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Thread: The reverse TG effect??

  1. #1
    Silver Member Tina_gm's Avatar
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    The reverse TG effect??

    1st a disclaimer- I am generalizing. I know blah blah blah there will always be lots of examples of exceptions. What I am talking about is a possible observed upward trend. That is the point of the question marks at the end, because I am not sure if what I am observing is in my head, or a real trend.


    I am talking most specifically about younger white males, although all ages, gender and ethnicity can be involved as well. It seems to me, in the very recent past and today, a big upward trend of younger males displaying much more of a duck dynasty like look. Younger being mid 30's for me btw. Actually we can round it to 40. Anyway, I have noticed lately.... SOOooo many pick up trucks on the road lately. Almost always being driven by the most stereotypcial looking... redneck. Yep, I said it, the R word. Sorry, but I really do not know what other or better way to describe them. But, so many these days.

    Maybe its just me. Maybe I am coming to realize how much different I am to the "standard" male. But, I think back to my past, when I was a teenager or early 20's. We all dreamed about and wanted cars. muscle cars mostly, and the arguments about which was better, mustangs, camaros trans ams, corvettes. I see so many younger males today driving trucks, and I wonder if now instead of the talk of which hot rod we like, want, or have, has been replaced with the F-150, 250, the Sierra or a dodge ram?

    And the look, so standard. completely unkept look, scruffy beard, as in an inch or more, sometimes several inches long, no trimming whatsoever. No bothering with any type of clothing, other than camo of course, which apparently goes with anything. It seems as if it is quickly becoming the white male uniform. I often run into these stealthy macho men in places like walmart, as they are so well disguised I never see them and consequently run into them.

    Camo was not a style that I remember back when I was younger. And I never remember any of us getting too jacked about the latest pick up truck either. None of us felt the need to grow big bushy beards. We used things like razors, and combs. I remember when we would go out, we actually would specifically use those things, and would wear decent clothes too!

    Is it just a fad??? Is it just my strange location, northeast in a liberal (supposedly) state, yet somehow has become a symptom of a polar shift??

    Now, as to my question, Is what I am observing a response to the recent more acceptance of gay and transgender people? Is this what I am observing a way for straight cis guys to announce their cis hetero nature? To be anything else would qualify them as not masculine enough? I am attempting some humor in this, to a point. But I really do wonder, with all of the recent knowledge of gay and trans, is this really a result that is has pushed cis hetero males into this sad state where they feel they have to present so far into the backwoods look to prove their cis hetero nature??

    Lastly, are women not only accepting this current trend in younger males, but looking for it too, so they feel more secure their "man" will not drop some bomb on them about being gay, bi, or trans?

    I know this is a bit of a stretch- maybe I am just seeing how much different I am. Maybe it is just a trend, like the long hair bands of the 80's. Or the rolled up pack of smokes in a white t-shirt look of the 50's. I really do wonder though what is going on with the complete lack of any effort in grooming or sense of fashion other than it has to be camo.
    Chickens should be allowed to cross the road without having their motives questioned

  2. #2
    Little Mrs. Snarky! Nadine Spirit's Avatar
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    Hiya GM-

    I have been a country dweller for much of my life, so pickups, camo, and beards have long been in fashion around where I have chosen to live. But I have seen more of an uptick in the size of the beards, much more Duck Dynasty length. Personally I don't think it has much to do with LGBT acceptance. I do think it has to do with Duck Dynasty popularity. I am also a duck hunter and we have seen an increase of the number of hunters out in the field as the popularity of the TV show has grown. I don't think has anything to do with LGBT issues.

    Just my .02

  3. #3
    Style Icon Sara Jessica's Avatar
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    They are called Hipsters. The beard is in style.

    I'd have made a horrible Hipster.
    Like a corpse deep in the earth I'm so alone, restless thoughts torment my soul, as fears they lay confirmed, but my life has always been this way - Virginia Astley, "Some Small Hope" (1986)
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  4. #4
    Sallee Sallee's Avatar
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    I think the pickup truck is always in style either a nature of machismo, or just needed for work and to haul toys around. I drive a pick up. the beards and the unkempt look I guess is a turn on to women, not me. I went through a macho phase for awhile but I think that was trying to hide my CDism. I am way over that now.
    I'll just call it fashion for lack of a better term. I really don't think it has to do with anything other than maybe a hipster look. It sure isn't me but thats ok
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Sallee

