George Will - "When did men start hugging?"

Sometimes the best way to get a point across is with humor, especially satirical humor. Jesus' General is one of the best sites around for that kind of humor - he was doing the post-modern meta-satire long before Stephen Colbert became famous for his work.

Here is takes on George Will's comments after Obama's State of the Union Address about men hugging. These are Will's comments:



Here is the letter to Will from Jesus' General:

Men touching men

George Will
Washington Post

Dear Mr. Will,

A lot has been said about the question you posed after last night's Obama speech. Most of the commentary has been negative, but I thought it was a great question, "When did men start hugging?"

It seems to be a fairly recent phenomenon, and, like you, I'm not very happy with it. What ever happened to the days when men expressed respect for each other with a quick pat on the butt? You don't see that much anymore these days except in sports.

Even rarer is the custom of taking another man's testicles into your hand as you each swear an oath. It was big in biblical times. I rather like that custom, and wish it would come back. It adds gravity to oath taking; it bestows the act with deeper meaning. I think a lot of men would take voting more seriously if they had to swear the oath while some guy was holding their grenades. It just means more than checking a box next to some text on a form.

But now days, it seems that scrotal cradling has been replaced by hugging. And as I wrote above, I share your distaste for it. I felt very uncomfortable as I watched Obama and Coburn embrace. I just couldn't help but imagine them naked, and I wondered if the president might not swing the senator around right there and give him a righteous rogering. Thinking about that led to other thoughts and then to certain acts of which I'm too ashamed to admit here--let's just say I have some repenting and atoning to do, and I'll be making a trip to Seattle soon to see that guy who punishes men for money. You know what I mean. I'm sure you felt the same way.

Heterosexually yours,

Gen. JC Christian, patriot

I like this - it's a great, over-the-top satire of the stupidity of Will's comments.

What the hell is wrong with men hugging each other? Is doing so a sign of secret gay desire? Bullshit. Only a man secure in his masculinity would hug another man these days - those not so secure, like Will, would be too afraid of being thought gay, as if that is such a horrible thing.

Men not only used to hug each other all the time, they used to not even question the masculinity of doing so. This changed a little more than a hundred years ago, and it's a shame we are so uncomfortable with affection. I think it even impacts how we raise our sons, and that really horrible.

Tags: masculinity, culture, friendship, humor, George Will, hugging, Jesus' General, satire, Obama, State of the Union, touch