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When we read Guy Trebay’s article in the New York Times about Brooklyn’s new potbelly trend, we looked around at the svelte men in our office, and were slightly incredulous.
Too pronounced to be blamed on the slouchy cut of a T-shirt, too modest in size to be termed a proper beer gut, developed too young to come under the heading of a paunch, the Ralph Kramden is everywhere to be seen lately, or at least it is in the vicinity of the Brooklyn Flea in Fort Greene, the McCarren Park Greenmarket and pretty much any place one is apt to encounter fans of Grizzly Bear.
But when Details editor Dan Peres pointed the finger at Obama (“If we had a slob in the White House, all the hipsters would turn into some walking Chippendales calendar”) later in the article, we knew we had to do something to debunk this myth. So we sent our intrepid photo journalist friend Thomas Meggs to Wiliamsburg (specifically, Bedford Avenue around N. 8th), where he approached fashionable males, told them we working on a rebuttal piece, and asked them to share some thoughts.
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9 Responses
Big Duh. non fatties verses out of shape albeit skinny dudes. both NYT and your articles are going nowhere. everyone should be hitting the gym for health reason above anything else.
"I don't like fat people".
Wow, once again some ground breaking journalism from Flavorpill.
My goal was to show how arbitrary their story was. And to have a bit of a laugh. I don't think we get to see guys talking about their bodies enough.
the pot bellies have always been there, its just that now some guys think its a good idea to wear tight clothes (pot bellies or not)…
There's always less than slim individuals in every sect of society.
excellent point. i would love to have open dialogue about male body perception however, I just think this over hyped niche is played out. i live in williamsburg and the real truth is an alarming amount of men in the neighborhood skinny and fat are not taking care of their themselves. beer and cig diets are nasty and in this subtext i find it arbitrary when dealing with the male sex on a whole.
Definitely noticed this trend and I think it's very real, despite your photos to the contrary.
yea, all those manorectics with no bellies are living real healthily on too little food, too many cigatettes and cocaine,…. and are spending more time looking into mirrors than most bodybuilders do.
Balance anyone?
Unwashed pot bellies and super-effete skinny guys are flip sides of the same boring coin.
The article should have shown that the guys with beer bellies now have really skinny girlfriends. I don't see the skinny ones cuddling up to anyone.