The Return of the Pig
Atlantic, The, April, 2003 by David Brooks
Have you noticed that male chauvinism is making a comeback? Thirty years after the feminist revolution, if you look at the rap videos on MTV or BET, you'll find that "ho" and "bitch" are just about the nicest words used to describe young women. Hooters is now so mainstream as to be just another link in the chain of familiar eateries.
If you turn on The Man Show , on Comedy Central, you can watch women in teddies jumping on trampolines and men getting spanked by bikini-clad "juggies" —the show's term for its female cast members. Elsewhere on the cultural landscape can be found the Wonderbra, Howard Stern, Joe Millionaire , Victoria's Secret specials on network TV, Anna Nicole Smith, and Lara Croft. The leading laddie magazine, Maxim , has 2.5 million subscribers; its chief competitor, FHM ("For Him Magazine"), has more than a million. And then there are Gear ...