creating the illusion of a masculine mystique?

[rodeodance]

http://wealthyfrenchman.blogspot.com/2007/09/old-school-inanity.html
> Old School Inanity
>
> By MAUREEN DOWD
>
> WASHINGTON
>
> Dying for a daddy, the Republicans turn their hungry eyes to Fred.
>
> Fred Thompson acts tough on screen. And like Ronald Reagan, he has a distinctively masculine timbre and an extremely involved wife.
>
> In his announcement video, Mr. Thompson stood in front of a desk in what looked like, duh, a law office, rumbling reassuringly that in this “dangerous time” he would deal with “the safety and security of the American people.”
>
> As Michelle Cottle wrote in The New Republic, far more than puffy-coiffed Mitt and even more than tough guys Rudy and McCain, the burly, 6-foot-5, 65-year-old Mr. Thompson exudes “old-school masculinity.”
>
> “In Thompson’s presence (live or on-screen),” she wrote, “one is viscerally, intimately reassured that he can handle any crisis that arises, be it a renegade Russian sub or a botched rape case.” But she wondered, was he really “enough of a man for this fight,” or just someone who meandered through life, creating the illusion of a masculine mystique?

[Mend]

1. if by masculine, she means scrotal-faced, I could go with it.

[Duppers]

2. you should've issued a beverage alert with that post.

Scrotal faced! Love it.

Fredrick/Frederick/Fredick of Hollywood is scrotal faced!

[valerief]

3. Oh, he turns me on so much, I wanna have sexcort diaper sex.

Better add this.
:sarcasm:

[Locrian]

4. man - I dont get it

Daddy? Sexy? - ugggh. Unless you think a turtle head is sexy.

[DavidDvorkin]

5. In a way, what they're saying is worse than "sexy"

"Sexy" is a matter of individual taste. There are many public figures who are considered sexy by large chunks of the public, and concerning whom one can only shrug and say, "De gustibus etc."

However, this article is talking about being masculine and about masculinity, and so they're trying to define the standard for all men. That's deeply offensive to me. As with Dubya and Reagan and John Wayne, they're defining masculinity as being equal to fakery and swagger and tallness and a deep voice. My reaction to this is not to shrug my shoulders but to say, "Go fuck yourself."