TBD on Ning
It's Hip To Be Round (IF YOU'RE A GUY)
Reprinted from The New York Times without permission.
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
August 13, 2009
NOTICED
It’s Hip to Be Round
By GUY TREBAY
THIS summer the unvarying male uniform in the precincts of Brooklyn cool has been a pair of shorts cut at knickers length, a V-neck Hanes T-shirt, a pair of generic slip-on sneakers and a straw fedora. Add a leather cuff bracelet if the coolster is gay.
In truth this get-up was pretty much the unvarying male uniform last summer also, but this year an unexpected element has been added to the look, and that is a burgeoning potbelly one might term the Ralph Kramden.
Too pronounced to be blamed on the slouchy cut of a T-shirt, too modest in size to be termed a proper beer gut, developed too young to come under the heading of a paunch, the Ralph Kramden is everywhere to be seen lately, or at least it is in the vicinity of the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene, the McCarren Park Greenmarket and pretty much any place one is apt to encounter fans of Grizzly Bear.
What the trucker cap and wallet chain were to hipsters of a moment ago, the Kramden is to what my colleague Mike Albo refers to as the “coolios” of now. Leading with a belly is a male privilege of long standing, of course, a symbol of prosperity in most cultures and of freedom from anxieties about body image that have plagued women since Eve.
Until recently, men were under no particular obligation to exhibit bulging deltoids and shredded abdominals; that all changed, said David Zinczenko, the editor of Men’s Health, when women moved into the work force in numbers. “The only ripples Ralph Kramden” and successors like Mike Brady of “The Brady Bunch” had to demonstrate were in their billfolds, said Mr. Zinczenko, himself a dogged crusader in the battle of the muffin top. “But that traditional male role has changed.”
As women have come to outnumber men in the workplace, it becomes more important than ever for guys to armor themselves, Mr. Zinczenko said, with the “complete package of financial and physical,” to billboard their abilities as survivors of the cultural and economic wilds.
This makes sense, in a way, but how does one account for the new prevalence of Ralph Kramdens? Have men given in or given up? Are they finished with asserting the privileges that have always accrued to men. Or is the Ralph Kramden Barack Obama’s fault?
Hipsters, by nature contrarian, according to Dan Peres, the editor of Details, may be reacting in opposition to a president who is not only, as the press relentlessly reminds us, So Darn Smart, but also hits the gym every morning, has a conspicuously flat belly and, when not rescuing the economy or sparring with Kim Jong-il, shoots hoops.
“If we had a slob in the White House, all the hipsters would turn into some walking Chippendales calendar,” Mr. Peres said. Instead, the streets of Williamsburg are crowded with men who are, as he noted, “proudly rocking a gut.” Mr. Peres’s magazine has a term for these people: the new “poor-geoisie.” But the people lining up for $13 lobster rolls at the Brooklyn Flea last weekend hardly looked as if they were worried about making the rent.
“I sort of think the six-pack abs obsession got so prissy it stopped being masculine,” is how Aaron Hicklin, the editor of Out, explains the emergence of the Ralph Kramden. What once seemed young and hot, for gay and straight men alike, now seems passé. Like manscaping, spray-on tans and other metrosexual affectations, having a belly one can bounce quarters off suggests that you may have too much time on your hands.
“It’s not cool to be seen spending so much time fussing around about your body,” Mr. Hicklin said.
And so guys can happily and guiltlessly go to seed.
Women have almost never gotten a pass on the need to maintain their bodies, while men always have, said Robert Morea, a personal fitness trainer. (Full disclosure: my own.) It would be too much, he added, to suggest that “potbellies are suddenly O.K.,” but as lean muscle and functionality become the new gym mantras, hypertrophied He-Men with grapefruit biceps and blister-pack abs have come to resemble specimens from a diorama of “A Vanished World.”
“When do you ever see that guy, anyway?” Mr. Morea asked, referring to those legendary Men’s Health cover models, with their rippling torsos and famished smiles. “The only time you really see that guy, he’s standing in front of an Abercrombie & Fitch store.” Perhaps, he suggested, there is really only one of them. “It’s the same guy. They just move him around.”
