The joyful Minnesota governor is a valuable spokesperson for Harris whose background and personality can help the Democratic ticket undermine Trump’s efforts to woo America’s men.
Tim Walz’s first official speech on the Democratic ticket displayed all the reasons that Kamala Harris has been lauded for picking the Minnesota governor as her running mate. Personally, I think one outshines all the rest.
Walz’s military background and his work as a high school teacher and football coach, along with his palpable joy and open expressions of compassion for people in need, offer America a vision of what manhood can look like — he’s a “joyful warrior” offering a vision in contrast with what’s being offered by Donald Trump’s bravado-driven campaign.
And he’s clearly willing to challenge Team Trump on that front. He displayed that even before he received the call to join Harris’ campaign, using public appearances to refer to Trump and his allies as “bullies” who are truly weak at heart and by mocking the GOP ticket for “running for He-Man Women Haters Club or something.”
Manhood is when you serve in the military and play football. Really open and progressive ideas here.
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You’re missing the underlying assumption, which is that military and football are for men. They’re “typical man things” and Walz is showing that a man doing manly things doesn’t have to be an asshole.
But that still assumes there are manly things, that armed service and football are manly. Subtext.
It doesn’t assume that they are “typically manly” it observes that they are traditionally considered manly. A statement over which there isn’t an argument to be had.
It presents traditionally manly things as a “vision of what manhood can look like” as if it’s revolutionary. It’s trite.
Quite the opposite, it’s a strong and brave position to take when the most visible champions of “manhood” are people who view it as a synonym for mean and dominant— see the current GOP ticket.
People like Gov. Walz stand in distinct and deliberate contrast to this. It’s not trite at all it’s earnest and inviting.
And yet I still think Pete Buttigieg would not get to be a vision of manhood if he were the Vice candidate.
He absolutely would, strong mayor who grew up in the Midwest doing the same sort of stuff Walz did. Pete has a very impressive military career and is a proud father and husband. He’s not a football coach, but has often talked about his love of the game (hard not to love it when you’re the mayor of South Bend). And he’s downright vicious in his “Midwest nice” approach to media hits. Dude’s an amazing picture of all that masculinity can be.
Don’t you see how your vision of what masculinity can be still focuses on his military service and his love of football?
Maybe he could be accepted by patriarchal heterocisnormative society as an example of masculinity. Maybe. I don’t think it would go that way. I think he’d be treated like a model minority and “one of the good ones”, used to denigrate other gay men for not being sufficiently masculine. His traditionally masculine qualities would be played up and anything that subverted that would be downplayed and ignored.
Play up his role as husband and father, play down his actually existing husband, etc.
You’re still missing the point. The “vision of what manhood can look like” isn’t his military service or his football coaching. It’s everything that isn’t that. It’s realizing that things that traditionally have or haven’t existed in the commonly accepted vision of what manhood is don’t have to be. It’s recognizing that Tim Walz self identifies as man, and he lives an authentic life that includes all manner of interests and cares that aren’t “traditionally manly.” The first step to realizing that manhood is socially constructed is celebrating men who are vast pools beyond that. You and I already know that, but America at large doesn’t. It’s like how Auntie Diaries is an extremely progressive rap song while being basically where we’ve been since at least a decade. It’s not so much about where everyone is, but about where everyone is.
You’re missing my point, which is that he is recognized for his military service and coaching as a way to justify his other qualities.
If he was a professional dancer and long time peace activist he would not be celebrated as manly or daddy.
While more progressive people have recognized the pointlessness of gendering military service and playing football, conservatives haven’t and its something we can use to our advantage. Like the entire calling them weird thing. It’s literally the kind of insult a 5 year old would come up with but they’re absolutely blowing gaskets over it and it’s hilarious.
Know your enemy and you’ll have the advantage.
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
I had to add the whole English version quote because just saying know your enemy isn’t really what this phrase represents.
I was paraphrasing but yeah. Nothing will surprise you if you know how your enemy operates.
I have found the Art of War so useful in day to day work. Understanding your work life like it’s a mental battlefield was so relieving and has helped me explain things to people that are hard to understand. I absolutely encourage everyone to read it once, at least. If only to understand that phrase we are throwing around right now and how important it truly is.
I’ve had this book sitting on my shelf for years, but I think your comment might be what makes me read it. I always thought of it as only applicable to wars or competitions of some sort, but you’re right. I live in the rat race every day, and it definitely is a battlefield, and I would like to know my enemy and myself better.