May 15, 2018

The best example I have ever seen of a NYT article with the comments function disabled.



Here's the link to the article: "Welcome to the Age of the Twink," by Nick Haramis.

The pre-censorship of reader commentary is interesting and perhaps cowardly, but it raises the question why publish the article at all? Why the need to protect this article from criticism?

Now, it really turns into a style piece — not (ostensibly) about a manifestation of gay sexuality at all. There's talk of models and the repeated assurance that some of these men are not gay:
But the latest twinks — many of whom are straight — are what you might call “art twinks,” building upon an aesthetic legacy established by Ryan McGinley’s turn-of-the-millennium photographs of the sloppily skinny, or last decade’s leather-pant-clad Saint Laurent models chosen by the designer Hedi Slimane. And yet they are more culturally mainstream: a growing cohort of famous (and famously small) boys who stand in opposition to the lumbering, abusive oafs who have been dominating this year’s headlines.
Lumbering, abusive oafs... Apparently, according to "Notes on the Culture" — it's the "age of the twink" because we loathe so much of what comes in the form of a man. We're told of a popular music performer whose "whole mien [was] charged with sex" but whom we could nevertheless appreciate because of the "safety in his slimness."

Women, we're told, are "us[ing] their voices to undo [the] legacy of toxic masculinity," and this is changing the culture: "These twinks, after all, aren’t just enviably lean boys or the latest unrealistic gay fantasy, but a new answer to the problem of what makes a man."

Who is Nick Haramis, by the way? There's no biographical note at the page or clickable link on his name. I had to look him up on Wikipedia. He's Senior Features Editor, T: The New York Times Style Magazine. Did he made the decision to publish this in this form and to protect himself from comments?! The Wikipedia article is short, but it contains the line: "Haramis is also a regular on the downtown New York nightlife scene." I could also do a Google image search on him to see if he's a lumbering oaf or a man with a mien of safety and slimness.

102 comments:

Michael Fitzgerald said...

How do you do solve a problem like maleness?

Birkel said...

Michael Fitzgerald,
Maybe we can send them to Austria where they raise 6 children, wearing curtains for clothes?

Ryan said...

Because skinny small guys can't harass women??

traditionalguy said...

Normal men are lumbering oafs? Strong men are the solution, not the problem. This special boy-guy wants more soccer players and no football players in his erotic world. Pardon me, but that is simply stupid.

Ryan said...

Real men lift. Post your stats for reps. Bench 80kg, press 60kg, deadlift 140kg, squat 110 kg.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Ryan said...

Real men lift.

Real men lift pounds, not kilograms.

Gunner said...

The Twink lovers at The Stranger are mad that wimpy straight boys are stealing their vocabulary.

tcrosse said...

It's time to revive the term 'Pantywaist'.

Ryan said...

Start with 4chan /fit/ sticky then get Rippetoes book, then your own squat rack with a set of bumper plates. Soon you will be 43 deadlifting over 300 pounds, and normal people will be worried about you.

Ryan said...

You will need a new wardrobe. Random aches and pains will disappear. You will see the sick aging phenotype and soyboys everywhere and be disgusted.

Ralph L said...

There's a lot of normal between lumbering oaf and slinky girly boy.

buwaya said...

Speaking as an ex-soccer player (isn't everything supposed to start like that these days?). Soccer players aren't skinny asexual nulls.

Ralph L said...

Random aches and pains will disappear
They join a union and get organized.

Ryan said...

Prince died of a drug overdose. He was addicted to painkillers, which he started taking for back pain caused by years of wearing high heel shoes. Lifting would have cured his back pain and given him confidence about his short stature..

Anonymous said...

Now, it really turns into a style piece — not (ostensibly) about a manifestation of gay sexuality at all.

Uh huh.

"These twinks, after all, aren’t just enviably lean boys or the latest unrealistic gay fantasy...".

Uh huh. (That "or" should be a comma. And "the latest unrealistic" could just be replaced with "a".)

The pre-censorship of reader commentary is interesting and perhaps cowardly, but it raises the question why publish the article at all? Why the need to protect this article from criticism?

Because the NYT knows that even its own readership isn't yet so brain-dead from being bludgeoned by propaganda that they'd buy the bullshit rationalizations for pushing "twink style" that the NYT is pushing.

