Progressives need to learn from the Netflix show’s battles against toxic masculinity. And the Fab Five need to recruit a trade union organiser.
I have to admit, I struggle to watch more than one episode of Queer Eye at a time. While many of my friends seem to love the show, I cringe at its "american-ness". Especially, about the "culture expert", that, with the ease of reality TV, comes storming into the lives of people with old struggles and troubles and "fixes" them through a staged meeting with 2 homosexual ministers or the guy that shot them. It is hard for me to "buy it". It is too romanticized while in reality, this shit is hard. On the other side, I appreciate this piece as it shows me what my friends (who I think highly of) seem to see in this show, even though I struggle to watch it myself. I grew up in what could be considered a hornet nest of toxic masculinity, an Arabic town in the middle east. As you might imagine, being a "slightly different", sensitive male in such a world was neither easy for me, nor for my father. To sum it up, I wasn't exactly the firstborn son he has hoped for. And it showed in the way he treated me. I guess I was lucky. I was lucky to leave my hometown when I was 18 and escape to Germany. I didn't know, back then, what I had signed up for. But I am glad for the change I went (and still going) through. My way has been bumpy, with side tracks that led me through the "Pick-Up Artist" world on one side and the Burning Man world through the others. A healthy amount of psychedelics, messed up relationships, some seasons of Ru Pauls Drag Race and POSE, and I am still confused. But somehow I feel better. :)
Thanks for sharing this. It's great to see a suggested positive alternative to fill the demand Peterson and others are tapping into. Usually, Peterson take downs are limited to criticizing his ideas and projects. While his ideas and projects deserve the criticism, it was refreshing to see a perspective provide context as to why all this matters and what can actually be done about it.
I know smart women (edit: and men, obviously) who uncritically beelined to material affirming their views and biases too. It's not about peoples' intelligence or gender, and far more about people feeling lost, lacking direction or sense of belonging.I think it's because women are generally too smart to fall for that kind of bullshit.
Women are also less likely to agree/accept a message that preaches they should be in a subordinate position within society. People feeling lost like being told they are special (thus men accept more of JP's material) while none likes being told they are inferior, especially when they lack a direction in life (thus women tend to stray away from JP's messages).
Fantastic piece. I’ve been craving a modern day version of Bowling Alone, and this gets admirably close to a conclusion that would fit that hypothetical book. Johann Hari’s book Lost Connections is worth a read if anyone wants some more insight (in a pop-sci format) into the ways our society induce depression. Or listen to this conversation with him.