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
August 13, 2009
NOTICED
It’s Hip to Be Round
By GUY TREBAY
THIS summer the unvarying male uniform in the precincts of Brooklyn cool has been a pair of shorts cut at knickers length, a V-neck Hanes T-shirt, a pair of generic slip-on sneakers and a straw fedora. Add a leather cuff bracelet if the coolster is gay.
In truth this get-up was pretty much the unvarying male uniform last summer also, but this year an unexpected element has been added to the look, and that is a burgeoning potbelly one might term the Ralph Kramden.
Too pronounced to be blamed on the slouchy cut of a T-shirt, too modest in size to be termed a proper beer gut, developed too young to come under the heading of a paunch, the Ralph Kramden is everywhere to be seen lately, or at least it is in the vicinity of the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene, the McCarren Park Greenmarket and pretty much any place one is apt to encounter fans of Grizzly Bear.
What the trucker cap and wallet chain were to hipsters of a moment ago, the Kramden is to what my colleague Mike Albo refers to as the “coolios” of now. Leading with a belly is a male privilege of long standing, of course, a symbol of prosperity in most cultures and of freedom from anxieties about body image that have plagued women since Eve.
Until recently, men were under no particular obligation to exhibit bulging deltoids and shredded abdominals; that all changed, said David Zinczenko, the editor of Men’s Health, when women moved into the work force in numbers. “The only ripples Ralph Kramden” and successors like Mike Brady of “The Brady Bunch” had to demonstrate were in their billfolds, said Mr. Zinczenko, himself a dogged crusader in the battle of the muffin top. “But that traditional male role has changed.”
As women have come to outnumber men in the workplace, it becomes more important than ever for guys to armor themselves, Mr. Zinczenko said, with the “complete package of financial and physical,” to billboard their abilities as survivors of the cultural and economic wilds.
This makes sense, in a way, but how does one account for the new prevalence of Ralph Kramdens? Have men given in or given up? Are they finished with asserting the privileges that have always accrued to men. Or is the Ralph Kramden Barack Obama’s fault?
Hipsters, by nature contrarian, according to Dan Peres, the editor of Details, may be reacting in opposition to a president who is not only, as the press relentlessly reminds us, So Darn Smart, but also hits the gym every morning, has a conspicuously flat belly and, when not rescuing the economy or sparring with Kim Jong-il, shoots hoops.
“If we had a slob in the White House, all the hipsters would turn into some walking Chippendales calendar,” Mr. Peres said. Instead, the streets of Williamsburg are crowded with men who are, as he noted, “proudly rocking a gut.” Mr. Peres’s magazine has a term for these people: the new “poor-geoisie.” But the people lining up for $13 lobster rolls at the Brooklyn Flea last weekend hardly looked as if they were worried about making the rent.
“I sort of think the six-pack abs obsession got so prissy it stopped being masculine,” is how Aaron Hicklin, the editor of Out, explains the emergence of the Ralph Kramden. What once seemed young and hot, for gay and straight men alike, now seems passé. Like manscaping, spray-on tans and other metrosexual affectations, having a belly one can bounce quarters off suggests that you may have too much time on your hands.
“It’s not cool to be seen spending so much time fussing around about your body,” Mr. Hicklin said.
And so guys can happily and guiltlessly go to seed.
Women have almost never gotten a pass on the need to maintain their bodies, while men always have, said Robert Morea, a personal fitness trainer. (Full disclosure: my own.) It would be too much, he added, to suggest that “potbellies are suddenly O.K.,” but as lean muscle and functionality become the new gym mantras, hypertrophied He-Men with grapefruit biceps and blister-pack abs have come to resemble specimens from a diorama of “A Vanished World.”
“When do you ever see that guy, anyway?” Mr. Morea asked, referring to those legendary Men’s Health cover models, with their rippling torsos and famished smiles. “The only time you really see that guy, he’s standing in front of an Abercrombie & Fitch store.” Perhaps, he suggested, there is really only one of them. “It’s the same guy. They just move him around.”