  5. #5
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    it always surprises me how many guys drive pick up trucks that have NO EARTHLY REASON to ever ever ever haul anything heavier than an eight year old to soccer practice or a couple of bags of groceries from the store. Maybe they bought a 2X4 once at Lowes. I guess it's a guy thing

  6. #6
    Isn't Life Grand? AllieSF's Avatar
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    I too believe that the style has nothing to do with LGBT issues, lifestyles nor the need to differentiate the males from their LGBT cousins. The beards, whether short and trimmed or longer and unkempt, to me are just another trending style that over time will change to something else, something like wearing your baseball hat backward, which thankfully has finally gone out of style for most younger males, and the grunge style used by both younger males and females. Now we have those flat brimmed "doofus" hats! As for rednecks only driving them, I am not sure. You sit up high in pickups and see more of the road, scenery and what is up front in traffic. It is also heavier than most cars and gives a feeling of more security, and maybe for the males, more false personal strength/courage. Many reasons that women consider when driving SUV's, some that look bigger than an average pickup truck. I have always been short compared to most other males and thus not an equal when it came to strength and the ability to defend myself. However, when I get in my car, I feel equal to any other male. It is a mental thing, but real to the individual. That very much could play into more males driving pickups. However, the most popular vehicle out there as far as I know is the Ford F-150 pickup, which sells more than any other car or truck model!. That is a trend.

    I grew up in the Midwest and many pickups used to have a rifle rack against the back pickup window. That I do not see much any more. I also think that it depends on where you live and shop. Walmart attracts a specific type of shopper, where your average mall another and your upper scale mall another. Rural people have more practical uses for a pickup, while urban dwellers usually look for smaller cars to be able to find more usable parking places.

  7. #7
    Miss Conception Karren H's Avatar
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    I drive a pickup! 03 Ford Ranger FX4/Level II. It's amazing and I get a lot of unsolicited comments. And I drive it enfemme. Girls with their own 4wd truck are held in high regard around here. Maybe even enough so as to overlook the fact they aren't genetic girls. Lol

  8. #8
    Gold Member NicoleScott's Avatar
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    No reverse TG effect, in my opinion.
    Pick-up truck: my first was bought in 1978, traded for a 4-wheel drive in 1980. It didn't take long for me to think "how did I function without one?"
    Sold it in 1990 and bought a minivan AND a trailer. Several vehicles later (sedan, SUV....) a pickup bed or a trailer is a must.....for a small boat, ATV, lumber, etc. Appliance store wants $60 to deliver a new dryer. No, I'll pick it up.
    Camo: I remember when there was one camo: woodland (ugly). Fortunes have been made by better and more effective designs. Now camo is fashionable. At deer camp, you may get jeered if your outfit has mismatched camo (Treebark pants, Realtree shirt...). Fashion faux pas, even at deer camp.
    Sometimes it gets silly. I knew a pick-up (with a bedliner!!!) owner who DID NOT EVER allow anything in the bed. Camo gets sillier: jumper cable case in camo. Camo ATV with bright shiny chrome wheels.
    Some of this is legit, but a lot of it is trying to create a false image, but I don't think it's gender image related.
    (p.s. I'm in my recliner wearing plaid boxers and a camo long T. haha)

  9. #9
    Senior Member Christie ann's Avatar
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    I have to agree that I don't see this as a specific response to any anti-LGBT thinking. Not to say that these guys aren't anti-LGBT but Having always lived in small western towns, pick-ups, straggly beards and unwashed men are just part of life. One change though is I believe there are fewer gun racks in the trucks I see about town. I too drive a truck. My friends call it a girl truck because it gets better gas mileage than all of their trucks.

  10. #10
    That guy in a dress Sky's Avatar
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    I think OP has a point here. No question trucks and scruffy beards have always been a part of our cultural landscape. However, I do notice they are displayed with extra pride nowadays. I wouldn't call it a reaction against our community, more like a reaffirmation of America's "tough" values, which have seen weaker days. Case in point, and yes I know it's silly pop culture but still relevant: once upon a time, the Muppets' Sam the Eagle was a vehicle to make open fun of America's traditional values. Would that be acceptable today? Don't think so. The character still exists, but the jokes at "flying the flag" are gone. (Now he has the hots for Janice)

    PS: I've always dreamt of a Ferrari, but I'll take a 'Vette anytime. Keep the F150, thanks.
    Last edited by Sky; 01-26-2016 at 03:23 PM.

