There’s a lot of playful misandry here on The Toast, so I would like to take a brief moment to list in full the aspects of 20th-century American masculinity that is actually, unqualifiably great. Thanks, American guys from the last 100 years.
- The way Chuck Connors looks at the camera right after he squeezes off like a thousand rounds in the opening credits of The Rifleman
- The way Charlton Heston used to say “Oh, my God“
- Pocket squares
- That scene in The Maltese Falcon where Humphrey Bogart slaps Peter Lorre for not being tough enough and then tells him “When you’re slapped, you’ll take it and like it”
- The fact that Fred MacMurray used to bring a brown-bag lunch every day to the set of My Three Sons and that also this possibly happened:
“I remember once the wardrobe man coming in and saying, ‘Fred, I really think that we should buy a dozen new shirts for you.’ And Fred replied, ‘Buy a dozen new shirts? Why don’t you just turn the collars around?’”
- That movie about arm wrestling
- Short fingernails
- Taking stairs two at a time
- That part in High Noon where Gary Cooper knows he has to stay and fight Frank Miller and his woman isn’t going to stand by him and she talks to his last woman and his last woman says “If he were my man, I would never leave him” and his new woman says “Then why are you leaving?” and Katy Jurado just fixes that milquetoast, mush-mouthed Grace Kelly with a look and says “He is not my man” and Grace Kelly changes her life and stands by Gary Cooper and endeavors to be worthy of him
- The ending of Shane
- Ossie Davis
- When young, laid-back male baristas smile genuinely at you and say things like “For sure, yeah” and “Oh, it’s no problem” and “Right on, right on”
- Slouching
- Starting meetings by saying “Is everybody here?”
- Saying “Yeah, that’s cool I guess”
- Always having an extra set of keys
- Inviting people to watch you smoke weed or do tricks on your bike
- Saying “No thanks, I’m good”
- Fred Astaire
- Lighting other people’s cigarettes silently
- Filming it when people get hurt
- Calling people “champ” or “sports fans”
- Walking through the front door and calling out “I’m home!”
- Leather bracelets
- Opening a newspaper crisply over the breakfast table
- Young Frankenstein
- Curt yet friendly head nods
- Ernest Borgnine
- Spats
That’s it, thanks guys!!!
Tags: appreciating things, masculinity, men, rifles, tossing dudes a bone
Teen years with skateboard/bmx boys: “Inviting people to watch you smoke weed or do tricks on your bike”
A lot of these can be neatly filed into the DADS or TEENAGE DIRTBAGS categories.
Did you just find the dude version of the Madonna/Whore complex?
We need to investigate further. Someone get me a grant application.
AND I WOULD STILL HANG OUT AND WATCH. Even now.
I’m 33, please do not let me do so.
yes, excellent. Would add: When guys are all sweet and gentle with little kids and small animals. Also guys in plaid flannel shirts.
also furry guys in crisp white dress shirts and cufflinks
Every man should wear flannel at all points the end
its just so soft and warm when you hug them!
see: Jordan Catalano
Except for Fred Astaire, obvs, who should always go formal or cazh/ascot.
YES! to your additions, too!
Norm Abram. NORM ABRAM. *whispers* Norm Abram.
Oh, you mean like THIS: http://www.crushable.com/2014/02/13/entertainment…
(wish I knew how to embed pics)
*img src=”image url”* except replace the *s with < and >, respectively.
PUPPY BELLIES.
I used to invite people over to watch me play video games……does that count?
Guitar dudes with long hair playing blues guitar (or bass. upright bass is also acceptable with long hair). Why are those guys so cool.
How can i be one of them.
I watch things like the Crossroads festivals and weep at how cool I will never be.
You forgot about HOT DADS
carrying a torch 4 u hot dads
thats messed up diana
UNF
yeeeessssss. <3 you forever, hot dads, may you be the source of our preteen crushes for years to come
Hot dads always have an extra set of keys.
for you
Hot dads with pony tails.
