As of: February 14, 2024, 10:11 a.m
Comments
Press
Split
Age and masculinity are inextricably linked in conversations about President Joe Biden and his primary rival.
© Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post
Trump likes to accuse President Biden of not being in good health to hold the office of president.
Aging is of course a process and Trump also struggles with it.
Washington, DC – American culture has always unfairly burdened women with age expectations.
As men grew older, men gained weight while women lost more and more importance until they eventually disappeared from the collective consciousness.
Older women moved through life like ghosts, always present but invisible.
The reason for this fleeting existence is that as women age, they no longer fit the narrow definition of exuberant femininity and desirability.
While age brought with it self-confidence, authority, and a larger bank account, it also brought wrinkles, gray hair, and maybe a few extra pounds.
Over the years, women fought back.
The culture has evolved.
Invisibility is no longer a woman's fate, even in places where older women were once brutally ignored, like Hollywood and Seventh Avenue.
Trump changed the perception of aging in Washington
In Washington, where experience and long-term relationships were valued, a woman's age was never a bad thing.
It was the younger women who had to prove themselves and be careful.
And when younger colleagues approached an older woman, as was the case with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she simply scared the men away with her impressive ability to get things done.
Read The Washington Post for free for four weeks
Your quality ticket from washingtonpost.com: Get exclusive research and 200+ stories free for four weeks.
Now the men find out what it's like to have an arbitrary expiration date written on their foreheads.
At least one man does. And just as ageism against women was really a treatise on femininity, the widespread obsession with President Joe Biden's age speaks to our idea of masculinity.
The road to the White House: A look at the 2024 US election campaign dates
Health expert confirms: Biden, as a “super-ager,” is actually in good shape
Perhaps the one issue that has bridged the gap between Democrats and Republicans is the realization that the president is old.
Biden is 81, and he moves through his days like a man who has borne burdens, overcome problems and endured - and enjoyed - everything life has thrown at him.
Judging by tables and charts, he's not aging badly, as far as the public knows.
One health expert even called him a “super-ager,” someone who has fewer age-related medical problems than others of his generation.
But the president's blood pressure is a poor response to the signs of aging that are clearly visible.
Biden is aging in the age of social media and the relentless scrutiny that comes with it.
And he does this without boasting or showing off.
He doesn't age like a moody rock star with a girlfriend several decades his junior on his arm.
He doesn't run marathons or win rowing championships.
He doesn't shout from a lectern for 90 minutes straight.
My news
Estonia sounds the alarm: Russia is preparing for a NATO confrontation with a “mass army”.
Mysterious aircraft disappearance: FSB investigates Russia's aviation authorityread
Tanks in urban warfare: Putin is threatened with a new catastrophe like in Groznylesen
More natural disasters: How Germany is preparing for climate change read
Now Aiwanger is looking for the wind farm conversation: wind turbines are built “whether citizens want it or not” read
Putin threatens a Pyrrhic victory in Avdiivka: Russia has probably lost a large number of its tanks
Former President Donald Trump wields thuggish masculinity like a shot of Botox.
© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post
That's exactly what Donald Trump, his likely opponent in the November election, is doing.
The former president spends much of his time belittling others, boastfully repeating lies, portraying himself as a martyr in the face of his numerous legal troubles and disrupting an already barely functioning congressional system.
Trump fulfills the masculinity cliché - but he also struggles with age
At 77, Trump is not much younger than Biden.
And like Biden, he rambles, mixes up names and rambles his way through his speeches.
But Trump is a ranting, angry old man who embodies a version of masculinity that is instantly recognizable and still admired in some circles as a sign of vitality.
It's the kind of masculinity that was once seen in superhero blockbusters and spy thrillers and is still seen in cop shows like Blue Bloods.
He plays the outlier who saves the day by ignoring the rules or intentionally breaking them.
He embodies a Clint Eastwood version of masculinity, defined by toughness, meanness and chest drumming.
This definition may be old-fashioned, but when it comes to age it remains stubborn and unyielding.
Trump does not defy age.
He held onto his hands and railings as he ran down ramps and steps.
He yelled about January 6, 2021 and Nikki Haley, his last remaining opponent for the Republican presidential nomination, even though he actually meant Pelosi.
He disguises his age behind a facade of cartoon masculinity.
A version of masculinity that is just another form of Botox and fillers.
It distracts from the truth, but it does not erase it.
Biden's handling of secret documents - his age in the focus of the investigation
When Robert K. Hur, the special prosecutor who investigated Biden's handling of classified documents, released his report, he couldn't resist calling Biden's lapses in memory during questioning a sign of weakness.
Although the phrase "I can't remember" is a popular mantra of countless witnesses who have to answer in court.
And honestly, could a 20-year-old remember where he bought a particular filing cabinet years ago?
Hur described the president as “a pleasant, well-meaning, older man with a poor memory.”
He didn't simply say that the president had a poor memory or that he couldn't remember certain dates.
He went a step further and described the way Biden carried himself: Every word a counterpoint to our understanding of masculinity.
Masculinity does not require sympathy.
To be benevolent is to be timid and uncertain.
It allows for the possibility of errors.
The word old suggests fragility.
Being old is a numerical designation.
Harrison Ford is 81 years old.
Ralph Lauren is 84 years old.
How old are you?
Being older means being broken.
The health of any presidential candidate is a matter of great importance.
There are legitimate concerns about whether a candidate has both the mental and physical stamina to endure the rigors of the presidency.
But we also hold to the idea that a big man is defined by his swing, his fast talking, his bravado, and the volume of his voice.
In this way we want to measure a man's age, even if these are not the most important criteria.
About the author
Robin Givhan
is a senior critic and writes about politics, race and art.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2006, Givhan has also written for Newsweek/Daily Beast, Vogue magazine and the Detroit Free Press.
We are currently testing machine translations. This article was automatically translated from English into German.
This article was first published in English on February 14, 2024 at the “Washingtonpost.com” - as part of a cooperation, it is now also available in translation to readers of the IPPEN.MEDIA portals.