Caldwell P. Titcomb IV said...

"The best example I have ever seen of a NYT article with the comments function disabled."

They're just articles with no comments, and if this one exemplifies anything it's the very common "nothing to say, so make it up" fake news genre since some website, especially just a German one, does not an age of anything make.

Nicks out 4 Haramis ?

rhhardin said...

Toxic masculinity.

Four swaths scythed backyard
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rhhardin/27255001517/sizes/o

Backyard cut long, front yard short. Hayfield vs golf course motif.

Sharp eyes can spot an antenna and one of six tuned radials.

the 4chan Guy who reads Althouse said...

So, like, I did a little research, because some of the gay dudes I know say all twinks are bottoms. And the first Google article has some twinks who say, no, that's a misconception and shit. But then Queerty actually did a survey of gay dudes, and they said, yeah, most twinks are bottoms.

But I don't think all twinks are gay and shit. Because if you look at rock stars from back in the day, they all pretty much look like twinks, too. I mean, Mick Jagger: when he was young, he was pretty much a twink, and he wasn't, like, gay ALL the time.

And David Bowie was a twink, and HE wasn't gay all the time. There is even that rumor that Jagger and Bowie fucked each other once, but I don't remember if it was ever said who was the bottom. I bet it was Bowie, but that's just a guess, really, maybe he and Jagger both took turns being bottoms and shit.

Now, Freddie Mercury: he was pretty much gay all the time, but I don't think he was a twink, I don't think most twinks can grow a moustache that well. So I looked up to see if he was a top or a bottom, but people are just guessing, mostly. but some dude said he knew someone back in the day and that Freddie liked getting fisted, which I would think makes you a bottom, but maybe you need a Venn Diagram to know for sure.

michaele said...

I hate the pose and posture of all the guys presented as twinks. They look like like abused puppies. It is, decidedly, not attractive or confidence inspiring.

tcrosse said...

Not a very meaty article.

gspencer said...

"Why the need to protect this article from criticism?"

Because if you do that, then the perpetuated nonsense lives on. All leftists follow this procedure.

Islam learned this 1400 years ago. "Yusuf al-Qaradawi, head of the Muslim Brotherhood and one of the most respected leaders of the Sunni world, recently [2013] said on Egyptian television, 'If they [Muslims] had gotten rid of the punishment [often death] for apostasy [which includes ANY criticism of Islam], Islam would not exist today.' The most striking thing about his statement, however, was that it was not an apology; it was a logical, proud justification for preserving the death penalty as a punishment for apostasy. Al-Qaradawi sounded matter-of-fact, indicating no moral conflict, nor even hesitation, about this policy in Islam. On the contrary, he asserted the legitimacy of Islamic laws in relying on vigilante street justice through fear, intimidation, torture and murder against any person who might dare to leave Islam."

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3572/islam-apostasy-death

Caldwell P. Titcomb IV said...

Ryan said...
Lifting would have cured his back pain and given him confidence about his short stature..


I had a deadlift record at a uni with 30K+ students and, if anything, it screwed up my back. A bit. Today I'd be doing backwards situps (name?) rather than deadlifts.

FIDO said...

but a new answer to the problem of what makes a man."

I remain a problem.

Perhaps men should gather their voices to deal with the 'insufferable stupid bitch' problem.

Ryan said...

Bowie and Jagger's video for Dancing in the Street is epic.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Caldwell Titcomb IV said...
Today I'd be doing backwards situps (name?) rather than deadlifts.


A good decision. Can recommend Pilates, as a way to exercise the muscles that keep you pointed in right direction but don't get much of a work out when lifting weights.

FIDO said...

This picture montage serves two purposes: it subconsciously depresses normal female libido for men and portrays men as being contempt worthy. These aren't men: they are pets.

rehajm said...

Turning off comments means: 'Yes, we know this is stupid but...'

Ryan said...

You are thinking of glute ham raises.

Tina Trent said...

This week, the Times also didn't allow comments for How a Black Feminist Became a Fan of Princesses, a typically petty and hateful identity politics screed about how white females are inferior beings compared with the rainbow of wonderfulness that is people of color. It must be strange in that newsroom with fifty percent of the content excoriating the core readers for merely existing. I wonder what their safe spaces look like.

rehajm said...