  11. #11
    GG ReineD's Avatar
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    I also don’t think it has anything to do with anti-gay thinking. More women than men are in college, women keep rising in the workforce, and the economic downturn is affecting men more than women with the loss of blue-collar jobs. There are even more female than male tech users now. Androcentrism is on the decline and men need to find their new roles in society. I also don't think this is in response to what these guys think women want. Women are not more attracted to guys with beards, trucks, and woodsy clothes than other guys. Trends come and go, they're often regional, and women have always chosen partners from available trends.

    So the style you describe is called lumbersexual and it stems from hipsters. You can google it but here’s a pretty good article from The Atlantic. There are still plenty of non-lumbersexuals around, although my youngest son has been sporting a full beard for a few years now. He told me it is because he is too lazy to shave. lol.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/national/...ntents/383563/

    As to seeing more trucks, I wonder if this has to do with low gas prices. I'd love to own a truck if it wasn't for gas consumption. It's nice to have a vehicle to be able to haul things.
    Reine

  12. #12
    Transgender Person Pat's Avatar
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    I believe the summary of the situation is "What's the matter with kids these days?" and the trend has been going on for all of recorded history. When you're young, you do things to differentiate yourselves from "the old folks." All of your peers differentiate themselves the same way. Then you reach a certain age and you notice there are younger folks doing something different -- "What's with them? They all look alike!" This will be followed on in short order by negative comments about their taste in music and that -- stuff; that wiggling -- they call dancing! I'm pretty sure you can find those exact words written by Socrates somewhere.

  13. #13
    Senior Member Jaymees22's Avatar
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    I was always under the impression people that drive the biggest trucks were over compensating for something they were lacking.
    I enjoy being a boy, being a GIRL like me!!!

  14. #14
    Silver Member Tina_gm's Avatar
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    Reine, I award you queen of the internet. Only you would be able to find something like this I was blathering about. So far the consensus is yes, what I am observing is real, and no, it is not anti LBGT. Although the article Reine links does have a masculinity in crisis effect as given A reason for what the current trend for white males is today. Another, the socioeconomic effect is not something I had thought of. It is interesting in its hypothesis at least.

    I have often lately seen one of these lumbersexuals (label by the article) lumbering around, as in their gait, or driving around and thought to myself, this months winner of "I am not caitlyn Jenner award goes to..." I am hopeful at least that the thought that this current trend is not an anti LBGT trend. Still though, I am saddened somewhat by seeing it. As for having a truck, sure, to have one sometimes would be nice. There are times I have borrowed one for a day. I personally do not need one enough to spend the money to get one. I do actually admire those who do hard labor work. I see nothing belittling of it. It is still our most needed labor force when all is said and done. The amount of guys I see driving these big ol pick ups these days, no, there is not that much hard labor out there for them to be needing one. I sometimes am wondering if this notion that a "real man" should be doing some sort of hard labor work, and the labor force of it is now becoming glutted. Where I work is a smaller rural community, and it seems pretty much every man who lives there has some sort of labor type work. Which to me is odd as there is so much poverty in the area which I work. So not much money for people that need labor work, besides the fact that so many in that area seem to know how to DIY just about anything anyway.
    Chickens should be allowed to cross the road without having their motives questioned

  15. #15
    Dreams can come true Dana L's Avatar
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    So I guess I shouldn't drive around in my lifted Ram with 35's wile wearing my camo bikini, daisy dukes and heals. Might start looking a little too macho. LOL That's just the kind of the style nowadays. My son is 24 and fits the description to a tee. Suppose it's better than looking at his underwear because his pants are hanging down so low. I grew up liking muscle cars but got into trucks out of need and to be different. It was fun pulling my buddies muscle cars out of the ditches every winter. Of course I'm from Wisconsin, we might as well be a southern state, just up north.

