Jerry Seinfeld Says He Misses 'Dominant Masculinity' And People Aren't Laughing
Jerry Seinfeld said on a podcast this week that he likes “a real man” and misses “dominant masculinity,” angering a considerable part of the online population. (Watch the video below.)
“Nothing says frail male ego like talking about ‘dominant masculinity’ this way,” one woman wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The comedian was discussing the heavy nostalgia of his 1960s-set Pop-Tart comedy, “Unfrosted,” when he joked about always wanting to be a real man but falling short. He then appeared to delve into more serious territory.
“I really thought, when I was in that era, again, it was JFK, it was Muhammad Ali, it was Sean Connery, Howard Cosell ― you can go all the way down there,” Seinfeld told “Honestly” host Bari Weiss in a podcast episode released Tuesday.
“That’s a real man. I want to be like that someday. Well, no, I never really grew up. You don’t want to, as a comedian, because it’s a childish pursuit. But I miss a dominant masculinity. Yeah, I get the toxic, thank you, but still I like a real man.”
“I miss a dominant masculinity… I like a real man.”@JerrySeinfeld on a nostalgia for the 1960s found throughout his new movie, “Unfrosted,” and what’s been lost in our culture today.
Listen to his full conversation with @BariWeiss now: https://t.co/NzOqYTgVTIpic.twitter.com/XGkEgAHuYl— Honestly with Bari Weiss (@thehonestlypod) May 28, 2024
Many social media users pushed back at the “Seinfeld” legend:
It’s never lost on me that people like Jerry Seinfeld romanticizing “dominant masculinity” rarely even live up to their own standards of masculinity much like Trump, Maher, Josh Hawley or Tucker Carlson.
We need to ditch toxic masculinity & stop getting hung up on gender norms. pic.twitter.com/hKPINbagml— 🍉 The Emo Dragon 🍉 (@TheEmoDragon) May 30, 2024
Jerry Seinfeld is the guy the men with “dominant masculinity” bully in school https://t.co/EN5o9Dp7aW
— Nurse Ratched (@veggie64_leslie) May 30, 2024
Right, because when I think of "dominant masculinity" I immediately think of Jerry Seinfeld. https://t.co/UUbmBgqDyVpic.twitter.com/GT9K3XLOzY
— Thrasher Da Bull (@thrasherbull313) May 29, 2024
i know that becoming unfathomably rich gives you a practically frictionless life which is actually not very fun in the longterm but jesus christ if i was this wealthy i would simply start collecting model horses or something. i would not become nostalgic for Dominant Masculinity
— eilish gilligan (@eilishgilligan) May 30, 2024