These twinks, after all, aren’t just enviably lean boys or the latest unrealistic gay fantasy, but a new answer to the problem of what makes a man.

We're too afraid to confront masculine guys so let's find some guys we think we could overpower and take it out on them...

Virgil Hilts said...

Reminds me of Richard Avedon's photo of the Carney. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/443182419567267189

rehajm said...

It must be strange in that newsroom with fifty percent of the content excoriating the core readers for merely existing

Those core readers are all the ugly old people shuffling around the upper east side with Robert Cook. They enjoy the excoriation.

Ann Althouse said...

"unrealistic gay fantasy"

Why is it unrealistic?

Ryan said...

The men in the picture are not Standing Up Straight With Their Shoulders Back. We have an instinctual aversion to them.

chickelit said...

Althouse should parse the origin of the word “Twink.” It might disabuse her of her fondness for the term.

Gahrie said...

Just another step on the path of feminizing men.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

This picture montage serves two purposes: it subconsciously depresses normal female libido for men and portrays men as being contempt worthy. These aren't men: they are pets.

Exactly ZERO of those guys have any sex appeal to me as a woman. Slumped over, swayed back, weak, crybaby, pasty (except for the black guys who still exude pasty vibes), useless little boys. They look like boys who have been defeated before they have even been given a chance to grow up. Neutered and useless.

Yes. It suppresses the female libido and makes me want to go hang out at a rodeo or construction site or even....a biker bar..... where there IS still masculinity.

If this is the future of the human body and female male relationships., NO WONDER that births and male fertility is declining. Who wants to have sex with THOSE things?

chickelit said...

“If stereotypes be true, the women of the NYT prefer twinks if they prefer men at all.”
That’s probably the type of comment they didn’t want to see.

William said...

I look forward to reading shouting thomas's opinion on this subject. My guess is that he is in the anti-twink faction. At this time, I'm neutral on the subject. I'll wait to see how the debate develops. At one time I was oppposed to gay marriage, but I tried to keep an open mind on the subject and now I'm in favor of it........I'm tall, old, and bearded. If I turned gay, I guess I would be considered a bear, but in my heart I'm twinkly. There are pros and cons on both sides. It's hard to project much gravitas as a twink. On the other hand, a fat, hairy ass poking out of black leather chaps tends to make people question their commitment to gay liberation.

CJ said...

Well I can tell you one thing. Women loooooove skinny men. Slim shoulders, inverted chest, slim arms and a 28" waist gets them every time. Especially if the man has an oval face with no jaw or chin.

It's been oestrogen that's attracted women to men all these millenia, guys, not testosterone. We've gotten it all wrong.

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."

MayBee said...

Hahahhaa! I dare the NYT to publish an article praising thin women as a response against the women that are huge, lumbering oafs.

Sebastian said...

As we all know, gays and prog women set the standards for what makes men desirable.

But the fantasy is unrealistic because desire does not in fact conform to stated standards.

If I may propose a corollary to the Althouse Axiom on faith: people don't desire what they profess to desire.

bleh said...

Men can’t just be men anymore. We need to be “solved” by feminist and gay writers. Masculinity can be toxic, but it’s not all toxic. You don’t need to seek a feminized version of maleness to “solve” the problem of maleness. You just need educate boys and men on chivalry and how to be a gentleman. Stand up straight, make good eye contact, listen, be deferential with a lady, hold open doors, etc. It’s old fashioned stuff.

A twink who’s an abusive cad is just as bad as the abusive oaf.

traditionalguy said...

Buwaya played soccer with the lumbering oafs. They could not turn fast enough to reach a pass or head a ball at goal, but at least they were never offside.

Seriously, I never saw a soccer player with muscular arms and shoulders. They were wiry strong and, except for the required tall goalie, all were about about 5'8.''

tcrosse said...

@Althouse
"unrealistic gay fantasy"

Why is it unrealistic?


Is not a fantasy unrealistic by definition ? What does the unlinkable OED have to say ?

stevew said...

"...a new answer to the problem of what makes a man."