  16. #16
    Isn't Life Grand? AllieSF's Avatar
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    You make some interesting points about men driving their pickup trucks. I also note in your last post that men are driving pickups that do not reasonably need to. What about men, or women for that matter, driving SUV's, or sports cars, or luxury cars, or whatever? Why not have everyone drive gender neutral ugly and unappealing (to me anyway) eco cars, like hybrids with reduced trunk space? We would save a lot of money that could be spent on other more worthy and needed things, the air would be cleaner and maybe their would be fewer deaths from accidents and pollution impacts. Why? Because we all have different tastes and have prioritized what we will spend our money on, even when if we looked at it critically from an economic and ecological point of view, we would be just as well served (but not necessarily internally satisfied) with something else. I am not criticizing what you wrote, but just trying to add that other element that comes into most purchase decisions, utility and vanity, the cool factor, or whatever one would like to call it.

    Again back to your OP and what I replied above, I see no connection with the LGBT side of life. No connection with the vast majority of those truck driving bearded people.

  17. #17
    Silver Member I Am Paula's Avatar
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    Men are devolving. Within two generations they will have tails again.

  18. #18
    Ice queen Lorileah's Avatar
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    You know, we don't allow people here to bash women and just so you know, bashing men is not allowed either k?

    When I was young the only people wearing camo were humping the brush. We sorta frowned on non-military people wearing it as a fashion statement.
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  19. #19
    Gold Member Dana44's Avatar
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    What is wrong with pickups. My SO has a GMC canyon pickup. I have a Dodge ram 2500 4x4 diesel. Also a Toyota 4x4 pickup.
    We have gone out in all those vehicles as two gals. In Texas, the pickup is king.
    Part Time Girl

  20. #20
    Member Nashmau's Avatar
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    dont care for pick ups, but with the right bodysize the look is ...mhh pretty attractive but only with 3 day beard and since i fall into the age range i would say mission accomplished ^^

  21. #21
    GG ReineD's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gendermutt View Post
    I have often lately seen one of these lumbersexuals (label by the article) lumbering around, as in their gait, or driving around and thought to myself, this months winner of "I am not caitlyn Jenner award goes to..." I am hopeful at least that the thought that this current trend is not an anti LBGT trend. Still though, I am saddened somewhat by seeing it.
    No ... I think it's an anti-"I-can't-find-a-job-that-pays-well-enough-to-support-a-family-or-live-comfortably-like-my-father-did-so-what-does-this-mean" trend. I agree, it is sad.

    Quote Originally Posted by gendermutt View Post
    The amount of guys I see driving these big ol pick ups these days, no, there is not that much hard labor out there for them to be needing one.
    With wages not keeping up with rising prices, there are more people who are into DIY projects. A truck would have been handy when I rented the professional sanding machine to redo our wood floors, when I bought the new bathroom vanity, when we were moving all my artwork and mirrors to my SO's house, when I wanted to bring a mattress and box-spring to someone else's house, when the lawn-mower needed repair ... and more than I can list here.
    Last edited by ReineD; 01-27-2016 at 12:02 AM.
    Reine

  22. #22
    Female Illusionist! docrobbysherry's Avatar
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    No duck dynasty beards on SoCal. Too few to mention anyway.

    And, 1/2 the pickups and most of the giant SUV's r driven by women here. Not very well at that! Of course, the tradesmen aren't much better. They take 2 parking places on purpose. The soccer moms do it by accident!
    U can't keep doing the same things over and over and expect to enjoy life to the max. When u try new things, even if they r out of your comfort zone, u may experience new excitement and growth that u never expected.

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  23. #23
    I accept myself as is Gillian Gigs's Avatar
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    I live in the heart of pick-up country, then again it is also redneck country. Yes, alot of guys have beards, some less kept than others. I think that this is just a passing fashion, and will move into something different in time. Remember when everyone wore Doc Martins, where are they now. The Fu Manchu mustache came and went, so will this.
    I like myself, regardless of the packaging that I may come in! It's what is on the inside of the package that counts!

  24. #24
    Banned Read only
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    Quote Originally Posted by NicoleScott View Post
    (p.s. I'm in my recliner wearing plaid boxers and a camo long T. haha)
    PLEASE, please, avoid mirrors until you have changed clothes...

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  25. #25
    formerly: aBoyNamedSue IamWren's Avatar
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    GenderMutt... I think you're answer might be held in this article from Bustle.com titled: The Symbolic Meaning Of 6 Hipster Trends, From Beards To Fixies (Kind Of Fascinating, But Whatever)

    "Scientists say that that the sudden surge in the beard popularity is simply a matter of beards being uncommon:"
    And here I thought it was because everyone wanted to be like William Fitzsimmons.

    I am not a woman nor am I a man... I am an enby. Hi, I am Wren.

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