BAHAHAHA I AM MARRIED TO ONE OF THOSE BECAUSE I WON LIFE
now I will spend my life watching my child’s friends fall madly in love with him, I guess?
I went to Iceland once and they have the hottest of dads I want to move there
the only reason columbo is not on this list is because i’m working on a long columbo post for tomorrow
I hope you mention that he is an angel. CANON.
Oh thank goodness because I was about to be all “Oh, just one more thing, Mallory…”
Would like to add:
– Dudes walking golden retrievers or other large dogs
– Faded leather wallets
– Forearms
– Daniel Craig’s sort of teeth-clenchy constipated look
Seconding forearms and dog walking.
Dog walking hot dads with forearms.
FOREARMS
Hand in hand with faded leather wallets: jeans with a permanently worn wallet-sized square shape on the back pocket.
Yes forearmsssssssss. Not clean-shaven! Au naturale.
Who shaves their forearms? Besides swimmers, I mean. Is this a thing?
(Have we discussed this elsewhere in the past? My deja vu-meter is ticking.)
I’m so glad there’s so many people here citing forearms as wonderful. There’s a scene in The Train Job episode of Firefly where Alan Tudyk is manfully steering the ship on a difficult course, and his arms are bare and muscles are popping just a bit because they’re arms that are strong from work, not working OUT and he’s illuminated by sunlight and everyone I know looks are me strangely when I make a quiet little “UNF” noise.
You said “Alan Tudyk is manfully steering” and then everything went hazy
what happen
I can picture it perfectly.
Time to watch some Firefly? Time to watch some Firefly!
Yes we have! I was worried that it was a thing that I was supposed to a) have known about and b) have been doing these last 20 years but fortunately you all reassured me that for the most part it was not a thing except where some people do it and it’s totally okay but no one thought having be-haired arms was weird or anything.
I don’t know if we have! But I feel like it’s some new manscaping thing that I’ve seen floating around, and I would like to state here and now my support for hairy guys. Please do not feel like you have to shave down like the glistening dudes in fitness ads. (At least, not for me. I support your right to be fuzzy or smooth as you may choose.)
Amen. Mr. Blazes is A Hairy Dude and I would never, ever want that to change. The guys in 300 do nothing for me.
That thing where they drop something and nonchalantly catch it ju-uuust before it hits the ground.
THAT WAS NOT NONCHALANT AND IT WAS COOL AS FUCK THE FIRST TIME WE DID IT AS WELL
Christ, I do nearly none of these things* clearly I’ve got to step up my masculinity game.
*possibly due to not being American
8 of these masculine qualities apply to me
About the same here. For the record, not a man. Still like taking stairs two at a time.
The only thing better than these qualities in a man is these qualities in a woman. Do you have a light? *Bats eyelashes*
(Oh God is this subject verb agreement?)
Ditto. I’m my own Best-Loved Thing About American Masculinity, plus one extra great thing: living in unexpected mild transgression of it.
Yes, same. Leather bracelets are horrid for people of all genders, but short fingernails and calling people ‘sports fan’ (my nickname for my gentleman caller) are awesome.
Cowboys who treat their horses better than themselves; those men are all right.
That thing about Fred MacMurray bringing his lunch to My Three Sons just made me love him that much more. And put the theme song in my head for the rest of the day.
– Kevin Costner in any baseball-related movie, especially Bull Durham.
– Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
– Woodward and Bernstein
– Blazing Saddles
– Jimmy Stewart
– The Things They Carried
– Dead Poets Society
Gregory Peck wearing glasses.
That’s the height of masculinity, everyone else can go home
Gregory Peck wearing anything. Or, y’know, not.
Gregory Peck wearing a perfectly fitted suit and a knowing smile. Mmm-hmm.
SUSPENDERS on skinny guys. How could I forget that.
