The year of the self-mocking man sketch: Dumb masculinity is very funny'

"I'm gonna miss toxic masculinity, says the comedian Kiry Shabazz. I feel like it's going to be in a museum someday. In the ensuing standup routine, Shabazz describes a fight with a friend who, like him, is doing the work to be a better person. He called the friend several unprintable names while acknowledging: I'm only calling you that because culturally that's how I know how to express myself. The friend's reply to the torrent of insults: I hear you and I receive that."

"The bit encapsulates a dilemma of modern masculinity how attempts at enlightenment battle with alpha-male impulses. On social media, the manosphere clamors for our attention, extolling traditional masculine virtues such as authority, protein powder and the stamping-out of empathy. Meanwhile, other voices point out the absurdity of that image and call for thoughtful, emotionally attuned understanding of manhood. In short: it's a ridiculous time to be male. And that's good news for a genre of social media comedy that has emerged between the Hims ads."

"Comedy from standup to Saturday Night Live has long found fertile ground in shifting notions of masculinity. But in the past few years, comedians have developed followings with short sketches that cast them as flailing young men, stumbling their way through social situations that threaten their identities or expose them as clueless try-hards. And like all good comedy, they also expose a truth in this case, about the absurd and contradictory experience of manhood in the 2020s."

Comedians turn the tensions of modern masculinity into humor by portraying men as flailing, emotionally awkward figures torn between alpha impulses and enlightened behavior. Standup routines depict scenarios where men default to aggressive or outdated language and are met with patient, emotionally attuned responses, revealing shifting modes of male expression. Social media amplifies competing currents: a manosphere that valorizes dominance and other voices that promote empathy and introspection. Short, viral sketches use self-mockery and absurdity to expose contradictions in 2020s manhood while humanizing evolving male identities.

Read at www.theguardian.com