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> Today, following in that tradition, men often equate technological fluency with manly vigor, even as they yearn to assert their authentic and natural virilita

> Today, following in that tradition, men often equate technological fluency with manly vigor, even as they yearn to assert their authentic and natural virilitas. Setting up a kick-ass home-theatre system can make a man feel virile; Oh wow. Strong disagreement with that. I had to re-read this section a couple times to be sure the author was actually asserting what I thought they were. These may be things men do (getting into tech-nerdery, putting together home theatre systems) but I don't think they gain you much in the way of "manliness points" or virility or whatever, at least in the eyes of others. Neutral at best.

cameldrv 4y ago
Funny thing is, something like fixing a car definitely gets you manliness points.
happytoexplain 4y ago
I disagree, or at least I'm pretty sure I observe the counter-example. Seems like there is a manliness of the kind in question that people associate with being handy and engineering-adjacent, like fixing engine- and motor-driven machines, and setting up electronics systems is another step away, but still seems to have the association.
CharlesW 4y ago
> Neutral at best. For sure — setting up a kick-ass home-theater system just means you're an AV geek. (Source: Am an AV geek.) Being a geek is not necessarily a contraindication of virility (see Henry Cavill), but there's definitely no correlation. But honestly, I also think "virility" is something only weak men and/or incels care about.
enragedcacti 4y ago
> Setting up a kick-ass home-theatre system can make a man feel virile > "manliness points" or virility or whatever That section is establishing that manliness and virility haven't always meant the same thing. They have been fluid and often heavily overlapping but they are distinct. I interpreted the association to "manly vigor" as some men grasping for a feeling in lieu of a modern day "virility". > others sought to exclude “natives” from the élite club of virilitas, arguing that sex in non-European societies was mere lust and, therefore, manly rather than virile. In the same sense, it may not be "manly" to be able to set up a home theatre system, but it does generally come with a sense of accomplishment and feeling of mastery over machine which may well be descended from culturally from "virility".

cameldrv 4y ago

Funny thing is, something like fixing a car definitely gets you manliness points.

happytoexplain 4y ago

I disagree, or at least I'm pretty sure I observe the counter-example. Seems like there is a manliness of the kind in question that people associate with being handy and engineering-adjacent, like fixing engine- and motor-driven machines, and setting up electronics systems is another step away, but still seems to have the association.

CharlesW 4y ago

> Neutral at best. For sure — setting up a kick-ass home-theater system just means you're an AV geek. (Source: Am an AV geek.) Being a geek is not necessarily a contraindication of virility (see Henry Cavill), but there's definitely no correlation. But honestly, I also think "virility" is something only weak men and/or incels care about.

enragedcacti 4y ago

> Setting up a kick-ass home-theatre system can make a man feel virile > "manliness points" or virility or whatever That section is establishing that manliness and virility haven't always meant the same thing. They have been fluid and often heavily overlapping but they are distinct. I interpreted the association to "manly vigor" as some men grasping for a feeling in lieu of a modern day "virility". > others sought to exclude “natives” from the élite club of virilitas, arguing that sex in non-European societies was mere lust and, therefore, manly rather than virile. In the same sense, it may not be "manly" to be able to set up a home theatre system, but it does generally come with a sense of accomplishment and feeling of mastery over machine which may well be descended from culturally from "virility".