marketing of masculinity

iirc the majority of motor vehicles sold in the United States are now trucks (Canada can't be far behind).

there is no longer such a thing as a compact truck on the market in the US, the "midsize trucks" like ford rangers or toyota tacomas are pretty fucking big (especially compared to what they looked like even in the 00s). don't think ford sells anything that isn't a crossover, truck or suv right now. ridiculous situation.

Because I don't live in pickup country, I'm occasionally awestruck when I see one of those massive ram pickups, they're kind of overwhelming.

I saw an all black one yesterday that just looked like a fucking death machine

my fav is the fash trifecta: giant truck, molon labe sticker, blue lives usa flag

just kidding that setup should literally be a hate crime

these are literally everywhere where i live.

cars in general are a lot bigger now. the proportionality of most designs is just totally heinous, incoherent garbage. but death machine truck grills have got to be the ugliest. the funny thing is you look at the whole body of the truck and it's just like a bunch of huge arbitrary plastic parts with arbitrary lines and bumps and "fake bolts" glued together, it looks like it could all fall apart any second. it's lost any sense of human proportionality so it looks like one of those monster animals from the movie annihilation. it's also the truck version of the 'giant toddler' aesthetic. trucks from the past used to look convincingly masculine with so much less bulk - they looked like they were created in the context of a human world, not by a giant 3d printer. every time i see an old ford or even one of the small toyotas it gives me a good feeling. but in general the older i get the more repulsed i am by cars, car culture, the idiotic attachment that american adults have to cars, etc.

every time i see an old ford or even one of the small toyotas it gives me a good feeling

same. actually considering getting an old ford ranger when I finally bother to get my license

i was walking around recently and saw someone's 2000-ish f-150 parked in their driveway, and i was sort of shocked by how short it seemed. it's not a small truck, but it felt weird that it didn't tower over me at all.

I haven't seen a comparison but the ford ranger seems like it's closer to the size of the old f-150

I remember my friend's dad had a probably early 90s-ish ranger and it was a convenient size. they just don't really make a practical smaller-sized pickup anymore!

I used to drive a Chevy S10 for work. Now they're being crushed at monster truck rallies.

Just got an ad for a manly bidet, a classic in the genre of normal products made manly pic.twitter.com/TUYrNwpAGf

— Tom Gara (@tomgara) August 13, 2020

We discussed it upthread!

xps - My current Colorado is almost identical in size to my old '99 F-150. Both seem smaller than my '87 F-150 but that may be more to how shitty the steering and everything else was about that truck.

I miss being able to terrify passengers by half-turning the wheel and it doing nothing.

I’m looking at pictures of the ‘98 F-150 and it seems tiny

Truck steering was so insanely loose, though. Mechanical reasons probably exist, but the ‘93 Explorer I drove for years had so much play in the steering and that was par for the course with anything deemed truck-like. I haven’t driven anything with looser steering with regularity in years. Mini vans are even pretty tight now

also my 2016 Colorado is a piece of shit and if anyone is considering a midsize truck buy a Toyota or Ford instead

are men okay pic.twitter.com/DlrIUsvK86

— Zeba Blay (@zblay) September 15, 2020

the answer is no, men are not ok

but this is pretty hilarious

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eh9e37mWkAIUCM1?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

I mean, I think it carries the tongue in cheek aspect of MANLINESS far enough that maybe I'm actually ok with it?

the baby isn't even hooked up to the comms. how are they going to carry out this man's orders?

https://www.galvatronflashlights.com/tactical-pen-home

The Galvatron AK47 is the First USB Rechargeable Tactical Pen to hit the Market

They couldn't think of any original names, so they borrowed them from that transformer that turns into a gun and an actual gun.

I need that all-weather pen for when I'm writin' checks in the blinding rain

tactical writing

for when I sign a mf's death warrant before blowing them away

https://www.galvatronflashlights.com/hosted/images/df/861d81b5fe4b25ae791eb5ee7a3a20/Pen-animation-BG.gif

"everyday carry" type stuff is too funny

Euler, I'm at work, please.

;)

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

i don't see an escape tool that can break glass in a tactical situation

optional fleshlight extension

why do none of these everyday carry top tens include sunscreen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODO0zQBPI2k

the promotional video is really something
https://vimeo.com/333473257

Gotta say they have the 'tactical look' down pat - all clunky black metal with knobby knurls. Everything else about that pen is pure foolishness that would only appeal to an 11 or 12 year old boy's mentality.

it's hard to deny the appeal of putting together emergency kits for your car or bugout bags for weather emergencies, it pushes a lot of modern buttons - soothing anxiety about an uncertain future, buying stuff (probably the real heart of the exercise), affirming your identity (which as we've discussed revolves around being competent). I don't know at what point it crosses a line. even I've put together a backpack of goodies for when I go hiking, and I won't pretend it wasn't a lot of fun deciding what I needed and getting it all together.

counterpoint: it's easy for me to deny the appeal of any of that, lol

Part of competence is distinguishing what is useful and needed from fantasy-based frippery. Because I hike in the Pacific Northwest temperate rain forest, I often bring an umbrella if the weather is showery. It isn't a tactical umbrella with LED light and retractable sword point, as used by Navy Seals, though.

you're talking about actual competence, I'm talking about identity and the fantasy of competence. and on a personal note, I would love a quality umbrella with a bright LED flashlight in the handle!

nah. unless the led light were entirely separable, every time you needed to point the beam at something, you'd be stuck choosing whether to have the umbrella or the flashlight properly positioned. if the led is entirely separable you may as well just have a separate led flashlight altogether. That is cheaper and more versatile. I have a pocket-sized one I carry that comes in handy fairly often and I don't need to carry the umbrella to have it.

I'm picturing a 90-degree angle flashlight in the handle so you could use the umbrella and aim the flashlight forward at the same time

My buyout bag is just weed, Smirnoff, and cash

Gah bugout

Ive had design meetings where transcripts wouldnt necessarily read too differently to the last seven-odd posts itt

Never let a room full of people who need something brainstorm about what they need, imo.

Nobody ever seems to consider what would actually happen to a brain in a storm, tbh

Odd, that lightning storm seemed to vivify the brain of Frankenstein's monster.

what would i need in a buyout bag. Hmmmmmmm

Ive had design meetings where transcripts wouldnt necessarily read too differently to the last seven-odd posts itt

I'll invoice you via email, I need money to buy a flashlight full of mace and astronaut ice cream

https://i.imgur.com/bwMVIR3.png