“Call it the melee of the middle-aged men,” begins a New York Times piece detailing the contemporary male’s inclination to engage his equals in a rumble. Leading lights such as Elon Musk, Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.), and Robert Kennedy Jr. seem to swagger as the author recalls each one’s boasting.
The Times reads:
The blurring of reality is key to understanding a world in which campy performances of heterosexual masculinity can seize our collective attention, Mx. Riesman said.
“There’s something about committing to a totally outsized parody that just works for the human brain,” she said.
Mullin challenged a Teamster president to meet him on the mat; Musk threw a gauntlet the way of Mark Zuckerberg; RFK Jr. regularly employs his well-developed physique with exhibitionist push-ups while wearing suits cut similar to those of retired NFL stars on talk shows — tight and meant to accentuate muscles.
But why wouldn’t these men act this way? The male form is made for combat, and the idea of visiting violence on another isn’t foreign to the male mind.
The Times piece offers the sort of clucking one would expect from a liberal woman when confronted with intra-male jocularity. And it is a defect of the progressive mind to think that violence is innately retrograde and base instead of a necessary final tool to effect a desired end. The ultimate purpose of the state is to maintain its monopoly on violence and use it in defense of the persons and associated properties of the citizens — those seeking office should convey the concept (“speak softly and carry a big stick“) in themselves.
Then there’s the idea of plasticity, i.e., the ability to endure suffering and continue on. Biden has used the stories of his first wife’s death and Beau’s demise to great effect, as they make him appear more personal to the common folk while also suggesting his manfulness, soldiering on despite emotional adversity. Trump’s bankruptcies, Obama’s racial experiences, and Clinton’s having to be married to Hillary all similarly appealed to our sympathy while highlighting the men’s resilience. We love Rocky because he took a licking but stayed standing. With the right lighting, eating punches is humanizing.
There are elements of these displays that indicate a heightened level of vanity, of course. They’re certainly not my speed. Still, one should not lightly dismiss the ability to command one’s own body, especially after the two most recent presidential examples and their physio-mental dyspepsia. And even Biden and Trump have used these tactics to their perceived advantage: When a voter asked a prickly question, Biden called him a “damned liar” and challenged him to a push-up contest, and recall Trump’s bellicose rhetoric and choke-slamming of Vince McMahon in “battle of the billionaires” at WWE’s WrestleMania 23, in 2007
Women want men who can protect, and men want men they trust to have their back — simple as that. From Beowulf’s Geats and the Roman legions marching on Rome to FDR’s hidden disability and Reagan’s outthrust jaw, strength in leaders is what people want — and those wishing to play the part had better look it, so bust out the cowboy boots, Bowflex, and sparring gloves.