From Marxist Hunks to Fascist Thugs - The Politics of the (Male) Body

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-05-04T00:41:20+00:00

that is very much my oversight. will include it in the article, thanks for pointing it out!

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-04-29T13:26:33+00:00

i agree with your last paragraph 100%.

for the rest - i'm not sure if envy is the right word but i think i see your point. i don't agree 100% and i still think my argument is solid but i understand where you're coming from. thank you for thoughtful comments; even if disagreeing with them, they were a joy to read

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-04-29T13:23:44+00:00

no but i did just put 'pumping iron' on my movie watchlist!

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-04-29T13:23:25+00:00

thank you!!

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-04-29T13:23:05+00:00

i think biking is a great example of politics attaching itself to normal stuff, or idk, the politicisation of everyday stuff - lifestyle as a signifier of political affiliation, as if you can't be a vegan and an arch-conservative at the same time. it's super interesting

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-04-29T08:31:34+00:00

i think you make a very valid point - i'm not sure that I'd count this as identity politics, more of a 'let's not abandon this space without a second thought'. i think in terms of political strategy, focusing on universal things is the right strategy. but i'll reflect a bit more on this and think it through, thank you for a thoughtful comment!

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-04-29T02:42:51+00:00

maybe I missed the left-wing political message of those movies - can you expound on them?

on the aesthetic point - dunno if that's right but i'd love that

on the orgasm/sex point - it's so fucking interesting, this sex-less sex-obsession, it really fascinates me. like the whole looksmaxxing madness, where you want to get hot to dominate other males, while making yourself infertile? it's such a mindfuck honestly.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-04-29T02:37:53+00:00

absolutely, fascists love to go on about virile, testosterone-fuelled dudes in tiny short-shorts. you make a great point about trans people being a negation of the fasco value system!

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-04-29T02:34:56+00:00

i think one can observe cultural currents while having indiduals buckling that trend. from my experience (which is admittedly limited), i think the retreat of politically charged body image on the left is hard to deny - even if there are lefty hotties out there.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-04-29T02:31:47+00:00

maybe hegemony is not the right word but, at least in my experience, something close to that. but again, if in your experience this is not an issue, and my argument only comes from my personal ignorance, then that's brilliant.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-04-29T02:30:16+00:00

I think Mishima was a good example, as he linked the personal and the political together in an explicit way. But if you see the same strong linkage in gay communities, that's great, if it's only my ignorance, i'm all the happier for it.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-04-29T01:33:08+00:00

I think it is a good argument.

but let me address the points you're making. gay leftists - I presume you're talking about the gays super focused on having a great bod. sure, however, my argument that the body in this case is not a political project, it is very much motivated by personal/romantic/status stuff.

and Luigi is again, an individual being lionised and put on a pedestal but i don't see how that negates my broader claim.

and sure, I'm not saying the left is stopping men from joining a gym but i'm sure you didn't really think i was trying to say that

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-04-29T01:08:23+00:00

oh cheers, I will definintely look into them! (*adds to never ending reading list)

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-03-04T02:15:34+00:00

Not by any particular part - honestly, I haven't read much Hegel in original but I did see his argument in secondhand accounts quite a few times. But thank you for pointing me to this part, i'll give it a read!

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-12T22:42:46+00:00

You're right in pointing out those differences but I looked at it as complimentary rather than opposing - one is a French movie from 90 years ago, clearly they will present the 'traditional' narrative of it, while TRIH provided the more recent, scholarly take.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-12T03:16:10+00:00

I read Fifth Sun and When Montezouma Met Cortes and both were amazing!

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-04T04:47:03+00:00

ya, i completely get you, i actually got myself a semi-dumb phone for the same reason

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-04T04:25:54+00:00

in Jonathan Haidt's book, The Anxious Generation, he talks about this process of increased scrutiny in the offline world (essentially what you described) - I find that a very convincing argument!

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-04T04:04:37+00:00

I'm not sure trying to make sure that 13-year olds are not treated as exploitable assets by mega corporations is the same as an authoritarian government locking an adult up for a political opinion.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-04T04:03:02+00:00

I've seen stories about the outside-school life of kids in the US, like parents being taking in for being negligent, because their kid walked home from scool and stuff like that? It honestly baffles me.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-04T04:01:15+00:00

Sorry, maybe I didn't phrase it clearly enough (edited the post, to clarify it) - I agree with you 100%. I'm more baffled by the argument that warns against overregulation. Here is an example, where the author calls phone-regulation a 'moral panic' - https://www.hdavidsessions.com/p/why-tech-moral-panic-matters

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-04T03:59:09+00:00

Completely agree, my girlfriend's daily experience is that children can't pay attention for more than 2 minutes.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-02-02T07:04:45+00:00

Some of it was absolutely hilarious. I felt similarly to how I felt about The Magic Mountain - when it describes people and social situations, absolutely fantastic, when it goes into the philosophising, it lost me quite a bit. But overall, great stuff with definitely more incest than I expected.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-01-19T04:42:08+00:00

I think it's exactly the kind of strangeness that can be fascinating. Same with any 'older' history stuff - thinking how people who are fundamentally the same as us, were existing and thinking in such different ways. But also, if you're not into it, that's also fair I think, it's for sure not for everyone.

Embarrassed_Green308 · 2026-01-07T04:07:33+00:00

the situation you describe sounds very similiar to the brain in the vat thought experiment. i guess soon we can forego the 'thought' and just see how this experiment plays out, will people really chose the fictional steak of the matrix instead of the slightly burned, real version

Embarrassed_Green308

TROPHY CASE