May 14, 2015

"Seriously, stop fetishising and commodifying my ghastly body. I worked long and hard to get this far out of shape..."

"... and I don’t need you telling me that’s fine and that I’m actually the new big thing (literally) in male body types...."
“Dadbod”. It’s a horrible little dismissal, suggesting cosy respectability and the inevitable slide into middle age. Me, I’ve always thought of my rejection of physical fitness as rather rock’n’roll, an almost political act of dietary rebellion....

19 comments:

gerry said...

Very, very funny.

traditionalguy said...

That's my story too. I am into dietary rebellion. Pass the Bohemian menu. Rebels love the take out from The Olive Garden of Soup and salad with Sicilian Cheesecake and lots of breadsticks.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

After a very long winter, and two grad school classes on top of a full time job, my body is far closer to the dadbod than I am happy about. This is not an act of rebellion, I am not accepting it, and I am in the process of changing it.

Labeling character flaws as acts of rebellion has a long and tedious history.

tim maguire said...

He doesn't have a dadbod as I've heard it described. He's just a fat slob. So he doesn't want people saying he's sexy? Fine, they aren't.

mccullough said...

Dadbods are mostly men over 40 who wear shorts.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

mccullough said...

Dadbods are mostly men over 40 who wear shorts.

Check and check. ( But in my defense, I'm wearing the shorts as an act of rebellion. )

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

There's something twisted and cruel in finding amusement in someone's articulate self-abasement.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Maybe it's indicative of some variant of feminism.

Kyzer SoSay said...

Dadbod isn't just a guy with a belly - as the term was originally coined, it's supposed to be a man who works out at least semi-regularly (more lifting than cardio), has decent-to-good muscle mass and strength, but has a belly and love handles (not obese - yet) from too much good food and good drink and not enough bike rides and 5k jogs.

Robert Cook said...

Dadbods and Momjeans go together like pork and beans.

tim maguire said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tim maguire said...

Kyzernick, that's the description I've heard from people who don't use "dadbod" in a snarky way--a guy who's in decent shape, can hold his own in a pick-up basketball game and help a friend carry a couch up the stairs without having a heart attack, but likes good food and a couple beers on the weekend too.

The dadbod is functional, utilitarian in a way the gym bunny and the fatty in this article are not.

Kyzer SoSay said...

Exactly. Gym-bunny turned dadbod here, and for awhile in my early 20's I was probably a few notches over the line towards the obese side. Working all that off was really hard because I had very low muscle tone. Now I've got great muscle tone, big solid muscles, and if I need to lose 15 pounds so my wife can brag a little about me around the pool, having a good muscle base makes it soooo much easier.

Kyzer SoSay said...

But I'll be damned if I ever refuse seconds at dinner. And the wife has a 12-pack of beer and a bottle of wine waiting for me every Friday night when I come home from work. They rarely live to see Monday.

Kyzer SoSay said...

Last one - I should clarify the wine is for her. I'm not getting drunk alone while she looks on. Mostly.

ALP said...

"My stomach looks like a blancmange dunked in hair, with perky, budding moobs."

Spewed coffee, meet keyboard.

el polacko said...

isn't this 'dadbod' stuff just another term for what gay men have called 'bears' for the last couple of decades ?

Steve said...

Real men have curves.

Smilin' Jack said...

Jeeeezus. If that's a dad, it gives me new respect for what moms have to go through.