To find Justin Trudeau a nauseating poser?

[OhThisbloodyComputer]

I remember seeing a film about the competitive world of american cheerleaders.

One chant went like this: "We're sexy!, We're hot! We're everything you're not!"

I loved that wit, especially the juxtaposition of self promotion and diminishing the opponent.

It's not enough to praise your own merits. To really make yourself stand out, you have to put everyone else down.

There are many examples of what I'd call Juxta-posers in modern life.

They sing their own praises, and try to widen the morality gap further by implying you are some sort of reactionary yokel.

For example, we were talking about a mutual acquaintance at work who happens to be gay. Our office poser at work says: "He's gay. But I haven't got a problem with that."

As if to imply I did!

Strike a Pose! Vogue!

Of course, I was too dim to be able to articulate why this made me angry. It took me ages to spot the subtle way it was insinuated that The Office Poser was good and that I was a troglodyte! I'm more of an 'esprits d'escalier' type. In fact, words often don't come to me until three weeks later, never mind on the staircase.

Which brings me on to Justin Trudeau.

He's the worst Juxta-Poser ever. In the latest example of his Vogueing, he condemns men for, wait for it, 'Bro Culture'. He then goes on to lecture 'men' that they have to follow his example and be great feminists. Like him.

(What he was really saying was "look at me everybody. Just look at me!"). What an utterly cynical, selfish little creep.

What on earth is Bro Culture? If there is something like that, I've never been informed. I'm clearly not on the mailing list of 'The Patriarchy', because I never seem to get any updates on the manly conspiracy to control the world.

What annoys me about Trudeau is that he's demonising other men, just so he can look good by comparison.

I never trust men who declare themselves a feminist. Surely that's an accreditation that has to be earned anyway. You can't just appoint yourself can you? Isn't there an examining board?

Don't get me wrong, I am slowly being educated by feminism and I don't wet the bed about it any more (well not as much anyway) but I can't hack show boating male feminists.

What a ghastly poser this man is. I hope it all ends badly for him.

To quote another chant from those American cheer leaders: "That's alright, that's OK, but you're gonna pump our gas some day."

Am I being unreasonable to not like Trudeau, his straw man arguments and his ghastly moral exhibitionism?

Advice puh-lease!

He is the best North American national leader.

He's just a classic virtue signalling halfwit, despite his looks. Like those politicians who blahed on about #BringBackOurGirls but forgot all about those young women when the Insta-moment had passed, really. But we get the politicians we deserve - people care more that he's photogenic and mouths right-on platitudes that appeal to the populists, without having thought deeply about anything much.

I'm out already on this id, so as my parting shot- who else has noticed that he's the spit of Bashir Gemayel ?

He is just Trudeaumania (the 70s ) revisited - too much hype and not a lot of substance.

I've been a bit about him ever since the run-up to last year's Invictus games. Prior to that I'd thought it was just my instinctive dislike for good-looking men (I always suspect them of being style over substance and probably narcissists, which is unfair of me). But in the run up to the games lots of national leaders, including Obama, did little "go our boys and girls" clips for their national TV, usually showing national leader watching admiringly as disabled service vets did amazing feats of physical prowess. So far, so good, and I'm a big fan of what Prince Harry's done in setting this up. But the Canadian one, after the two ex army guys at the front of the line up had done a couple of one arm press-ups, Trudeau got down beside them and joined in, also doing one-arm press-ups. And it left a really bad impression in my mind - it just screamed "look at meeeee".

So - feet of clay on environmental matters. All talk and no action on issues around indigenous peoples (including the absolute crisis of thousands of indigenous women just "disappearing", presumably murdered). Cosy cosy with Varadkar, despite Varadkar being spectacularly right wing. And I strongly suspect him of being that subspecies of lefty dude bro who makes noises about how feminist he is while quietly shafting women's rights.

