‘Male’? Please. Trump, Musk, Zuckerberg embody insecure men

On By Littum

Picking on people is not masculine behavior. It is weakness cloaked in a crippled idea of ​​what it means to be a man.

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With Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg crying out for more “masculine energy” in the American workplace, we’ve officially entered the golden age of insecure, almost transparent twits who mistakenly think they’re cool.

The perpetually awkward Elon Musk is a key player in the tech-bros-know-how-to-be-macho movement, as it Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who now looks like he’s swallowed Vin Diesel and can just as well wear a neon sign that says, “Hey, look at me, I’m divorced!”

The king of them all, of course, is President-elect Donald Trump and a significant portion of his male MAGA followers, who all think of themselves as mega-alphas. Perhaps “mega MAGA alphas” or just “memalphas” is a better term. (It’s worth noting that on Friday, Trump announced that his Monday inauguration will be held indoors due to cold temperatures. I would think Zuckerberg might be wondering where the warm masculine energy is in that decision).

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Zuckerberg craves ‘masculine energy’. Okay, buddy, take it easy.

Speaking with podcaster and bro-in-chief Joe Rogan recently, Zuckerberg said: “I think that much of the business world is quite culturally neutered. … Masculine energy I think is good, and of course society has plenty of that, but I think the corporate culture really tried to get away from it. … I think having a culture that celebrates aggression a little bit more has its own benefits that are really positive.”

Yes, if there is one thing where a nation was almost a third of women will be victims of abuse need a little more masculine aggression, especially in corporate workplaces where according to McKinsey & Co. The 2024 Women in the Workplace Report“men outnumber women at all levels.”

So Zuckerberg’s definition of ‘masculine’ is allowing hate speech?

So let’s examine a few of the heavily masculine things Zuckerberg & Co. have been experiencing lately.

The Facebook gazillionaire gave up fact checking – because facts are too small! – on his platform and opened the door to more hate speech by getting rid of seemingly non-masculine restrictions.

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He did away with Meta’s diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Thus, according to The New York Times, Zuckerberg threw his former director of operations, Sheryl Sandbergwho he previously said raised him “like a parent” under the bus and accused her of what The Times called “an inclusivity initiative at Facebook that encouraged employee self-expression in the workplace.”

Total masculine man movement.

Zuckerberg on Friday denied The Times’ reporting and praised Sandberg.

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The Times also reported that Zuckerberg ran upcoming Facebook policy changes by fellow Transparent-American and senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller. Very alpha of him.

Zuckerberg hollered at Rogan: “It’s one thing to say that we want to be welcoming and create a good environment for everyone, and I think it’s another thing to say that masculinity is bad.”

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Yes, so it sounds harsh and bad in the mind of someone whose own male insecurities overwhelm any kind of common sense, but no one anywhere is saying that masculinity is bad. What has been said is that “toxic masculinity” is bad, which it is, and that’s the version of masculinity that Rogan and Musk and Trump seem to embrace.

It is exclusively. It depends on aggression. It is definitely human-centered.

Elon Musk cosplays masculinity by lashing out at critics

On January 6, manly man Musk responded to a critic on X by writing: “F u retard.” It is a disgusting and stigmatizing word to use, one that causes real pain to people with intellectual disabilities. That’s the parlance of dirtbags. I hesitated to include it in this column, but I think it’s important that people see the lows these pretend purveyors of manhood reach.

According to a study by Montclair State Universitywithin two days of Musk’s post, usage of the r-word doubled on X, a fact I’m sure many of Musk’s fanboys will celebrate. It’s pathetic.

Picking on people is not masculine behavior. It is weakness cloaked in a crippled idea of ​​what it means to be a man.

Trump’s fake masculinity can be downright hilarious

The president-to-be, who like these other soft-handed billionaires lives a life of luxury and indulgence, has constantly elevated his masculinity to cartoonishly bleak levels. When an out-of-shape, 78-year-old man promotes trading cards that show himself as one muscle bound superheroyou don’t need a psychology degree to figure out what’s going on.

Poor, insecure Anders.

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Unfortunately, this push for faux-masculine aggression from wildly influential softies will have real-world consequences. If rogue behavior is encouraged from the top of this country, there will be plenty of men willing to go in that direction.

I won’t claim to know exactly what it means to be a man. I don’t have a degree in masculinity, and I would never say that my version of the social construct is ideal.

But I know a fool when I see one. And Zuckerberg and all these other measuring sticks out there who claim masculinity and promote behavior that elevates a certain kind of man above all others? They act like idiots.

Pennys waiting for change.

Maybe all it takes to be a man is to show a little integrity

Manhood – in my humble, male opinion – should be no different than humanity, and humanity should involve things like supporting others, being kind, being honest, and making sure people are treated fairly.

Do you think it’s masculine to belittle others while demanding more masculinity? I’m pretty sure it will take a few sessions with a therapist to work through.

I hope Zuckerberg, Trump, Musk and others in the male parade are man enough to get the help they need.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk