If you've been scrolling through social media lately, you won't have escaped the plaid trimmings, pine garlands and rich red ribbons, all warmed by the glow of a roaring fire. Welcome to "Ralph Lauren Christmas." The aesthetic, which demonstrates how to create Ralph Lauren Corp. 's signature style for the holidays, has been trending recently, sending the brand's visibility soaring.
The trend involves men calling their male friends to wish them goodnight, often capturing their surprised, confused, or awkward reactions. These interactions break traditional masculine communication norms, which typically discourage emotional expression between male friends. The humor often masks a deeper psychological need for connection that has been suppressed by conventional masculine ideals. Here is some context as the trend emerges within a broader acknowledgment of increasing male social isolation.
Nicole Sunderland doesn't have to ponder the in-flight entertainment options when she looks at the screen on the plane seat in front of her. She'll be watching the map, thank you very much. "I'll fly to Qatar for 14 hours and that map will be on the entire time," said Sunderland, 41, a content creator and consultant who splits time between the D.C. area and Phoenix. Flight attendants don't always understand: "Sometimes they'll reach in and be like, 'Do you want us to turn it off?' And I'm like, 'No, no. Leave it on.'"
But recently, a rather unexpected answer has been circulating on social media, receiving the men's stamp of approval in the comments: banana bread. The idea is supposedly traced back to a single comment on a TikTok post posing the age-old question that has confounded romantic partners for decades. But in a case of groupthink, or because men really do love banana bread, the men in the comments unanimously agreed: Banana bread is men's flowers.