Surely you wouldn't be enticing me to engage in NAMALTing? My point about white dudes was merely political, whereas you clearly have some sort of beef about feminists or women. As it happens, JT does have more than a whiff of TB about him, albeit that the intervening what, fifteen or twenty years meant that we should have moved on from the hysteria of seeing women in cabinet positions. It was a bit of a disappointment (after the jaw-clenching media circus surrounding 'Blair's babes') to see a 21st century politician being asked why half of his cabinet were women. I was merely referring to JT's stance on equality in political life with my comments on 'white dudes', as opposed to SH's lack of interest in anyone else. But hey ho. it's not just women. He at least made some semblance of effort to ensure representation across the broad cultural spectrum.
And while I don't like to point out the obvious - you are the one reducing his politics to being a virtue signalling pretty boy. I actually applaud his efforts to broaden what is politically and culturally acceptable - and sometimes you have to get through a bit of OTT virtue signalling

He's fairly harmless. Which you couldn't really claim about TB or SH.
I hadn't really made any direct comparisons with TB before, so your post was interesting. Some similarities (you always get that with knee-jerk regime change anyway) but a lot of differences.

As it happens, you can in fact be a white dude and not fuck everyone else over. Who knew.

Surely you wouldn't be enticing me to engage in NAMALTing? My point about white dudes was merely political, whereas you clearly have some sort of beef about feminists or women. As it happens, JT does have more than a whiff of TB about him, albeit that the intervening what, fifteen or twenty years meant that we should have moved on from the hysteria of seeing women in cabinet positions. It was a bit of a disappointment (after the jaw-clenching media circus surrounding 'Blair's babes') to see a 21st century politician being asked why half of his cabinet were women. I was merely referring to JT's stance on equality in political life with my comments on 'white dudes', as opposed to SH's lack of interest in anyone else. But hey ho. it's not just women. He at least made some semblance of effort to ensure representation across the broad cultural spectrum.
And while I don't like to point out the obvious - you are the one reducing his politics to being a virtue signalling pretty boy. I actually applaud his efforts to broaden what is politically and culturally acceptable - and sometimes you have to get through a bit of OTT virtue signalling

He's fairly harmless. Which you couldn't really claim about TB or SH.
I hadn't really made any direct comparisons with TB before, so your post was interesting. Some similarities (you always get that with knee-jerk regime change anyway) but a lot of differences.

As it happens, you can in fact be a white dude and not fuck everyone else over. Who knew.

Twice. Apparently.

Nicely put OP.

Can't help but think that bros before hoes is simply a male alternative to feminism and those women are annoyed they don't have a nice rhymey slogan.

I quite like his cabinet (is that the correct term?) but he seems like a virtue-signalling tosser at a Lilly Allen level of annoyingness.

He is the best North American national leader.

This is part of the problem. The bar has been set so low that a dead aardvark would be a better leader than the dick south of the border.

He is just Trudeaumania (the 70s ) revisited - too much hype and not a lot of substance.

Ridiculous. You may not have agreed with PET's policies, but he hardly lacked substance.

Thanks @theancientmarinader

There's no need to shout, I heard the first time. I like most of what you say, as it's quite enlightening for me.

But What's NAMALT? I'm not up on acronyms.

(I'll google it)

Who knew that you can be a White Dude and not fuck everyone over?

Well, I suppose Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, Einstein, Joseph Lister, Abraham Lincoln and Jesus Christ knew you could be white and not shite. Not to mention God. (In all the pictures I've seen of him, he looks like a Norwegian with a beard) I'm surprised you have never heard of any of those people, because you seem to be way ahead of me on politics.

I'm a bit worried that you say I clearly have an issue with women. Please tell me what your evidence is, as I've been desperately trying to hide this and it's important that I continue to cover it up.

thanks. I do appreciate your educating my like this

Abraham Lincoln did fuck some people over though. Also Jesus Christ was brown.

Ignore me, I got Lincoln momentarily confused with Washington. (Hangs head in shame)

He's nowhere near as clever as his old Dad was!

And also duhhh everyone knows Shakespeare was really Elizabeth the 1st

Dickens was a hypocrite misogynist. Your list is getting thinner, OP.

Also Jesus Christ was brown is made up and could be purple if that's what you choose.