Wasn't aware of such a problem, can you share some details? Wasn't aware of Twinks, either. God I must be old, or something.

-sw

Xmas said...

@Ryan

This video?

Rusty said...

Well. That certainly explains on of the more infamous posters here.

CJ said...

American football is closer to the original sport - "Association Football" - than soccer is. Association Football was pretty much rugby. The high class lads did less roughhousing and more skill with the feet and that game became, in the hoity English fashion of shortening words to make them cutesy, called Asoccer..."soccer".

The Americans kept on with their rougher rugby-like game and kept calling it football.

Also - no soccer players have muscular arms and shoulders? Ronaldo?

http://time.com/2950943/a-scientific-explanation-for-our-obsession-with-sexy-soccer-players/

That dude isn't a twink. Maybe an otter. Or a twink versatile. But not a twink.

Freeman Hunt said...

Evidence that women in general are attracted to this look?

Wishful thinking.

Michael K said...

Leftist women are all into metrosexual men, also known as "boys."

Maybe that is why married teachers are so often found giving blowjobs to 13 year old boys.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...



“Real men lift.

Real men lift pounds, not kilograms.”

God, yes.
Objectively though, I’m not so sure size translates into machismo. Look carefully at photos of the fighter pilots and infantrymen of the World Wars and you’ll quickly notice that many, if not most, are weedy fellows, slight of limb and no more than average in stature. Before the Great Fattening most 19 year-olds looked like the dudes in Althouse’s post.

Tina Trent said...

They enjoy the excoriation

True. Ironically, within a certain political worldview, being white is becoming so undesirable that it is nearing the valued status of a victim group.

Seeing Red said...

Those are Germans? When I was on my trip thru Europe in a different life, I was young and looking at the scenery.

About 1/2 way thru the trip it dawned on me that I missed American men because they had muscles. The Europeans had no definition.

buwaya said...

I was a lumbering oaf fullback, 5'11" in those days, and taller than most there.

Well, there were no lumbering oafs, we were all fit.

In Britain Rugby is the upper-class sport btw, and football (soccer to you) the lower class. Thats why they play rugby at Rugby, and the other "public" schools, and football in Manchester.

My grandpa, before alcohol took him, was a keen rugby player and a member of the Manila Nomads teams of the 1920's-30's that played the Asian amateur expat circuit. He may have "caught" alcoholism from too much hanging out with Britons and Australians. The Nomads bar was famous.

rhhardin said...

Fighter pilots have no necks. It prevents blacking out in fast turns.

JAORE said...

Birth rate plummeting explained.

tcrosse said...

The old standby is that rugby is a game for thugs played by gentlemen, and soccer is a game for gentlemen played by thugs.

traditionalguy said...

Buwaya is right about slim soccer players being in great shape. In 1967-68, Atlanta had a team in the North American Soccer League called the Chiefs. They practiced at Emory, and they let several Emory students practice with them as a development gesture. They were nice guys from all over the British Empire. The Chiefs won the Championship under a player coach named Phil Woosnam. Phil put himself in when a goal was needed. He had been a star Center Striker at Aston Villa and he could suddenly break away with long legged strides right at the Goalie.

IIR our coeds were under British assault from the Chiefs.They fell for the accent.

Bill Peschel said...

Reminds me of an early Simpsons episode in which Lisa was reading a magazine titled "Non-Threatening Boys."

The comments were turned off because the New York Times wants to normalize twinks without its woke commentariat pointing out that the word means "cruising for boys."

We already have that in fashion, where gay designers learned they could indulge their fantasies without fearing for their careers.

Professional lady said...

First thing I noticed was bad posture.

DrMaturin said...

I remember the group photo of my Dad's Marine Corps rifle company taken in 1943. Except for the sergeants very few looked like they had spent much time in a weight room. But they all stood up straight with their shoulders back.

Warren Fahy said...

Come on!

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Where is the Drill Sergeant when you need him? Should have those boys' posture straightened out in about five minutes.

John Scott said...

Call it the revenge of the twink. I was one. I wrestled in the 75 lb weight class in junior high. in my late teens and early twenties I boxed as a light middle weight (156 lbs). I was 6' 1" But, here I am at 60 years old and still only weigh about 165 lbs, with a stomach you can still bounce a dime off of. So suck it you mesomorphs :-)

Ann Althouse said...

