Jerry Seinfeld laments decline of 'dominant masculinity,' social hierarchy in US: 'I like a real man'

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, May 30, 2024

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld lamented the decline of "dominant masculinity," which he suggested has led to the disintegration of the clear social hierarchy that once maintained American culture.

Speaking with him about his new Pop Tart-based movie "Unfrosted" on her podcast,  journalist Bari Weiss asked Seinfeld if the film's setting in the early 1960s indicates his nostalgia for a time she said, "feels like a different planet."

“I miss a dominant masculinity… I like a real man.”@JerrySeinfeld on a nostalgia for the 1960s found throughout his new movie, “Unfrosted,” and what’s been lost in our culture today.

Listen to his full conversation with @BariWeiss now: https://t.co/NzOqYTgVTIpic.twitter.com/XGkEgAHuYl

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— Honestly with Bari Weiss (@thehonestlypod) May 28, 2024

Acknowledging that the time period was profoundly different, Seinfeld noted that a "key element" missing in modern American society is "an agreed-upon hierarchy," which he said "is absolutely vaporized in today's moment."

"And I think that is why people lean on the horn and drive in the crazy way that they drive because we have no sense of hierarchy. And as humans, we don't really feel comfortable like that," he said.

Seinfeld suggested that the decline of traditionally masculine men in popular culture is a symptom of the disintegrating social hierarchy.

Despite his admiration for traditional masculinity, Seinfeld conceded that he does not epitomize such traits.

"I've always wanted to be a real man. I never made it," he joked, adding that as a boy, he would look up to figures such as John F. Kennedy, Muhammad Ali, Howard Cosell and Sean Connery as exemplars of "a real man" he and other boys wanted to be like.

"Yeah, I get the toxic thing," Seinfeld added of masculinity. "Thank you, thank you. But still, I like a real man."

Seinfeld also discussed "toxic masculinity" with fellow comedian Bill Maher during a recent episode of Maher's podcast "Club Random," during which Maher ascribed the decline of men in part to rampant perverted pornography, which Seinfeld agreed is "horrible."

"When you think about how innocent our childhood was, the level of innocence is just like from a different ..."

"Yes, absolutely," Seinfeld interjected. "We can't fix it, Bill. They broke it!"

Seinfeld, who is not overtly political, has lately complained that far-left "woke" culture is destroying entertainment and pushing people toward comedy because it is "not policed by anyone."

"It used to be you would go home at the end of the day, most people would go, 'Oh, 'Cheers' is on. Oh, 'M*A*S*H' is on. Oh, 'Mary Tyler Moore' is on. 'All in the Family' is on.' You just expected there'll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight," Seinfeld said during an appearance on The New Yorker Radio Hour.

"This is the result of the extreme left and PC [politically correct] crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people," he added.

Seinfeld recently gave the 2024 commencement address at Duke University, during which many pro-Palestinian students walked out in protest of the Jewish comedian.

Seinfeld noted to Weiss that he finds such displays against him "silly" and that people should focus their frustration over the geopolitical situation on individuals who have control over the decisions.