Outside the Beltway

Manly Thoughts

James Joyner
8

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If you haven’t been reading MANzine this week, here’s what you’ve missed:

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  • Can a Real Man Drive a Minivan? (James Joyner) – Despite what the advertisements may tell you, manhood has little to do with what kind of cigarettes you smoke, what car you drive, or how white your shirts could be.
  • Emergency Flank Steak (Stephen Green) – What do you reach for when there’s a dinner emergency? Why, emergency flank steak!
  • Cheap Spanish Wine (Steven Taylor) – A look into some inexpensive, but surprisingly good, Spanish wines.
  • How a Suit Should Fit (James Joyner) – Esquire’s advice on men’s suits is not taken by their own models. And it’s incomplete.

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8 responses to “Manly Thoughts”

  1. DC Loser Avatar
    DC Loser

    People who worry about what others think of them by their choice of cars speak more about their sense of insecurity than anything else.

  2. odograph Avatar
    odograph

    Speaking of Marginal Revolution, one of the topics they return to there is “signaling.” That is one of the “utility” in things we buy. It signals to others who we are, or who we think we are, or who we want them to think we are, etc.

    Signaling is huge in cars, even inexpensive ones. If I say “green Subaru wagon” then you can make a guess about the person.

    I think, sadly, that one of the reasons F150s have over-sold to the poor is that they signal differently than a smaller car with lower recurring costs. The F150 costs little up front, and signals manliness and independence.

    My Prius was interesting, because even though inexpensive it seems to signal “rich” to many. Of course that is part of “rich liberal SOB.”

  3. odograph Avatar
    odograph

    (My joke was that I could have put an Obama sticker on my Prius, but it would just be redundant.)

  4. sam Avatar
    sam

    Hmmm. Wonder how many (Windows-user) readers of OTB scanned the list, saw the Jessica Beal thing, clicked on the link, read and then said, “Oh Shit!”

  5. sam Avatar
    sam

    That is, of course, Jessica Biel.

  6. Trumwill Avatar
    Trumwill

    Odograph,

    Interestingly, I just ran through the people I know with hybrids through my email box (I’m buying a car and have been asking everybody). There is a roughly 100% correlation between being voting for Obama and owning a Prius and voting McCain and owning some other hybrid. One exception out of eleven, a McCain voter who bought a Prius.

    As someone that is considering getting a green Subaru, what precisely does that say about me?

  7. G.A.Phillips Avatar
    G.A.Phillips

    http://steamykitchen.com/163-how-to-turn-cheap-choice-steaks-into-gucci-prime-steaks.html

  8. odograph Avatar
    odograph

    :-), on the west coast at least green Subarus are linked with Oregon (locale or spirit).

    I did see a McCain sticker on a Prius once. They owner obviously had to differentiate him or her self.

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