"Evidence that women in general are attracted to this look?"

I think very young women are attracted to the boyish looking man. If you're, say, 14 and you want to swoon over a pop singer, it really helps it he seems like he's a teenager too. I remember feeling tremendously attracted to Peter Noone and Davy Jones in the mid 60s. That was when popular music has the biggest effect on me, and I still love the old songs and think those guys, the way they were then are very cute. I've never been interested in actually having a real-life relationship with someone who didn't look and act about the same age as I am, but I can remember being different ages and still find people who look very young to be attractive.

I know some women have more of a desire for a man who seems significantly older and bigger than they are. I don't see any reason to think such women are psychologically superior to women who want someone who feels more like an equal, a counterpart.

Michael The Magnificent said...

I've been suffering with lower back pain for years. I started lifting with a personal trainer about six months ago. My physique has definitely changed, but my lower back isn't any better.

Ann Althouse said...

I don't like the use of the term "twinks" in the article to refer to masculine beauty that is less bulked up. People have different body types, and I think it's good to say that a man should be proud of having a lithe, slim body. I don't like the pressure to over-diet and be anorexic, but it's hardly worse than the ridiculous pressure to spend hours indoors lifting weights to swell up muscles for the look of it and the bragging rights about the heaviness of the weights you lifted in your spare time. If you came about that muscular build by heredity plus some reasonable combination of productive work and athletic pursuits, then fine. But it's silly to be putting pressure on men to overdo the muscle building. Do these guys really make good sexual partners?

mccullough said...

Men and women need useful strength. But most people aren’t trying to drive defensive linemen back 5 yards.

The lifting thing for most guys or gals is a waste. Don’t spend much time on it. A little is fine.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I know some women have more of a desire for a man who seems significantly older and bigger than they are

Size doesn't matter (/wink)....I have more a desire for a man who is capable, confident and not full of braggadocio. Equal and counterpart are also very desirable traits.

Age compatibility can be relevant in that if you are of similar ages, you are likely to be able to share similar impressions of life events, share the memories of music, movies and other things that make you part of who you are. There are some young men who I also find attractive. Really, why not appreciate the beauty or appeal of the human body? But .....the idea of a May December thing as a relationship, is not appealing.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Althouse often says, iirc, that people don't believe what they say they believe. She is absolutely right, about herself. We're supposed to believe that Althouse would want THAT on top of her pounding away between her legs? Not even. Those might be meat for some unreconstructed rape victim whose sole criterion for a male is to seem harmless, but not for a self-respecting woman with a woman's needs.

Big Mike said...

Years ago my family and I were vacationing on a Caribbean island when a European cruise ship came in. Two observations at the beach: (1) the women — flat-chested, buxom, young, old, lovely, and perhaps once were lovely — sunbathed topless; and (2) the men generally adopted a slouched shouldered, sunken chest, posture. No gym rats among those European guys. Nothing in the posted picture suggests anything has changed in the quarter century since then.

(N.B., as a married man in the presence of his wife, I acted as nonchalant as possible. Not so my elementary school aged sons.)

Titus said...

Gay twinks are not popular on Grindr or Scruff. Many profiles say "no twinks" and the top rated profiles are guys with muscles. I have a 4.5 rating out of 5. Some fuck gave me a 2 because I left when I saw him at the door.

Muscles still conquer all in the fag world.

tits.

hombre said...

The article would be more aptly entitled “Welcome To The Age Of The Effeminate.” Therein lies the reason for the “pre-censorship.

The Times doesn’t want to hear either side reacting to the absurdity of the piece.

Titus said...

fyi-Nick Haramis has a twink body, but is 35, which is too old to be a twink.

Freeman Hunt said...

"I don't see any reason to think such women are psychologically superior to women who want someone who feels more like an equal, a counterpart."

But twink doesn't merely mean slim. Nothing wrong with slim. "Twink" has been around a long time and implies a lot more than that, including weak, unserious, and cutesy. At least, that is how I have always heard it used. I've never heard it used as a compliment.

Ralph L said...

It's possible the default at NYT is now comments off.

