
Friday night, Netflix aired an āexhibitionā fight between Mike Tyson and Logan Paul.
I didnāt know it was on until after it was over. While I donāt begrudge anyone making their bagāas the kids sayāthis kind of carnival show spectacle isnāt my cup of tea.
And the post-fight commentary and coverage just reminds me of the bullies I used to face in the schoolyard after lunch.
I was one of the biggest, smartest kids in my class, so I had a target on my back. While I was liked, I wasnāt exactly popular.
Except with bullies. They loved to test their luck with me.
At home, my dad raised me to never start a fight.
But he knew boys would be boys, so I was allowed to end any fight someone started. By any means necessary.
I was also encouraged to intervene when I saw anyone smaller being bullied.
I developed a reputation: āClint is nice. Until heās not. Donāt mess with Clint.ā
Bullies still piss me off. And in my 50s, I have zero tolerance for them. Itās one of the reasons I loathe the current state of (un)civil discourse.
Bullies may not test me in real life as much, but they still lurk in comment sections and online locker rooms where chest-thumpers, knuckle-draggers, and mansplainers love to play childish āculture warā games.
Iām talking about the people who insist on policing what it means to be a ārealā man. They get off on holding everyone up to a warped version of masculinity thatās more about control, power, and toxicity than character, dignity, and tenderness.
On Xāa platform owned by Elon Musk the worldās richest bully and bullshit artistāI came across a video by Jay Black that perfectly encapsulates my feelings about the televised āfightā and its reflection of the state of the world today:
āOn Friday night, 60 million people around the world tuned in to watch Mike Tyson and Jake Paul hug each other for 16 minutes before each walking away with tens of millions of dollars.
And in doing so, they created the perfect metaphor for the age in which we currently live.
There are two things that define the current era:
One, maladjusted boys using archetypal signifiers of masculinity to compensate for a world that has largely moved past them.
And two, social media creating its own reality that has literally nothing to do with the actual reality that we, you know, live in.ā
To all the would-be bulliesāincluding those who were bullied and feel compelled to keep the tradition alive and wellāplease take a seat and shut the fuck up.
Being a ārealā man is not about how big your dick is, how deep or loud your voice is, or how many fights youāve wonā¦or lost.
Being a ārealā man is aboutāfirst and foremostābeing human.
The older I get, the less interested I am in participating in the fake reality of social media. Instead, Iām more interested in helping make the world a little better, both online and in real life.
What we need are more connections and conversations.
What we need is more love.
Thanks for reading!
Clint
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Well said, Clint - bullying is a special form of cowardice.
More love, indeed! We can lay the foundations of a new social architecture based on respect for each other. No need for silly macho posturing. No need for toxic hetero-normative, binary notions. Let's crush the most insidious aspects of the patriarchy (i.e. the oppression of women and minorities, bullying, etc.) and soldier on, poised to achieve dignity for everyone.