Kevin Costner for sure. I will watch every shitty movie he’s in just to get a taste of that sensible masculinity.
speaking of shitty movies…that one with Ben Affleck, where Kevin Costner is his tough-talking in-law, and they do construction and have Boston accents? that movie is porn to me.
OH! That reminds me of Tommy Lee Jones and his deeply grooved masculinity. I picture him coming in from the garage wiping the grease from his hands. His head is lowered, but his eyes are on me…at the sink. I’m barefoot. Tommy Lee Jones says, “Your hur looks pretty like ‘at”
Or something. I haven’t really thought about it much *ahem*
What movie is this and why haven’t I SEEN it?!
ETA: It’s called “The Company Men” and I am going to watch it tout de suite.
WHAT OH MY GOD
yes yes yes yes YES. also really good handshakes accompanied by genuine smiles.
The kind of handshake he gives to equals. For the love of cheese, spare me the grasping-only-the-fingers handshake. So many men think women require a different handshake. I hate how that feels, physically and psychically. Do you think I’m too delicate for a real handshake? I am a big woman with a big personality and I can bench press my own weight, so it’s clearly a technique he reserves for all women, not just tiny quiet ones. Gimme a real handshake and the respect that goes with it!
I’m an admittedly short woman but weak handshakes make me want to break your knuckles with my grip. A decent handshake never hurt anybody.
Going to the driving range with a guy who knows how to hit a golf ball and a thermos of G&Ts on a hot summer evening is pretty great.
Oh god, a thermos of G&T. Summer, hurry up!
“When young, laid-back male baristas smile genuinely at you and say things like “For sure, yeah” and “Oh, it’s no problem” and “Right on, right on””
Oh my God yes. Hearts in my eyes. Literal hearts jumping out of my eyes onto the counter and launching themselves at the adorable laid-back barista. (well that got weird)
Your eyeballs would not do well at one of the coffee shops here. Staffed by delightfully enthusiastic, genuinely happy barista-men.
WHERE IS THIS MAGICAL PLACE
Heaven
I like to use the term “baristbros”
broristas
BRORISTAS.
I’m confused. These are all things I say (as a female person). Are these male things to say, or just charming when men do it, or both?
I also say, “no thanks, I’m good” to endless teasing by elderly types and confusion of non-American types. THat is masculine too? oy vey
Edit: does this mean I get to make your eyeballs bounce?
I don’t think they’re necessarily male things to say. As a lady who is mostly attracted to men, I find it charming when men say these things, and charming in a different way when women say them (I, too, say “no thanks, I’m good” with some frequency). In both cases, at least for me, those phrases are associated with a certain straightforward, easygoing good-naturedness that I find very appealing. But I have no doubt that you could make my eyeballs bounce 🙂
ah, okay. you are sweet!
LOVE U 5EVER FUEL BARISTO. Oh god, we called him the beautiful hippie boy and he worked there FOREVER, I have driven miles out of my way to buy coffee from that man and I am a married lady.
my favorite local coffee place has the best broristas, they’re so attractive and laid-back and flannel and those kind of knit hats and they talk very seriously about what coffee they have in I love them
There was a crucial concentration of these in the Peet’s Coffee in my town when I was juuuust finishing high school, and I wasn’t friends with them BUT MY FRIEND WAS so I had hung out with a couple of them once or twice. I always felt nervously superior to All Others at the fact that they knew my name, and I knew enough about them to know that one of them was a rocker musician and one was a magician.
We’ll take what we can get. This is high praise. High praise indeed.
(1) I strongly reject the leather armband appreciation BUT
(2) When young, laid-back male baristas smile genuinely at you and say things like “For sure, yeah” and “Oh, it’s no problem” and “Right on, right on” – YES
Anecdote: My fav barista wears his sunglasses inside at all times and has an early 00’s version of YOLO tattooed on his forearm in response to a request I made said “I’m on it like a bonnet!”
A YOUNG MAN SAYING THE WORD “BONNET”
I can’t, this is too much. I had one that not only called me “darlin'” every day in a deep non-offensive drawl, but also once came out with “good golly miss molly!” as a completely natural response.
