rewatching FIGHT CLUB this week i was very struck by how a movie that is very plainly a critique of this vision of masculinity was taken up as a valorization of it
It's grim thinking about how many men and women in society have mental models of valorous male behavior that primarily consist of being abusive and violent.
one thing i’m stuck on is this idea that “masculine” energy means license to act like a chud in public, as opposed to more traditional notions of public masculinity, such as those that put a premium on the performance of integrity, honesty, honor and generosity.
January 16, 2025 at 9:54 PM
rewatching FIGHT CLUB this week i was very struck by how a movie that is very plainly a critique of this vision of masculinity was taken up as a valorization of it
God the deranged valorization is going to drive me insane
September 12, 2025 at 11:32 AM
God the deranged valorization is going to drive me insane
Of all the features of contemporary American life I'm ready to see the end of, the valorization of "people who aren't afraid to piss everyone off" is high on the list.
July 30, 2026 at 3:40 AM
Of all the features of contemporary American life I'm ready to see the end of, the valorization of "people who aren't afraid to piss everyone off" is high on the list.
This sounds like Kash Patel's mini eulogy for Charlie Kirk. The same childish bro-speak, the valorization of leaving this life, etc. It's sick.
November 7, 2025 at 3:15 PM
This sounds like Kash Patel's mini eulogy for Charlie Kirk. The same childish bro-speak, the valorization of leaving this life, etc. It's sick.
Gregg Abbott’s pardon — and the right’s valorization — of Daniel Perry for killing BLM protester Garret Foster also comes to mind.
(Not to be confused the right’s valorization of Daniel *Penny*, who has now been nominated for a Congressional Gold Medal.)
radleybalko.substack.com/p/the-smeari...
(Not to be confused the right’s valorization of Daniel *Penny*, who has now been nominated for a Congressional Gold Medal.)
radleybalko.substack.com/p/the-smeari...
December 10, 2024 at 1:02 PM
Gregg Abbott’s pardon — and the right’s valorization — of Daniel Perry for killing BLM protester Garret Foster also comes to mind.
(Not to be confused the right’s valorization of Daniel *Penny*, who has now been nominated for a Congressional Gold Medal.)
radleybalko.substack.com/p/the-smeari...
(Not to be confused the right’s valorization of Daniel *Penny*, who has now been nominated for a Congressional Gold Medal.)
radleybalko.substack.com/p/the-smeari...
i think it would be unironically GOOD to critically examine the continued valorization of these great heroes and what that valorization has said about our society, and who we choose to admire and uplift and grant access to cultural immortality--and who we DON'T--for all this time.
July 26, 2026 at 1:39 AM
i think it would be unironically GOOD to critically examine the continued valorization of these great heroes and what that valorization has said about our society, and who we choose to admire and uplift and grant access to cultural immortality--and who we DON'T--for all this time.
Valorization in preparation for putting service members lives at risk in Iran is my take.
Last 30 minutes was Trump awarding military medals to several people.
February 25, 2026 at 3:57 AM
Valorization in preparation for putting service members lives at risk in Iran is my take.
I think what has aged poorly is the discourse, the valorization of Walter White as a folk hero; the text is clear, though, White is a horrible villain.
September 25, 2026 at 4:07 PM
I think what has aged poorly is the discourse, the valorization of Walter White as a folk hero; the text is clear, though, White is a horrible villain.
I will never forget saying that Rittenhouse’s valorization was a sign that white men had been deputized in precisely this way. I believe it got me almost banned on Twitter. Anyway.
Some of the reason I just cannot these days is I feel like I already did.
Some of the reason I just cannot these days is I feel like I already did.
Another way to think of ICE right now is as the institutionalization of the Kyle Rittenhouse model of vigilantism under the state's authority.
Escalation and aggressive violence is clearly intentional.
But it's also cooked into the sociological model of how this force has been mobilized.
🧵
Escalation and aggressive violence is clearly intentional.
But it's also cooked into the sociological model of how this force has been mobilized.
🧵
January 25, 2026 at 9:52 PM
I will never forget saying that Rittenhouse’s valorization was a sign that white men had been deputized in precisely this way. I believe it got me almost banned on Twitter. Anyway.
Some of the reason I just cannot these days is I feel like I already did.
Some of the reason I just cannot these days is I feel like I already did.
you claim to be against valorization of capital and yet your labor valorizes capital. curious.
May 26, 2025 at 11:59 AM
you claim to be against valorization of capital and yet your labor valorizes capital. curious.
i would’ve hoped that the bizarre valorization of these guys might stop after it turned out Mueller was a doddering coward, but here we are
August 3, 2023 at 8:40 PM
i would’ve hoped that the bizarre valorization of these guys might stop after it turned out Mueller was a doddering coward, but here we are
Goddamn autocorrect. I absolutely typed valorization.
Think you meant valorization, I think the lack of vaporization is what some people are upset over
February 24, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Goddamn autocorrect. I absolutely typed valorization.
It’s this weird cocktail of insufferable smugness, childishness, and self-valorization
January 26, 2025 at 3:50 AM
It’s this weird cocktail of insufferable smugness, childishness, and self-valorization
Reminiscent of Hitler’s valorization of motherhood in Germany—sacred duty to produce children for the Reich, etc.
August 5, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Reminiscent of Hitler’s valorization of motherhood in Germany—sacred duty to produce children for the Reich, etc.
