By Jos Joseph
Aug 27, 2024 (SFChronicle.com)
Professional entertainer and wrestler Hulk Hogan speaks at the Republican National Convention on July 18 in Milwaukee. Democrats can appeal to young men and give them another option besides the Hulk Hogan Republican.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Let’s talk about a football coach. A championship-winning football coach. A coach who demanded excellence on the field and off. A coach who championed civil rights. A coach who threatened to toss any players who showed racial prejudice off the team. A coach who fought for representation of Black people in coaching and the front office.
Let’s also talk about a coach that was an ally to the LGTBQ+ community. Who threatened to cut players if they were homophobic to each other. One who would talk to gay players and tell them they had nothing to fear when playing for him. A coach who promised to protect those players, no matter what.
You might be thinking of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee. But I am talking about Vince Lombardi. Yes, that Vince Lombardi. The legendary Green Bay Packers coach who throughout the 1960s led the small-town team to championships and Super Bowl victories. The man whose name is now engraved on the trophy that the winners of said Super Bowl hoist. The taciturn, hard as nails, perfectionist who raged against mistakes, demanded toughness and instilled a winning attitude. The coach who has been emulated by coaching giants like Bill Belichick to just about every high school coach in the country, including Walz.
Walz and the Democrats have a great opportunity to appeal to young men across this country and give them another option besides the Hulk Hogan Republican. The Vince Lombardi Democrat.
Republicans long tried to associate their party with masculinity. Ronald Reagan riding a horse, George W. Bush chopping wood on the ranch and untold photo ops with camouflage, guns, steaks and more guns. But in trying to lock in men, especially young men in the Donald Trump era, we have seen a rise in comparative masculinity. There is a whole industry of political opportunists, influencers, fitness junkies and others who sell young men on a checklist of how men are supposed to act, think, eat, (not) feel and treat others. Young men are told to compare themselves to others and feel good about the masculine choices they make.
“Look, I am drinking black coffee while he is drinking a latte.”
“Look, I drive a truck (that I don’t use for truck things) but he drives a Civic.”
“Look, I eat my steak rare while he eats fish only.”
This constant comparison might make you look good to the guys who have the same mindset. But comparing yourselves to other men over things that don’t really matter is called by another name. Insecurity. And if there is one thing that women hate, it is an insecure man.
In this Trump age, comparative (insecure) masculinity has morphed into a caricature that is laughable at this point. Enter Hulk Hogan. The 71-year-old man born Terry Bollea, who became famous by pretending to fight, showed up at the Republican National Convention and did the old song and dance of ripping his shirt and pretending to be hulked (juiced) up. Hogan then took it a step further and joked that he wanted to body slam Kamala Harris. Weird behavior indeed.
But while Democrats have typically looked on in bemusement or condescension toward the hyper-masculine push of the Republicans, they need to understand that it has worked. An increasingly lonely, angry and insecure male population has turned more toward Trump, and Democrats struggled to reverse that.
But the coach from Minnesota can change that. Walz can lead the charge for Democrats to redefine masculinity and move those younger males toward the Democrats. They can create a new demographic of men — those Vince Lombardi Democrats.
Yeah, they like football, meat, hunting and doing guy things. But there are two marked differences.
They really don’t care how other people live their lives because they know it doesn’t affect theirs. And they are strong enough to stand up for people that need support.
If Walz and the left can show young men the Vince Lombardi way of winning and caring, then maybe they won’t just win more elections, but can also finally serve as an antidote to insecure masculinity.
Jos Joseph is a master’s candidate at the Harvard Extension School at Harvard University. He is a Marine veteran who served in Iraq and lives in Anaheim.
Aug 27, 2024