YES Men that say ‘darlin’ or ‘sweetie’ in the friendly way not in the street harassment way
In a rumbly man voice. I love men’s voices. Also, if they sing to themselves while doing things. Also if they don’t know all the words.
“On it like a bonnet!” I literally had a brief spasm of joy when I read that. Young dudes using old-timey sayings (or things that sound like what an old-timey grandpa would say) is just utterly delightful.
We’re not in the 20th century anymore tho.
i know
i don’t like anything about 21st century masculinity so far
It’s all “asses out of pants” these days.
That’s fair. I think the only really great 21st century masculinity thing is probably Friday Night Lights.
Idris Elba. Idris Elba is a great 21st century masculinity thing.
OH MAN, he…yup. Good call.
Jon Hamm as well.
Ohhhh yes. I would also like to submit Tom Hiddleston as an excellent example of 21st century masculinity.
Or 19th century masculinity. He is all willowy and classically educated. There is a reason he gets cast in so many period films. Basically, he is perfect in any century.
Xabi Alonso.
When I smoked, the silent cigarette-lighting used to DRENCH me oh my god. I think I need to go be alone.
Alright alright alright.
I love Matthew McConaughey’s voice so much. I’m from Texas, but absolutely do not have that accent, and it just makes me melt. He does the Reliant energy commercials and when he compliments the listener’s outfit, I’m just like I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING RELIANT but it still totally works.
FUCK YEAH YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
Real talk: the only thing I’ve ever seen with Fred MacMurray is “Double Indemnity” and even though he’s a murderous insurance guy I’d STILL tap that.
If you have a chance, catch the few movies he made in the thirties with Carole Lombard, esp. “Hands Across the Table.” Completely charming.
And “The Apartment” should be required viewing for everyone over 18 years of age. You won’t like his character very much, though.
Totally. And he’s a not particularly bright murderous insurance guy, even!
Short fingernails are my way of life, y’all, and I am not changing.
This post is like erotica.
* command-P *
“When young, laid-back male baristas smile genuinely at you and say things like “For sure, yeah” and “Oh, it’s no problem” and “Right on, right on” THIS GUY IS MY FAVORITE
I also had a super stoney dorm hall neighbor who used to drop by my room and declare that whatever I was up to was amazing, 100% genuinely. Like, we’d be playing Donkey Konga on Friday night at 9pm and he’d drop by all, “oh, what are you up to? Donkey Konga? That’s pretty rad!”
I know a guy like that! He’s pretty delightful to be around.
I was lucky enough to travel through Europe with a dude like that. Everything was “*head nod* yeah, sick!” or “she’s a total babe” said very earnestly about everyone. It was a singularly lovely experience.
I have exactly one friend like this, and he’s only like this when he’s been drinking, but if you catch him at the right time it’s amazing. Affirmation everywhere.
Mostly though I surround myself with sarcastic misanthropes, and wonder why until the next time I speak to a member of my family.
Do you know the trials I’ve had trying to explain The Rifleman to people who WEREN’T homeschooled for exactly 2 years in the mid-nineties and didn’t have cable and had very limited TV options in the middle of the day?
-When guys roll up their sleeves so you just see their forearms.
I just sat here for about 10 minutes trying to think of something else, but there you go.
What else is there?
I was very happy to see the forearm love upthread though! And there is more, I just can’t tell if it’s specific to my male friends or males in general. Is knowing too much about trains a thing other guys do?
My friend knows too much about planes, and I think it’s great.
Is his name Derek?
No, it’s Graham.
Oh, you know my dad then!
To me this is a decidedly DAD thing. But my dad is an aircraft mechanic, so. All our photo albums end with pages and pages of photos of airplanes and (mostly) various airplane parts.
I realize now you meant you tried to think of another thing you love about 20th century masculinity, but at first I thought you meant you could think of nothing but men with impeccable, sleeves-rolled-up forearms for 10 minutes, and I was like, man, that’s a great 10 minutes.
