As IF Times

Source: Out with hunks: fashion breaks codes for male models

Ya, that’s not going to fly. Of course a pushback against the feminization of men is made more difficult these days with the constant onslaught of ads and portrayals in pop entertainment pushing the beta male ideal.

Throughout history, societies have focused on the wants of women as far as fashion and style.  Men’s concerns about fashion generally revolve around comfort. There’s the old saying that women dress for other women, not for men.  For the most part, men’s appreciation for women’s appearance is fairly simple and straightforward; namely that they can’t be men.  They tolerate the fashion dictates of the day as indulgences on the part of women but not as necessities.

The strange places that fashion has taken us over the years is especially amusing when viewed through old images.  But things such as bell bottoms, padded shoulders and wide lapels are to be expected since the fashion racket needs to constantly fuel their business.  But these are just ephemeral flirtations and curiosities to be discarded next season.

The really sinister part is when the fashion gods dictate that a body style is the must do of the day.  A few years ago, ‘heroin chic’, that gaunt, starved cat look was flouted on fashion runways.  Not sure who found that attractive, but it wasn’t red blooded men.  At the moment, we are living in a time when thin women with ample cleavage and no body hair is considered desirable (go figure), leading  women to spend money on fat vacuums, breast implants and depilatory aids.

Having run out of things to torture women with, the haute couture  poobahs are focusing their attention on insecure men.  They are trying to make men sensitive to eyebrow shapes and body hair and odor. The are essentially pushing to downplay normal masculine features.  Actually if you look at the ideals trotted out by the fashionistas, they appear to be trying to make men and women look like each other, with asexual being the ideal.  We are already seeing some sensitive men being swayed by this propaganda as evidenced by the man bun craze.  Will Jimmy Choo offer man-lettos next?

I hope that men will have the confidence not to succumb to the effeminate ideals being offered by pop fashion.  But it may be a losing bet.  The feminization of culture has already emasculated men in many aspects of our sex.  Nature had it correct from the beginning; men are men and women are women; a damn good arrangement.

link ‘Pants on the ground’ goes viral: Top five Larry Platt covers / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com

So cool that a brotha editorializes on the goofy trend that is still the rage among youths. As the article alludes to, the origin of low riding pants derives from prison where no belts are allowed and wearing of pants this way signified, to put it tactfully, availability. Somehow, this manner of dress became fashionable when these young men got back on the street, since this gave them ‘street cred’. Typically, these were low level criminals and it made some sense to convey this image, since this let the other posers on the street know that they had legitimate tough guy status and better not to mess with them.

Like many antisocial signals, this fashion statement found favour among posers, among ‘rap artists’ and consequently into the mainstream through music videos and publicity photos. It’s particularly amusing to see clean cut young white or Asian kids in leafy suburbs all over north america adopt the fashion preferences of their rap heroes; as if they had empathy with the ghetto lifestyle, living in comfortable suburbia and driving mommy’s Lexus to chill at the mall.

Adults are no less vulnerable to illogical fashion dictates as well of course. Among women, the idea of having a tattoo across the small of their backs, referred to as a ‘tramp stamp’ seems to be so popular that tattoo artists are practically mainstream in their profession. In the Midwest, you can see these places pop up like nail salons in the malls. In the old days, a greasy guy named Spike or Carlos did the painful deed in a filthy back room. The unlucky ones would get a free dose of hepatitis with the new ink. Nowadays, moms can get inked alongside their daughters while someone serves them iced tea.

Men are just as amusing. The Harley Davidson company has managed to propagate the idea of the freedom loving rebel on a motorcycle. Of course, being a rebel these days is much more convenient with large multi level corporate stores selling all things involved with the Harley lifestyle from clothing to jewelry, to baby clothes and even motorcycles. The formula for clothing is fairly consistent however, leaning mainly to black t-shirts, jeans and of course black leather.

It looks like everyone can show their individuality… in a me too kind of way.