I boxed as a light middle weight (156 lbs). I was 6' 1"
I hope you're still 6'1".
I'm 6'2" and didn't get to that weight until my late 40's, after several years of near desultory weightlifting.
I was ~130 in college and too gawky to be a twink. Maybe willowy. One Halloween I was the Beanstalk with a very attractive Phoebe as Jack. Felt just a little used.

DUSTER said...

Conan what is best in life...To crush your enemies , see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women .

Gahrie said...

I think very young women are attracted to the boyish looking man.

Maybe that explains all the female teachers having sex with middle school age kids?

traditionalguy said...

FTR: a twink is a late teen gay man seeking a relationshio with older male who will take them in. Many twinks take female hormone injections to achieve the needed look.

Lovernios said...

rehajm said...

" It must be strange in that newsroom with fifty percent of the content excoriating the core readers for merely existing

Those core readers are all the ugly old people shuffling around the upper east side with Robert Cook. They enjoy the excoriation."

If you don't enjoy the excoriation, what's the point?

Caldwell P. Titcomb IV said...

John Scott said...
in my late teens and early twenties I boxed as a light middle weight (156 lbs). I was 6' 1"


I boxed and did the deadlift thing at 6'2" and 165lbs; tallest guy in that contest, and did the deadlift with almost straight legs - IIRC, I had the lowest squat in my weight class.

Lovernios said...

I'm of slight build: 5' 6" 135 lbs. I work out 4-5 times a week at the gym and dojo. My gym routine is warmups: 30-45 minutes banging the heavy bag, hand techniques (punches, backfist, elbow, knife hand) and kicks (roundhouse, front kick, side kick 10 each leg). Then moderate weights at high reps (15-20) for shoulders, back, arms, chest. Usually 2-3 sets each. Core work with 100 situps, 20-30 back lifts, leg lifts and 30-50 crunches. Finish up with 20-30 minutes of stretching. Sometimes I do all of this, other times most of this. I vary the routine to keep it from being stale.

My goal is to stay fit at 64 and to be strong, flexible and fast enough to defend myself if need arises. I focus my bag work on power, to have one-punch knock-out ability.

When I was in my twenties I fought in Tae Kwon Do tournaments at 118 lbs. I had at most 2% body fat.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

GunBunny62@11am: Conan, what is best? ...To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their twinks...

Anthony said...

Blogger Dust Bunny Queen said...
This picture montage serves two purposes: it subconsciously depresses normal female libido for men and portrays men as being contempt worthy. These aren't men: they are pets.

Exactly ZERO of those guys have any sex appeal to me as a woman. Slumped over, swayed back, weak, crybaby, pasty (except for the black guys who still exude pasty vibes), useless little boys. They look like boys who have been defeated before they have even been given a chance to grow up. Neutered and useless.

Yes. It suppresses the female libido and makes me want to go hang out at a rodeo or construction site or even....a biker bar..... where there IS still masculinity.

If this is the future of the human body and female male relationships., NO WONDER that births and male fertility is declining. Who wants to have sex with THOSE things?


Epic, DBQ. Simply Epic.

John Scott said...

Ralph L,

Unfortunately, no. As my my son was blasting to 6'3" I decided to measure myself. I'm sad to report that I'm no longer a member of the 6 feet and over club. I have shrunk to 5'11 1/2.

Hey Ann,

Here were my numbers on my 59th birthday. I was 163 lbs at the time. Bench 205, Squat 300, and deadlift 420. Neaner neaner. Oh, and I still look pretty good in shorts too.

But on a serious note...I mentioned this before on a somewhat related post, but last summer I had a medical issue and lost 40 lbs because of it. After treatment I went back to the gym as soon as I could. I had gotten back to just over 140 lbs. During a follow-up exam the doctor told me that I shouldn't expect to gain much more weight. Not wanting to be a twink, I hit the weights harder. I'm now happy to report that I'm back over 160 lbs. Most of the weight gain has been due to an increase in muscle mass. There is nothing wrong with spending time in the gym to improve one's physical appearance.

mikeski said...

Ignorance is Bliss said...
Real men lift pounds, not kilograms.

Real real men lift stones, not pounds or kilograms.