@sharksden @antyelle

I wasn't being entirely serious with that list. I was just making the point that there have been many white men whose life's work benefitted everyone.

Where do people get the idea that there is a uniform block of white men who organised everything to entirely benefit themselves.

@flopjustwantscoffee has a good point though

@OhThisbloodyComputer

Shhh. He was a CIS, white male. He's part of the patriarchy! It's one big conspiracy.

bro are u even canadian

idk your post comes off less a well reasoned critique and more, well, jealousy

maybe if you got highlights or lost 5 pounds you would feel better OP? Anyway, work on yourself, you're worth it, babe!

@madgeMidgerson

Sorry my critique wasn't reasoned enough.

As an example in reasoning, would you like to explain how you know my getting highlights would make me think more highly of Justin Trudeau?

What reasoning did you use to know that I need to lose 5 pounds? I could lose 25 pounds, to be honest. But I thought it was men who were guilty of body shaming of women? You seem to be judging me on my clothing size.

Anyway, thanks for calling me Babe, that cheered me up. I may well get some highlights, now that you've shamed me.

At risk of pointing out the bleeding obvious, NAMALT- not all men are like that. Etc etc. Mildly ironic, but I was, indeed, trying to point out that not all men are misogynistic white arseholes, just those who (mostly) attain political status. And that by frothing about JT's virtue signalling, you run the risk of aligning yourself with, well, the stiff white dudes that also object to anything other than oil money and a bit of totty on the side

But lol at that list. Really.

I'm by no means suggesting he is the great white hope just that at least he seemed to be offering a more egalitarian future for the country. It's a conundrum. You can't just demolish hundreds of years of colonialism. The whole system is a bloody mess. It's amazing to me how a country can set up apartheid under colonial rule and then steadfastly ignore it.

Spat my tea out at highlights, Madge. You perfectly encapsulated my fear about the op's real issue.

Look, I totally share your hate of virtue signalling. It makes me grind my teeth and want to punch walls. But really, poor old JT is stuffed either way. It's no longer enough to be a good person. You have to be seen to be a good person. You have to prove it. And a lot of the media hype about virtue signalling is really him just getting on with his life, pride parades and all. And given the option, I'd rather have a political leader who attends pride, sweats in his I ironic white jeans and is honest about it, than one who prefers not to notice that such things exist.
The Invictus stuff is interesting. I'm ex-military and I volunteer with both adults and children with different abilities (some congenital, others acquired - you can post my medal any time ) and I'm pretty sure every single one of the folks I see day to day would have appreciated their visit more if the guy got down on the floor with them and joined in, rather than sat at the side of the room, shook their hand and murmured polite condolences or 'how brave' blah blah. It's a shared experience rather than being viewed as a specimen or a sideshow. And goodness only knows the British have a long and ungallant history of making entertainment out of such things.

It's weird that we want political leaders to be good people, (but not show it) and be butt ugly. I find it fascinating that he gets this shit because he is good looking. And I think it really does affect his ability to be taken seriously, in exactly the same way that pretty women are expected to be airheads. You can't be clever if you are aesthetically pleasing. Not to be taken seriously. I'm fascinated that men are using this attitude against their own. Just a pretty boy. No actual use.

We don't really have a chance to find out if he is any use, because people can't get over the fact he's photogenic. Meh. Like I said, I can't vote. It's fuck all to do with me. I actually loosely know one of the guys working for Catherine McKenna, and watching the shit they have been forced to go through this week instead of letting her get on with her bloody job, I just wouldn't want to be aligning myself with the side that can't see past aesthetics. And doesn't understand that virtue signalling in this increasingly odd world is being forced onto all of us.

no shaming here, all men are beautiful amirite ladies

but you might feel better about yourself if you got a makeover

with respect to his attitude toward resource extraction and indigenous rights i don't think he is substantively different from harper

shitloads better than anything happening in Europe tho (the bar is v v v low having said that)

We had an enormous Lego-haired fuckbadger who was ruining Canada and turning us into a little America before Justin. He might be nauseating and smug (and I didn't vote for him) but he's a breath of fresh air here. Canada feels good about itself again and I'm glad.