In a reported essay in The Atlantic, Ruxandra Guidi explores the often-ignored relationship between ad-fueled notions of masculinity and American attitudes toward environmental responsibility.
Concern about the climate is associated with femininity, she observes, while the “sounds, smells, and sights” of gas-guzzling pickups and monster trucks “evoke the peculiarly American ideal of rural life: self-sufficiency sustained by unbridled male power.”
She wonders if super-charged electric trucks might be a good way to break down resistance. “If climate consciousness can’t be manly, can it coexist with manliness?” she asks.