I mean sorta both!!
Ahaha, excellent. As it should be…
My friend’s brother once told us a story about his realization that he should start wearing long-sleeved shirts so that he could roll them up and look cool (and damn good, I added mentally). A++++, friend’s brother, you have solved the mysteries of life.
– the way their blood runs down my chin after I tear their still-beating heart out with my teeth
<3 you
Also, calling someone else “Hoss”
ok yes i will take all of the above in lesbian, please, hold the spats.
the toast will return to its regular lesbian sponsored programming after this post
The way Commander Riker sits in chairs
Does this count as 24th century masculinity, though?
More like the way Commander Riker does anything (as long as he has a beard)
YES. The beard is key. I’ve been rewatching all of TNG and my reaction to beardless Riker in the first episode was a little over-the-top – I literally yelled, “What??” because I had forgotten he ever was beardless.
the beard is an ancient and proud tradition
I just got caught actual-lol’ing at that video and then had to show one of the baby lawyers what I was laughing at.
Or, as he is known chez nous, “Commander Dreamboat.”
I had to stop, I was laughing too hard! Thank you. Thank you very much.
I offer for your consideration: Men who politely ask if you could use a hand when faced with having to get heavy furniture off the shelves at Ikea. I was alone in a new city when I was buying *all* the furniture for my first apartment, and I have no idea how I would have managed it if a very polite and non-abrasive gentlemen hadn’t helped me out. Thank you, kind sir.
Or just men who politely ask if you could use a hand dragging around any heavy stuff. I’ve had some very nice men offer to help me stow and/or remove my insanely overpacked suitcases on the bus to various airports and part of me still swoons a bit just thinking about it.
“Tossing dudes a bone” *teenage dirtbag snickering*
If Fred Astaire is on this list, Gene Kelly has to be, too. Those are the rules I’ve just made up.
I second you in this rule choice. Gene Kelly’s moves (AND FOREARMS) are on the list.
THIGHS. HIS THIGHS.
You must be referring to the 1948 movie “The Pirate.” Here’s a thigh-light: http://youtu.be/UVv6FTKC92U
Yes to Gene Kelly forever
When young, laid-back male baristas smile genuinely at you and say things like “For sure, yeah” and “Oh, it’s no problem” and “Right on, right on”
I shall be spared the reaping. Praise be.
Especially if you then pull a perfect ristretto.
And…CHECK.
My future place beneath the matriarchy is secured.
We are all relieved – we’d have hated to see you go!
SILENTLY LIGHTING PEOPLE’S CIGARETTES. I spent my formative smoking years with a group of literary, liberal artsy-type bros, and almost all of them did this. I think the first time it happened one of them said something like “A lady never lights her own cigarettes,” but after that it was just a given. Ask to borrow a light, they’ll do it for you. And hell yes, I co-opted that shit. At first to make fun of the “lady” comment because chivalry squicks me out sometimes, but then it became habit and now it just feels like the polite, somewhat classy thing to do. Unless you’re a complete stranger or I don’t think you would appreciate it, if you ask me for a light you’ll get your cigarette lit for you.
(Plus it’s a good way to make sure you always get your lighter back.)
This kind of makes me want to start smoking (but really, I think I just want some art-bros to hang out with).
Don’t start smoking, it’s a disgusting habit. Do find some art-bros to hang out with. It was literally the best. They had this weird kind of performative douchebro attitude that should have been terrible but was for some reason endearing, because they were all incredibly intelligent and would get drunk and then talk about literature and philosophy and poetry.
This is making me jealous-sad, because pretty much all the dudes I know who are interested in lighting womens’ cigarettes see it as an opening salvo of flirt aggression. Which means even the ones who are being benign about it remain under suspicion from me, so I just light my own rather than angst over it. 🙁
I was really skeptical at first because I assumed that too, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The two who were especially into it and, I think, were responsible for spreading it to their friends, were not entirely American, so that may have something to do with it. One was South American, the other was American but had diplomat parents or something so he spent a bunch of time in Europe and South Africa. I have never encountered anyone else who does it since, but I think I would be pretty suspect.
