Sunday, 30 August 2009
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Let it out – the gut is (apparently) in
For any male who’s ever had to suck in his gut under a form-fitting button-down, your time may have arrived.
The much-avoided potbelly – that classic symbol of sloth and gluttony – has been branded by the esteemed New York Times style section as a masculine fashion statement for Generation OMG, “what the trucker cap and wallet chain were to hipsters of a moment ago.” The fit-as-a-race-horse look, it is said, has become downright passé, while the spare tire has retaken its place as a mark of success and self-sufficiency.
There’s a lot to quibble with here. This so-called trend is declared almost entirely based on the observations of one reporter, peppered with tepid nods of concurrence from select fashion editors. The Times apparently couldn’t find a single man on the street to vouch for his paunch on record, let alone a celebrity honcho to represent potbelly chic. Yet for the sake of discussion, let’s take the Gray Lady at her word and ask some follow-up questions.
Is the athletic, muscular look for guys inherently desirable, or do these things come in waves? Is a bit of heft a sign of opulence or just poor health habits? Can you imagine a similar trend catching on among women, or is there a double standard here? If you embrace the potbelly trend are you depreciating physical fitness? And finally, is a sagging beer gut poking out of a faded MGMT t-shirt ever a good look?
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- From: Zeej
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Comments (79)
people are like sheep and I wouldn't believe anything the NY Times says their a bunch of idiots.
Ew.
That's all I have to say.ew. go hit the gym or the roads/trails
double standard, for sure.
i just pulled up the waistband of my shorts to reduce the spillage of fat.
Gross. So do I now need to reformulate my Prince-Charming-with-Abs to Prince-Uuugly-with-Flaaaab?
xD
I don't go for status symbols, I go for attractive men.
potbellies are NEVER a good look. i think this damn reporter is just a fatass and wanted to make it seem like beer guts are cool so he doesn't have to change his frat boy ways or some shit. there is definitely a double standard because i GUARAN-FUCKING-TEE "spare tires" will never be in fashion for women.
Kind of funny that for a long time -- like, most of human history -- being at least a little fat was desirable, as it meant that you had not just enough to survive and get by, but extra on top of that. Even in this nasty economy though, I don't think most of us are in bad enough (financial) shape to worry about surviving the next famine. It's also become the oppsosite in recent years - fast food, cheap processed foods and the like are the new poor man's food, so to speak, whereas being in shape often means you have the means to get to a gym (and have the time to dedicate to getting in shape!).
So... until I see Brad Pitt and George Clooney sporting beer bellies, I'm gonna just say the NYT was having a slow day.
no. ew.
No. I will keep working out and eating right.
well, this was stupid. a fat gut is not a good look for anybody, and the ny times is losing my respect.
No thank you
uuummm... who cares about stupid trends?!? i'd pick a 6 pack over a potbelly ANY DAY! and it will never be attractive for anybody to have a potbelly ESPECIALLY WOMEN! can u imagine runway models on the catwalks with big ass bellies?!? lol i think not.
....wtf ew.
please, no.
There is no way in hell I would find a guy with a belly more attractive than the one with a six pack just based on first impressions. NY times has apparently ran out of news, and sane reporters.
the six-pack abs, athletically toned look will NEVER be outdated. I prefer a guy with a fit physique always.
Pot bellies are one thing, but I've known girls who really don't mind men with average stomachs, and it goes the other way, too, with girls not having to be super-skinny to look good.
Fashion, style, and looking sexy are one thing - we all know you don't have to be amazingly hot to succeed, but trying to say that being fat or having a hanging gut is fashionable? pssht.
Key word: Balance. You don't have to look like Elisha Cuthbert, Katherine Heigl, or Patrick Dempsey/Matt Dallas/Kiefer Sutherland to succeed in life or attract a good partner, but letting yourself go is a whole 'nother story.
I really hope this is not true. It'll make me really mad. Men shouldn't be fashionable if they're a bit over weight, while women will still be yucky.
Every single one of you who has commented on this so far are vain, vapid, and shallow!
I'm a proud chubby chaser......I can't date a guy if he's over, say, 250, but good GOD, a beer belly turns me on SO BAD.....
They'll never be fashionable, which makes the NY Times article a load of bullshit, but that's part of why beer bellies are so hot, if you ask me.
Thank God, I can finally cancel my gym membership.
Wait no this seems really stupid.
What it comes down to when you look at someone is "am i able to have sex with this person, does she/he turn me on?" Get fucking real, its 5% personality and 95% looks... Trends are bullshit, people are who they are, and people who pretend to be something different enrage me. Woman want abs and atleast decent, honorable faces. Men like myself want women with flat stomachs, healthy legs and rear and pretty, extremely feminine faces.
Thats disgusting. I am attracted to men who actually workout and eat healthy...like my boyfriend. I would never find any man with a beer gut attractive. Ever.
I don't get this. First of all, how is this attractive?? Seriously. Secondly, it makes me very angry that this can be a trend, while girls all over the country have to feel bad about their weight.
I really doubt that if you take two men, who are otherwise the same, except that one has a belly and the other is more fit, that anyone would deem the bellied man more "in". Being fit/in-shape will likely never lose its cool in modern society.
In much older societies, weight showed wealth, because you didn't have to labor. But now, with food often so plentiful and calories available in terribly condensed form for a tiny price, being fat is cheap. It's not as cheap as being emaciated and there are places in the world that I imagine that fat is still desireable as a symbol of wealth, but in the majority of the developed world, it's cheaper to be overweight than fit.
Being physically fit requires a large number of traits that I imagine a large population will find attractive, whether it's monetary implications (like having the leisure time to work out or having a job that requires physical labor) or character implications, such as discipline and taking care of oneself.
I've got (an admittedly shrinking) belly and I keep it under wraps. Not so much because I'm particularly ashamed of it, but more to keep others from being disturbed by having to see it. I certainly have no interest in seeing another person's belly or muffin top, as the case might be.