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& ’s Battle Of The Dads

[or, at least for , ]

Duelling visions of at the .

Despite the possibility of a , …[is at]…the center of the —a development both parties seem to have embraced.

v.
newyorker.com/news/the-lede/ti

Nonilex

The campaign has reveled in *camp masculinity* [] (as Ezra Klein called the RNC’s lineup of high- speakers…); the campaign, meanwhile, has showcased “the nice men of the left” [or ] (as Rebecca Traister characterized a contingent of surrogates led by ).


This stylistic contrast promises to be especially sharp on Tues night, when & meet in NY for the . And, even more than competing visions of , on view will be 2 very different ideas of what it means to be a : a battle of the dads, if you will.

In a country given to worshipful talk of , it’s not a new subject on the stage. Still, it has tended to be more conceptual than personal.

In 1991,…Chris Matthews, in a TNR column, proposed a dichotomy that has since become a cliché: the were the “Mommy” party [🖕], responsible for the nurturing work of , , & [those exclusively female concerns?], & —the “Daddy” party—protected the country from criminals & foreign adversaries & kept a stern eye on the finances [soooo ].


“The paradigm for this snug arrangement is familiar,” he wrote. “It’s the *traditional* American family. ‘Daddy’ locks the doors at night & brings home the bacon.” [again 🖕]

By the time Matthews was writing, it was an arrangement already in decline [TYVM]. From 1972 to 1992, the share of marriages in which a man was the sole provider had fallen from 49 to 23%, a shift that left open the question of how might evolve & be redefined.


Richard Reeves, a fellow at the Brookings Institution & the president of the American Institute for Boys & Men, told [Molly Fischer] that he thought in recent decades the general understanding of a ’s role has grown more capacious, whereas the view of the ’s role seems to have diminished. “You’re not the breadwinner, you’re not the provider, you’re probably not the protector in any kind of traditional sense,” Reeves explained.

“So what are you? In some ways, I think the conversation about has become a bit more cramped & narrow & uncertain.” [Reeves cont]
That may be true in a sociological context, but in the realm of pop culture & style, the increasing ambiguity of “dad” has made it a handy floating signifier.Dad jokes, dad hats, dad shoes, dad bods, dad thrillers, dad rock, sad dads: to the extent that “dad” is a brand, dad is never bad.

He’s [dad is] a little goofy, while maintaining his authority. He’s not cool, but you wouldn’t want him to be. “Dad,” in such contexts, implies reliability with no pretense of novelty or vanity beyond a dash of self-awareness—“Dad” brings a sense of humor to the fundamentally conservative appeal of familiarity.
Perhaps no previous politician has taken up the mantle of Dad in quite the way has.

From late summer’s VP pageant of Democratic middle-aged American white men, emerged as an avatar of football-coaching, social-studies-teaching, father-figure affability, & this appeal helped carry him past arguably more strategic choices to a spot on the ticket. His affect, along w/his record as governor, made progressive policies look like a matter of folksy .

One photo that circulated during his rise to national attention was taken after he’d signed a bill to provide free school breakfasts & lunches; around the governor’s shoulders, smiling children were piled like puppies. embodies a model of the campaign has hoped to represent w/…[groups like]“”…. “

” — ’s inspired epithet for leadership—was delivered in a tone of goshdarnit perplexity, & w/it, he laid claim to the role of norm-setting paterfamilias. The other guys were the basement-dwelling nephews & -theorizing uncles.

@Nonilex@masto.ai

"Camp" is an excellent choice of words: it's really freaking cartoonish in its utter lack of self-awareness.

@Nonilex Many US "progressive policies" really "look like a matter of ... Common Sense" from Australia, or even Canada.

@DavidPenington @Nonilex Don't tell anyone in a position of power in the US... 😉

@Nonilex
The GOP is the 'Toxic Daddy' party; without the adjective, it makes no sense.

@Nonilex Daddy can't be the breadwinner anymore because he doesn't make enough bread. Mommy has to work, in addition to all the other stuff she always did. Thank Ronald Reagan.