Yeah, I was referring to my time living in Egypt, which is a complicated thing in many ways, but when you’re an American girl in Egypt, many many of the local men you’ll meet are SUPER INTO the fact that there is, theoretically, an actual chance you might have actual sex with them! Which, hey, to some degree I really can’t blame them. And there are way more male expats than female ones, so the non-local dudes are pretty much constantly on the prowl also. So one has to be super self-aware around basically all dudes, basically all the time. It was something I didn’t realize was so stressful until I left.
When they read the Toast and join me in worshipping Mallory
I have a need to add to this list the way men who work with their hands have muscles without being obvious about it. Not men who work out to get ‘ripped’ or ‘cut’ or even ‘definition’. No, I want none of that. Find me a man* who has strong arms from doing USEFUL things, and put a toolbelt on him? I’m a puddle.
*No, wait, don’t find me one. I found myself one, and I’m keeping him.
preach it sista! My husband is currently working in roofing (insert drug joke here) and the honest-work-muscles thing is a really good look for him.
So, I’m really into beards. And scruffy eyebrows. Oh, the scruffy, scraggly eyebrows!
Hello there
Make his eyes chocolate brown & that’s basically my spouse right there. (Except now there’s a lot of gray in the eyebrows & hair, which: all right by me!)
Paul Newman
Paul Newman with Joanne Woodward
The right amount of stubble
Getting casually/affectionately kissed on the forehead if they are much taller than you
Lending a hand without being asked (getting luggage into an overhead bin, washing dishes at a party, snowblowing your sidewalk as well as their own, etc.) but not making a big deal out of it (not looking to be thanked profusely, nor assuming that you can’t handle it yourself)
Wearing a suit well
Always having that weird part/tool you need to fix that thing which broke (or the right glue to patch it back together)
Just gonna highlight this:
Wearing a suit WELL
There is a crop of 30-somethings British men popping up on my Tumblr dash whose suit-wearing skills make me blush. As opposed to my very handsome boss who would look smashing in a suit except he refuses to get it tailored. I spend an inordinate amount of time trying not to strangle him.
It’s true that the tailoring/attention to fit can make the difference between a suit looking dashing and looking like a sack &/or you borrowed your dad’s suit.
You don’t need to be a devotee of menswear blogs to have an eye for proportion, cut, etc., or a rich guy to have a tailor you visit periodically, but both of these things seem kind of scary/like a lot of effort to many guys.
I mean, I can sympathize a bit, since there are pairs of pants I’ve ruined by not ever getting around to having the hems taken up an inch, and so trod on them until they started to fray… but a little bit of tailoring does make all the difference.
Getting a tailor IS intimidating. And it’s not a secret that guys are let in on – my co-workers were shocked to discover that their dry cleaner offered alteration services, despite the sewing machine in the front lobby area. “Tika, she added a button to my shirt for five dollars!” Hah. Yes. GOOD!
As the daughter of a seamstress/tailor, I notice much more than most people probably would. And FTR, pants that are too long are so, SO much better than pants that are too short. Mercy.
Amen to men with their women and families, that is a man to me. Clive Owen with his wife and daughters. Ewan McGregor with his family… So sexy.
Ohhhhh, the casual affectionate forehead kiss by a tall man is the BEST. (My boyfriend is a full foot taller than me.)
My husband and I recently had a long conversation about film noir in which he tried to persuade me that Walter Neff (Fred McMurray in Double Indemnity) was supposed to be sexy and masterful and competent. I was NOT HAVING IT.
He decided I must have suffered repetitive “My Three Sons” poisoning in my youth, but I say it’s just, y’know, Fred McMurray. Walter Neff is a sap. And I stick my neck out for nobody, see?
