Dockers has been running an ad campaign, which culminated at the SuperBowl in a field full of chanting barelegged men, urging men to "put the pants back on." Context clearly implies that this means, "Become more manly. Get back in charge."
Considering that most men in most places throughout history have not worn pants (the pants we now know were invented a little after 1800), this is just silly. The warriors of early medieval Scotland were feared all over the island; they wore long tunics, a form of skirt. A few centuries later, the Highland regiments in the British army had a reputation similar to the U.S. Marines today - the Highlanders wore kilts, a form of skirt. For that matter, ever seen a picture of a Roman warrior? Knee-length tunics, with an overskirt made of leather flaps with bronze armor attached with studs. The Roman army conquered its world, and held it for centuries, and they did it in skirts.
If you want to argue about masculinity, self-esteem, and being in charge, then argue about it; but it has absolutely nothing to do with who wears the pants.
I love women with glasses, women in pants, and women on horses.
ReplyDeleteBut I also love women in skirts, women in bathing suits, and arguing with intelligent women (as long as they don't harangue me about sexism all the time).
What I really hate, and I really mean it, is men wearing these ridiculous pants which come down to mid-calf. I mean, Bermuda shorts, fine. Shorts, fine. Long pants, fine. But mid-calf? And the guys who wear these things almost uniformly are built like Brahma Bulls, anyway, so wearing cut-off pants makes them look like fashion baboons.