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"Or is the Ralph Kramden Barack Obama?s fault?"

Guy Trebay has a question... about potbellies.

Hipsters, by nature contrarian, according to Dan Peres, the editor of Details, may be reacting in opposition to a president who is not only, as the press relentlessly reminds us, So Darn Smart, but also hits the gym every morning, has a conspicuously flat belly and, when not rescuing the economy or sparring with Kim Jong-il, shoots hoops.

?If we had a slob in the White House, all the hipsters would turn into some walking Chippendales calendar,? Mr. Peres said. Instead, the streets of Williamsburg are crowded with men who are, as he noted, ?proudly rocking a gut.?...

?I sort of think the six-pack abs obsession got so prissy it stopped being masculine,? is how Aaron Hicklin, the editor of Out, explains the emergence of the Ralph Kramden. What once seemed young and hot, for gay and straight men alike, now seems passé. Like manscaping, spray-on tans and other metrosexual affectations, having a belly one can bounce quarters off suggests that you may have too much time on your hands.

Why does there need to be any special reason for a man to have a potbelly? It's the natural tendency. You only need a reason not to have a potbelly, and it needs to be good enough to offset the natural tendency. The fact is, it is more important for a man to fight the natural rounding of the belly than it is for a woman, because a round belly is feminizing. It speaks of fertility and pregnancy. The "pregnant man" has never been a good look.

And quit wearing shorts!

Full post as published by Althouse on August 13, 2009 (boomark / email).