAL escorted out of a public town hall debate and referred to the guy as an “idiot.”
Now, obviously, a Navy SEAL cannot actually be bullied by the likes of Chris Christie, but it’s the fact of the matter that such a political culture exists where we have politicians trying to bully SEALs, because they may not agree with their “Masculine,” ideas and politics. After being escorted out of the building William Brown even had this to say about Christie: “I think he’s a bully sometimes.”
A veteran, someone who has put his life on the line for his country, is talked down to by who… a politician. And the politician is the one being described as an “old fashioned masculine muscular guy.” Too often nowadays we mistake loud voices for strong voices. We mistake the politics of “wanting to go to war,” with the strength that it actually takes to “fight in a war.” The ones who want to take away help for the poor are laundered through the media as “tough,” and “fatherly,” while the ones who want to help the poor are described as “weak,” and “babying.”
Now, the whole point of this isn’t merely to berated Christie as a bully, but it just so happens that he is the epitome of the so-called “masculine-politics” that’s being pushed on us by the media. Which brings us to the video.
In this video, Bill Maher tears apart the so-called “masculinity” that politicians are trying to portray these days. The video starts off with a topical discussion about President Obama stating that he wouldn’t want his kid to play in the NFL, and then quickly dives into Christie and the other divisive nature of masculine-politics. Enjoy!
–Photo: Marsmet471/Flickr