According to that "world's strongest man" stuff they use to fill time on ESPN36, anyway.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Are we men or apes? Muscles are for gorillas.

Back in the nineties I was called a twink by a 400-pound bouncer. The woman I was with looked at me like I was supposed to punch him in the face for that insult. I wasn't.

Lovernios said...

The reason to fight as a lower weight class was to have the height and reach advantage. I normally weighed 125 lbs, but dropped to 118 for tournaments. Of course, if everyone does this it defeats the purpose. However, my experience was that not everyone could drop those pounds and I often did have that advantage.

This was great for front leg sidekick.

So, ladies: not all us small men are "twinks". Some of us are regular guys, just smaller versions.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

The (mildly) amusing Steven Crowder sent his sidekick Jared to infiltrate an Antifa group. The antifas were planning on violently protesting a Ben Shapiro visit to campus. Crowder discussed it on a Joe Rogan podcast. Jared looks like he weighs 140 lbs. tops and fit right in with the antifas who immediately took him in. Crowder, who lifts weights and has pretty massive arms, said he sent Jared because he couldn't infiltrate Antifa himself. They looked at his build and immediately knew he wasn't a left-wing radical. What that says about left wing radicals is pretty amusing.

The pallid antifa members caught on tape did a lot of shit talking about guns and knives (which they actually possessed) and how they were going to stab some fascist pig. Rogan's reaction was, "What a pack of dorks!"

That interview and a vid I saw on YouTube of the Resistance working out in a Chicago park in order to prepare to fight The Man, were reassuring. From the looks of it, the Resistance is largely made up of fat girls and noodle-armed young males, who flapped around in the park like wounded birds. I think I could beat up most of them. However, if it boils down to who can text the fastest, I'm dead meat.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

I'm not fond of pumped up bodybuilder types either. Arnold Schwarzenegger's body looked cartoonish to me and serious bodybuilding has more than a whiff of narcissism about it. But there's a lot of space between twink and Mr. Universe wannabes.

I always was partial to baseball player builds. Not the fat pitchers like Bartolo Colon; I'm thinking of the young Paul Molitor or Anthony Rizzo or well, most of the guys in mlb. They are or were fit without being overly bulky, since the ideal is to be quick and agile as well as strong. I prefer Donald Driver's build to that of a big giant defensive lineman.

I liked David Cassidy when I was 12 or 13. I think prepubescent girls are instinctively wary of big brawny males at that age unless they are close relatives.

Ken B said...

Time to play word association!

Twink.

Roy Moore.

Catamite.

Lolita.

Ken B said...

I wonder if Althouse is unfamiliar with the term twink, and is trying to learn its meaning from this one article. As several have noted or implied, the term doesn’t just mean short and slim. Robert Conrad was short and slim, Mickey Rooney was short and slim, neither were remotely a twink.

Unknown said...

To say nothing of the trend which was most certainly present in various forms in the last few decades...How can the author be so historically illiterate as to be ignorant of Dandyism? These trends simply move in cycles; it's hardly interesting that "effete male" routinely comes into vogue.

bagoh20 said...

If I was a twink, I'd off myself due to my suppressed toxicity, same goes if I was ginger. These shells are not even worth putting a soul in. Limp pasta with baby oil and a touch of white truffle.

bagoh20 said...

That's why comments are off.

Seeing Red said...

Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to be twinks.

ccscientist said...

Yeah, twinks are going to replace real men. Not. Women aren't interested. We should let gay men decide what masculinity should look like? nope
I just would like to point out that at the first sign of danger (a snake, a mugger, a goose, a mouse) the women run to hide behind a real man. And as soon as everything is flooded it is real men with boats who come and rescue everyone. NYT lives in a fantasy world.

wildswan said...

When women get older a lot of them need to workout to keep strength so they can stay independent. These men - I wonder what they'll be like in terms of independence at 66, 70. Of course, based on the comments, it seems they aren't about being independent now.

Ken B said...

Both sexes, dancers have the best bodies. The musculature is well developed with no Ahnuld bloating, and phenomenal muscle tone. Cyd Charisse, Kay Kendal, Baryshnikov.

CJ said...

Disagree. For men, swimmers have the best bodies.

For women, dancers do have the best bodies.