There is No Such Thing as ‘New Masculinity’: Pharrell Williams vs. Tim Kennedy

Feminists who don’t like men and men who aren’t very masculine tirelessly attempt to  “redefine” masculinity. Typically, this consists of finding an effeminate man and telling the whole world that masculinity is evolving and this new feminine man is what it looks like now.

That brings us to the latest attempt to do this with Pharrell Williams at GQ. On the cover, Williams is wearing some sort of weird dresslike monstrosity while channeling the look of someone’s bald-headed grandmother.

Here’s part of the cringey intro to this idea from GQ, which genuinely makes me wonder why any guy is reading “Gentlemen’s Quarterly” when this exemplifies their thinking,

Our society had been wearing blinders that shielded a pervasive culture of sexual intimidation and violence and blatant gender inequality. But some exceedingly brave people—many of whom were the victims of that unequal, violent, and discriminatory culture itself—were in the process of showing everyone the plain truth.

So the essential question that the team and I have been confronting during our first year in this new era at GQ is: How do you make a so-called men’s magazine in the thick of what has justifiably become the Shut Up and Listen moment?

They sound like Gillette. We’ve got this clown from GQ lecturing his own audience because they’re supposedly violent, discriminatory members of the patriarchy while most of them are just regular guys who tuned in to see what kind of suits are in style right now.

Anyway, this abomination of an idea moves on to Pharrell Williams to get his take of something he obviously knows very little about, which is masculinity. In all fairness to Williams, if they’d asked him about being a celebrity or flashy dresser, he’d be perfectly qualified to talk, but asking him about masculinity is like trying to get Shaquille O’Neal to explain what it’s like to be short. It’s just not his area of expertise — and it shows. He really didn’t even have anything interesting to say on the topic. Mainly he just popped off nonsense like this,

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I think the truest definition of masculinity is the essence of you that understands and respects that which isn’t masculine. If you ask me, when we talk about masculinity, it’s also very racial, this conversation. Because the dominant force on this planet right now is the older straight white male. And there’s a particular portion of them that senses a tanning effect. They sense a feminizing effect. They sense a nonbinary effect when it comes to gender.

That’s not even coherent thought. It’s just a bunch of woke garbage strung together in one place. The whole interview is like that and in a sense, it’s encouraging I guess, because you realize that you don’t need to be particularly interesting to become a wealthy celebrity on the cover of GQ.

Now that brings me to Tim Kennedy’s response to the GQ cover.

There is no such thing as “new masculinity”. Masculinity has always been the same.
It is selfless.
It is courageous.
It is kind.
It is patient.
It is strong.
It protects the weak and fights evil.
It celebrates truth.#masculinity #masculine pic.twitter.com/hpGw9tVsaL

— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) October 16, 2019

In case you’re not familiar with Tim Kennedy, he could fairly be called a poster boy for old school masculinity.

He was in the Green Berets, went to the UFC where he was a successful fighter and then WENT BACK into the Green Berets so he could get a piece of America’s enemies in the war on terror. Kennedy is married with 4 kids, a charismatic guy who encourages other men to better themselves and be prepared for trouble, is built like a kid’s action figure, runs his own business and was even personally threatened by ISIS. He responded to that in the most masculine way possible,

So, if Tim Kennedy is a guy that you could fairly say is a great example of traditional masculinity, I think the first question worth asking is what is wrong with him exactly? Why in the world would we not want more young men to be like Tim Kennedy?

There is an answer to that by the way and it helps explain why woke, girly style Pharrell Williams’ masculinity appeals to a significant group of guys.

That answer is that it’s VERY HARD to be a Tim Kennedy. It takes endless hours of training, years of dedication and a willingness to put yourself on the line under the toughest of circumstances. Walking into a ring with another trained professional who wants to take your head off is tough stuff. Training and eating right for DECADES AT A TIME to have that kind of physique is brutal. Hunting down and KILLING armed terrorists with guns is no picnic. Do you want to be another Tim Kennedy? You are going to work longer and harder than you probably even think is possible right now.

On the other hand, it’s not so easy to be as successful as Pharrell Williams, but being as masculine as Pharrell Williams is cake because it demands nothing from you. Go to the thrift shop. Learn to feminize your clothes. Wear a dress now and again while you talk about how tough women have it and spew out a few lines you’ve heard women’s studies professors say. Then, boom! You’re the epitome of “new masculinity.” Nothing could be easier.

But like all things that are cheap and easy, “new masculinity” doesn’t have a lot of value. Real masculinity is respected by other men and admired by women, while Pharrell Williams would generally be considered a hopeless weirdo if he wasn’t famous. Real masculinity isn’t the easiest road to go down, but it’s worth it.