High fashion used to be about battling bad taste, not trumping testosterone. But this has changed further with fashion leader Gucci’s 2020 men’s clothing line, whose goal is to battle “patriarchy” and “macho virility” while advancing a “childhood theme” that some view as uncomfortably pedophilic.
Paper magazine reports that it was five years ago that Gucci’s then-new creative director Alessandro Michele created a fashion line ushering in “a new era of gender fluidity and romanticism.” Now he has gone where no woke, low-T soy boy designer has gone before, with clothing that purportedly captures the “purity of childhood, back when carefree days weren’t tainted by societal norms, particularly those relating to masculine ideals,” Paper tells us.
Huh? Were there such days? Perhaps memory fails, but I don’t recall my boyhood being one of mere grunts and other assorted guttural emanations registered while rampaging about au natural. I believe that, like all children, I wore clothes, used language, employed manners (usually), and did probably 100 other things reflecting inculcation with societal norms. (Even pet dogs are conditioned by humans.)
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Then, what normal boy doesn’t exhibit “masculine ideals”? Girls were the “other” or icky in grade school, and we boys certainly knew we were different and wanted to be masculine. That this reflects mere social constructs you could argue — unsuccessfully, since not only age-old wisdom but also new science shows that the sexes are different womb to tomb. But it’s laughable fantasy claiming there was a time when kids were untouched by these norms.
Gucci’s Michele is all-in on the fantasy, however, making clear while showing off his new line at a recent Milan show that he’s the wokest wokester there is. “‘In a patriarchal society, masculine gender identity is often moulded by violently toxic stereotypes,’ read the show notes,” Paper informs.
“A dominant, winning, oppressive masculinity model is imposed on babies at birth. Attitudes, languages and actions end up progressively conforming to a macho virility ideal that removes vulnerability and dependence. Any possible reference to femininity is aggressively banned, as it is considered a threat against the complete affirmation of a masculine prototype that allows no divergencies.” And thus spake Gucci.
(The Chinese and Arabic translation of the above reads, I understand, “Gear up, boys! The West is ripe for picking!”)
Of course, why even speak of “masculinity” and “femininity” if you believe they’re just social-construct myths devoid of objective reality? Shouldn’t “reference to femininity” absolutely be banned under this way of thinking? Aren’t people — err, sentient bipeds — just “whatever they are”?
In reality, it’s not patriarchy banning femininity in any destructive way; feminism does that, with women, sending the message that to be actualized individuals they must embrace masculine norms (e.g., assertiveness, career ambition, etc.).
Paper also writes of the show’s “childhood theme,” stating that it “became quite prevalent before the first model even walked out,” with invitations to the event “written with the apparent handwriting of a five-year-old, inviting guests to attend their 5th birthday party.”
Thus, featured were offerings “such as jeans with grass stains that evoked child’s play, knickerbockers, and pulled-up knee socks that conjured images of early 20th century school boys,” the site further informed. (Note: talk about being a wannabe. A real kid earns his grass stains.)
Moreover, in the same vein, Paper later tells us, “Shrunken sweaters, animal motifs, Peter Pan collars, Mary Jane shoes, and quilting details all achieved his [Michele’s] shunning of masculine stereotypes.” A video of the show is below, and, no, it’s not a parody. (Seriously, watch the video!)
The show notes also state, “Toxic masculinity, in fact, nourishes abuse, violence and sexism.” Michele’s male models apparently aren’t nourished by much of most anything, however, as they’ve joined some of their female counterparts in being almost anorexically gaunt.
But toxic masculinity does “not only that,” the notes continue, but also “condemns men themselves to conform to an imposed phallocratic virility in order to be socially accepted. In other words, toxic masculinity produces oppressors and victims at the same time.”
In a way, Gucci’s new line is creepy, with its “whiff of pedophilia,” an odor “that seems constantly to hang about the rich and powerful in 2020 (and that gives strength to people’s feeling that QAnon is on to something),” as commentator Andrea Widburg writes. Note that this accords with my observations, too, as you can read here.
Whatever the case, Michele’s new line certainly reflects not only the current devilish attack on masculinity, but also the West’s descent into juvenility. And the effort at turning men into women, or at least little boys, may be somewhat successful. Studies do show, after all, that testosterone levels have dropped precipitously in recent decades.
Heck, I felt as if mine dropped just writing about Gucci.
Image: Screenshot of the Gucci fashion show
Selwyn Duke (@SelwynDuke) has written for The New American for more than a decade. He has also written for The Hill, Observer, The American Conservative, WorldNetDaily, American Thinker, and many other print and online publications. In addition, he has contributed to college textbooks published by Gale-Cengage Learning, has appeared on television, and is a frequent guest on radio.
