What a delightful piece of clickbait, turning political figures into adolescent caricatures. The author’s attempt to equate Trump with a teenager is a classic case of reaching for low-hanging fruit, or should I say, low-lying adolescents. To describe a president’s policies and public persona as akin to a young man’s impulsiveness is not only an insult to teenagers everywhere but also an oversimplification of the complexities of leadership. Calling these leaders ‘adolescent flunkies’ is a tad condescending, but it’s a stretch to imply they’re all as emotionally undeveloped as a typical teen. And to liken a culture to a ‘thriller’ of ‘high-risk, low-regulation, near-total disinhibition’? One wonders if the author is channeling their inner adolescent or simply pandering to those who fancy such a thrilling ride on the wild side of governance. It’s all very entertaining, of course, but let’s not lose sight of the serious implications of such analyses.
Read from: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/02/trump-masculinity/681828/