“Bros” — the history of the term and culture of “bro” — is not something taught in elementary school, but bro-ness is so essential to mainstream masculinity that it should be. Now, go forth, and mail printed copies of this Awl essay to your local school boards: the history of the bro is important, and it must be taught. From Adam Sandler to James Franco, and perhaps even back to the Rat Pack, bro-ness has subversively dominated pop culture for decades. As with all cultural phenomena, its roots must be pillaged, its meanings must be deciphered.
The thing about bros is that they, like hipsters, have become so ubiquitous as to be nothing at all; just people. Still, the characteristics of each can still be found, such as in Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, who, according to former bandmate/wife Kim Gordon, is a total asshole bro.
Let’s skip to fashion-bro, Kanye West; we wrote about this interview earlier, but made a point to stick to the less gossip-y bits. He said some stuff about his ex-love, Amber Rose, and it’s the kind of thing that makes people think he’s an asshole unworthy of our adoration. Perhaps that’s true, but, Amber Rose’s responses, via Twitter, have given us some insight into, well… the fact that celebrities are just as spite-ridden as the rest of us when it comes to break-ups.
But that’s to be expected; this is the coldest day of winter. Temperatures might be low, but tempers are high, and are brains are nowhere to be found. (It’s the perfect soup weather, though.) It’s the perfect weather to inspire banning babies from New York Fashion Week. It’s also cold enough to maybe break the façade of tolerance held for so long, and so popularly, by Pope Francis, who today compared transgender people to nuclear weapons. But, a second of real-talk: in Boston, it’s the perfect weather for absolutely nothing, and, as this piece in the Times shows quite effectively, it’s nothing worth being jealous over.
Luckily, most of us aren’t in the position to publicly shame ourselves by unveiling our underlying ignorance, so let us instead fend off the cold by wrapping ourselves in some delicious Star Wars: The Force Awakens spoilers while listening to the great new Brian Wilson song, which is maybe not actually that great but is totally a Brian Wilson song, which is just about the best kind of song there is.