There’s a new political ad going around the internet that features a group of leftist dudes proclaiming their vote for Vice President Kamala Harris proves their manhood.
“I’m a man,” they each declare, followed by a proclamation of what defines their masculinity. Items cited at the beginning of the clip include mechanical expertise, heavy weightlifting, and culinary proficiency. The testimonials went on to include what sound like satirical endorsements for “childless cat ladies,” emotional instability, and of course, a woman running for president.
“A woman wants to be president?” one participant says.
“Well,” another answers, “I hope she has the guts to look me right in the eye and accept my full-throated endorsement.”
The commercial appeared to come from a Hollywood writer named Jacob Reed, who wrote on his Substack page he “creative directed and directed this campaign for Creatives for Harris.” Reed’s wife has “she/her/hers” pronouns in her Instagram bio, as if her obvious gender was in doubt.
The latest male-targeted ad was ostensibly another tongue-in-cheek campaign to push “dudes for Harris” by a movement so obsessed with identity politics that any outreach designed for a particular constituency is expected to win support among said group. What the condescending creators of the “man up” commercial met instead was a cascade of online mockery:
White "Dudes" for Harris. 🙄 pic.twitter.com/DesHeTteBj
— Mojo Resin (@MojoResin) October 11, 2024
The ad arrived on the eve of Harris’ vice-presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, embarking on a male-driven media tour that includes an interview about football with former NFL star and ABC host Michael Strahan.
“Sounds gay,” wrote the Republican Party’s gay coalition group on X.
Democrats have accelerated efforts to reshape American expectations of masculinity once Harris became the de facto nominee. At the party’s nominating convention in August, CNN’s Dana Bash said Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, represented the Democrats’ attempt to “put forward male figures” who “can speak to men out there who might not be the testosterone-laden, gun-toting type of guy who wants to listen to Hulk Hogan.”
“In addition,” Bash said, Emhoff’s representation of masculinity is supposed to send the message that “it’s okay in 2024 to be a man comfortable in his own skin who supports a woman.”
Hogan’s performance at the Republican National Convention (RNC), in contrast, offended the sensibilities of Harris-supporting men such as New York Times columnist David French. In July, French typed up an estrogen-fueled op-ed admonishing the entertainment wrestler over what he characterized as a form of toxic masculinity built on “anger” and “grievance.”
Emhoff, on the other hand, was recently accused of slapping an ex-girlfriend after he cheated on a past wife and allegedly knocked up the nanny.
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