Listening to this, it also feels like more evidence of how far some white people will go to defend white innocence, will invent space for themselves outside history. And when someone they say they respect patiently walks them through this, for all their valorization of “listening,” they won’t.
This was revealing. Worth reading. The basic demand is that Coates spend less time thinking/writing his true feelings and more time playing political strategist. Klein asks him over and over him to do Dem strategy; he says no, over and over. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/o...
Opinion | Ta-Nehisi Coates on Bridging Gaps vs. Drawing Lines
www.nytimes.com
September 28, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Listening to this, it also feels like more evidence of how far some white people will go to defend white innocence, will invent space for themselves outside history. And when someone they say they respect patiently walks them through this, for all their valorization of “listening,” they won’t.
the most downwardly mobile millennial trend is the valorization of old homes
interesting analysis of median home age by state and county, ranges from 63 years in New York to 26 in Nevada todayshomeowner.com/home-finance...
The Median Age of Homes in the United States by Build Year (Data Study) - Today's Homeowner
Our home service experts analyzed U.S. census data to find the median age of homes in the United States, and grouped the data by state, county and city.
todayshomeowner.com
December 4, 2024 at 8:21 PM
the most downwardly mobile millennial trend is the valorization of old homes
some of my best, most valuable, college classes were straight-up lectures
sure, it depends on audience/context/material, but the wholesale valorization of "student-centered" classrooms (in the humanities at least) ceded the cultural capital of expertise in truly damaging ways
sure, it depends on audience/context/material, but the wholesale valorization of "student-centered" classrooms (in the humanities at least) ceded the cultural capital of expertise in truly damaging ways
Thing I am an absolute complete total reactionary about: there has not actually been invented a better model of conveying information in a learning environment than the basic structure of a traditional lecture. A speaker standing in some sort of unique focal point for the attention of listeners...
July 12, 2025 at 3:10 PM
some of my best, most valuable, college classes were straight-up lectures
sure, it depends on audience/context/material, but the wholesale valorization of "student-centered" classrooms (in the humanities at least) ceded the cultural capital of expertise in truly damaging ways
sure, it depends on audience/context/material, but the wholesale valorization of "student-centered" classrooms (in the humanities at least) ceded the cultural capital of expertise in truly damaging ways
I remain convinced that the recent emphasis on STEM (and valorization of tech companies), at the expense of the humanities, is a massive societal mistake
June 29, 2025 at 8:22 PM
I remain convinced that the recent emphasis on STEM (and valorization of tech companies), at the expense of the humanities, is a massive societal mistake
nothing like combining overwhelming intellectual narcissism and unthinking valorization of counterintuitive thinking with the historical sophistication of a first grader
Thiel: "In my telling of history, the hippies took over. We landed on the moon in July of 1969, Woodstock started three weeks later and, with the benefit of hindsight, that’s when progress stopped and the hippies won."
Ah yes, those powerful hippies who ruled in the 1970s. Like Richard Nixon.
Ah yes, those powerful hippies who ruled in the 1970s. Like Richard Nixon.
June 26, 2025 at 1:07 PM
nothing like combining overwhelming intellectual narcissism and unthinking valorization of counterintuitive thinking with the historical sophistication of a first grader
Trump’s desperate and bottomless need for self-congratulation and self-valorization make it entirely plausible that he migrate from “Thanks to me, Iran will be annihilated” to “Thanks to me, Iran will have a golden age” in 24 hours, as long as he never has to admit uncertainty or failure in between.
April 8, 2026 at 5:01 AM
Trump’s desperate and bottomless need for self-congratulation and self-valorization make it entirely plausible that he migrate from “Thanks to me, Iran will be annihilated” to “Thanks to me, Iran will have a golden age” in 24 hours, as long as he never has to admit uncertainty or failure in between.
Bill Maher just provided a textbook demonstration of how liberal commentators normalize authoritarian tendencies through the selective valorization of private charm over public consequences.
www.notesfromthecircus.com/p/the-theate...
www.notesfromthecircus.com/p/the-theate...
The Theater of Intimacy
How Bill Maher Normalizes the Abnormal
www.notesfromthecircus.com
April 12, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Bill Maher just provided a textbook demonstration of how liberal commentators normalize authoritarian tendencies through the selective valorization of private charm over public consequences.
www.notesfromthecircus.com/p/the-theate...
www.notesfromthecircus.com/p/the-theate...
"Bill Maher just provided a textbook demonstration of how liberal commentators normalize authoritarian tendencies through the selective valorization of private charm over public consequences."
April 12, 2025 at 4:52 PM
"Bill Maher just provided a textbook demonstration of how liberal commentators normalize authoritarian tendencies through the selective valorization of private charm over public consequences."
yeah, capital valorization leads to a simultaneous crisis of over-production in some areas while underinvesting in socially-necessary goods, i don’t know what to tell you
Men are extremely keen to explain to me that Britain *needs* a domestic steel production plant and doesn't necessarily *need* universities. Okay. Steel contributed about £1.7bn to the UK economy in 2024. Universities contributed more than £200bn.
May 29, 2025 at 11:15 AM
yeah, capital valorization leads to a simultaneous crisis of over-production in some areas while underinvesting in socially-necessary goods, i don’t know what to tell you
people need to stay in their lane. i hate the valorization of primitivism
April 30, 2025 at 8:08 PM
people need to stay in their lane. i hate the valorization of primitivism