The back of his neck when he wears a tuxedo…the blinding white collar against his neck.
Watching his shoulders move under an oxford cloth shirt as he tends to the fire.
The way they dress. It’s a ritual that is just a tad different for each.
Guys who whistle. I followed one around Home Depot for 1/2 an hour once.
The athlete thumb. I have made a study…their thumbs curl back a bit.
I could go on but I need to go lay down.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned facial hair yet! (Eyebrows and stubble notwithstanding!) A perfectly trimmed mustache. A soft, luscious beard that is well-kempt. Mmmm. Yes.
I second the being-cute-with- babies-and-dogs thing. Makes my ovaries explode every time.
Lee Pace’s big, sad eyes, looking at you soulfully from beneath his perfect eyebrows.
Nathan Filion, telling you that these…are not the hammer. (The hammer is his penis!)
And adam’s apples!!!
(….I’ll be in my bunk.)
THIS IS NOT A SEXUAL LIST YOU GUYS
It went that way very quickly.
put it in the tags, important disclaimer
Sometimes I skip directly to the tags. Is this wrong?
SHAAAAAAANE
SHANNNNNNNEEEEE
Long legs in suit trousers à la Gregory Peck.
Gregory Peck’s glasses.
Gregory Peck.
As an androgynous, genderqueer type human, I’ll just fold these up and slip them in the back pocket of my jeans for future use.
oh man I am with everyone above me who said LIGHTING MY CIGARETTES. I don’t smoke cigarettes usually (except when I am drunk with one of my friends, because I’m an adult) but when someone lights a cigarette for me my heart STOPS, possibly because of my smoking history
Also everyone thinks my Dads Who Are Good With Their Kids fetish is gross but I am glad there are ladies who feel similarly (I don’t know what it is about some dude being nice to his issue that does it for my loins but I am pretty sure it is the patriarchy)
Read through most of these, and my favorite thing -Men Cradling Tiny Babies in Hairy Forearms is the one that does it for me, must be lodged in primitive brain but LEAVE IT ALONE, IT IS FINE.
I had a young male co-worker whom I used to coach on What Women Like. I got him out of his sneakers-with-everything and into real shoes. Last I heard, he was doing fine.
Truly you do the Lord’s work.
Men in sweat pants or pyjama pants who have no idea that the fabric is clinging to the outline of their junk.
Timothy Olyphant.
I can't thumbs up this enough.
I was really skeptical at first because I assumed that too, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The two who were especially into it and, I think, were responsible for spreading it to their friends, were not entirely American, so that may have something to do with it. One was South American, the other was American but had diplomat parents or something so he spent a bunch of time in Europe and South Africa. I have never encountered anyone else who does it since, but I think I would be pretty suspect.
Don't start smoking, it's a disgusting habit. Do find some art-bros to hang out with. It was literally the best. They had this weird kind of performative douchebro attitude that should have been terrible but was for some reason endearing, because they were all incredibly intelligent and would get drunk and then talk about literature and philosophy and poetry.
John Steinbeck
When I met my husband he was too busy lamenting his lack of bulging pectoral muscles to notice he has the hairy, strong, prominently-veined forearms of a lumberjack god. I snapped that RIGHT up.
Ernest Borgnine!!!!!!!! <3333333333
I can no longer appreciate Humphrey Bogart’s treatment of Peter Lorre in The Maltese Falcon after I read the book and realized that Lorre’s character is a wimp because he’s gay. And not in an enlightened ‘Look, here’s a gay character in a 1930 pulp novel, how progressive’ kind of way, but in a ‘Dashiell Hammett wanted to make sure that we knew that this character was a moral reprobate, so he made him gay’ kind of way.
Abusing Joel Cairo for being gay is not the worst thing that Sam Spade does that didn’t make it into the movie, by the way. I know that Spade was intended to be a morally ambiguous anti-hero. But he’s not. He’s just an asshole.
The way their necks smell.