NYT: “It’s Hip to be Round”
I’d like to think that this article from the New York Times “Fashion & Style” section is intended to be humorous…
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.
…but the humor is lost on me. I know plenty of guys in the gym who don’t have washboard abs – it’s definitely a “problem area” for men (much like “thunder thighs” are for women). Many of them are fairly fit and strong, however: it shows in their arms, shoulders and chests. By contrast, the bodies pictured in this article not only have obvious guts… they also have nondescript arms and pecs. In other words, these “hipsters” are soft, flabby, weak and unfit – and there’s NOTHING “coolio” about that.
Urrrrghhh…
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Makster on 18 Aug 2009 at 9:10 am #
Not a “coolio” look at all!!!. It is a look I have seen a lot around Michigan. To much I’m sorry to say.
dennis on 19 Aug 2009 at 4:01 am #
“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.”
To go along with this, I heard on a local radio show here this morning that having a six pack could also mean that someone has few friends as well. It was something to that affect at least. Too much time on your hands/not enough friends, boy, this sounds kind of like a negative article. Sarcasm off.
If the abs are too tight, they complain. If the abs are too loose, they complain. No wonder people are so confused about what to do. No matter what they do it is not right.
How odd would it be to see somebody who is soft and weak but still had a six pack? Sounds like an episode of Twilight Zone.