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Views: 14
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dazzling Zoomer Gal Diana on
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Oh my - so funny but so true. Good one Suuse! And here is the accompanying photo with the article. Oh my. Ugh. Are men becoming lazy because some of us are letting them get away with running to fat? I care about my guy enough to help him to eat properly and exercise with me (when I've got him as a captive audience that is ;-) ! No wonder men die often times before we do.
The big belly syndrome seems to me very prevalent here in N.C. I've been wondering if it's a "Southern " thing? Douglas says a "beer belly" is kind of a cool status thing amongst guys.
Let's ask the guys in a Q & A - survey time! -
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Permalink Reply by Chez moi on
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Aaaaarrrggghhh!
Does the uniform - unkempt, hanging-out t-shirt - tell us anything else? They not only don't care about their bodies, they don't care how they look period.
Belly fat is the most unhealthy kind. Beware of letting your fellows fall for this fad. You're right, Diana, about life expectancies! -
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Chez, this look is prevalent in the UK too - although (thankfully) not to anywhere near such a slovenly degree as it is state-side. How about France and other places where you have recently travelled? Are men taking care of themselves and looking smart- or are they too "going to pot" in a slovenly manner?
I have to say that Toronto men (for the most part) take their fitness quite seriously. It's not a look that is making the scene in downtown Toronto - or Montreal for that matter. At least - not yet!
State-side, this nation is (sadly) struggling with obesity issues regardless of gender. -
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Permalink Reply by Urbangal on
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OMG, I read this last weekend and laughed my ass off. Here's the phrase that got me:
"...or at least it is in the vicinity of the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene, the McCarren Park Greenmarket and pretty much any place one is apt to encounter fans of Grizzly Bear."
My bf is thin and fit everywhere but his belly. It's not actually a true "Ralph Cramden," but he's got a little bit of a pot. The funniest part is he is a HUGE fan of the band Grizzly Bear. I almost spewed coffee all over the paper when I saw that line.
I don't think the article is saying it's "hip to be overweight," though. It merely states that it's a trend and many of the guys in that picture are thin everywhere but their tummies. I do think that having perfect six pack abs and big muscly arms indicate vanity and too much free time. But that's just MHO.
Personally, I like guys with a little meat on them. And I'm lucky because I have a hot boyfriend who likes chubby blonds. :D -
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Right on Sassikatt. I have a deep respect and gratitude to the truckers without whom we would not enjoy the lifestyle that we all do. Thank you for posting this alternate perspective.
We are visual creatures, men and women both. After all - the sales & marketing carnies count on manipulating us accordingly. One is damned if one eats, and damned if one does not and then there are the food police who tell you that whatever it is that one is eating is going to kill one.
As you say in you follow up post, let us all be the effective force of change by concentrating on good health and not just on how much someone might weigh. There are so many issues that affect a persons size. Look at what we women go through as we move through menopause. I recently gained 10 pounds I'm having a devil of a time losing - for the 1st time in my life!
Having said all this - a fit man is still more attractive than a big pot bellied man. We women are visual creatures too! /;-D -
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Of course it does sassikatt! It makes perfect sense. To each her own. Thank you for sharing and you bring up an interesting point. There is a solid theory in practice that each of us is more inclined towards one or two of the five senses as a greater strength. I am extremely visual, and must read or see or touch something to fully understand the subject to hand. Auditory would be third, and smell forth. The latter two senses are strong, but do not drive my decisions.
Some where ( Suuse calls me an infomaniac and she's right !) I have (tucked away) a virtual article on this subject. I think. I know I read about this with keen interest, as it seems that men and women differ in their predominant senses . . . men ( as often advertised ) as being more visual and far less auditory - whereby women in general are much more auditory and less focused on the visual. You get the gist. -
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Permalink Reply by Suuse on
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I'm primarily visual; auditory input gets second place. It's not a huge difference, but, years ago, I noticed that, when directing a stage production, I would get things in order in terms of blocking (stage movement, pictures) and then start closing my eyes during rehearsals so that I could listen more accurately.
Touch is third...smell/taste round it out.
Although I am very aware of scent, it seems I "use" it a to corroborate information, rather than as a determinant. -
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