The cultural power of the anti-woke tech bro: The aesthetic of Cybertrucks, energy drinks, and MMA, explained

The “Manosphere”

…the parts of the internet where men complain about their lack of access to women and sex and blame society’s present ills on feminism. […] they tend to frame their position as “anti-woke,” or a counterpoint to what they see as a world over-indexed on equality and diversity.

The shift in libertarianism

libertarianism, at least in its tech bro manifestation, [went] from this “really wonky” philosophy centered around less government interference in all aspects of life to a movement that’s almost entirely centralized around cultural grievances.

The Cybertruck as s symbol

Ironically, no object better synthesizes the hyper-online, libertarian-leaning dude than the Cybertruck. […] the hulking hunk of unpainted metal barely squeezes into a lane of traffic and encases its driver in a (sort of) bulletproof tank that’s easily mistaken for a weapon of war. It is one of the few cars in the world that no one would ever compare to a woman’s body — there are no curves, after all. The Cybertruck appeals to someone who imagines danger is all around them.

COVID as a supercharger

The pandemic was a convergence of several grievances harbored by the free-thinker set: government overreach, America’s troubled health care system, and left-wing virtue signaling. The CDC’s response to Covid-19 […] clashed with the tech bros’ sensibilities: Public health required individuals to alter their behavior for the sake of the collective good and sacrifice certain personal freedoms.

And this aligns with my observances. When someone says “Make American Great again” the question is always “What point in time was this greatness you so desire to come back?” Because it was not great for everyone. It is always assumed “great for white men.”

Further, during the time of “The Greatness Generation” there were numerous personal sacrifices for the greater good of the country. During war time the government asked citizens to plant gardens, recycle steel, save oil, save rubber, and asked women to do the work left behind by men who went to war.

Now, when we ask someone to do something really small like wear a mask, we are infringing on their personal civil liberties. This was unthinkable 80 years ago, back when, in my opinion, some parts of America were actually great (while there were still plenty of problems as well).

Male Loneliness

“men [are] reaching out for community, but the community they find is one built on selfishness and exclusion.” “I think it’s really important to know how much of this comes down to the breakdown of male friendships,” he adds. “Women seem to have some degree of sisterhood, a gender-based solidarity. Guys don’t seem to have this unless it’s just being sexist.”

“The very macho styling feels countercultural to them. I think it feels punkish: ‘There is a polite society that is dominated by feminine codes of behavior, and we are the insurgent uprising to that.’ To outsiders maybe that doesn’t make a great deal of sense, but if you’re a 14-year-old boy, I think it does make a lot of sense,” says Lewis.

By building their followings online, they’re tapping into an audience thirsty for someone to tell them that their grievances — against women, against culture, against the media — are valid. In reality, the techno-libertarians, the heterodoxy, or whatever we’re calling them […] seem to be driven by the deepest fears of these particular men. After all, what else is a Cybertruck but an admission of fear? Fear of other cars, of other people, of being broke and the failure to amass social status.