Colanne Rohde

10/22/20

Revenge of the Pork Person

Dave Barry makes much use of the figurative tool of hyperbole in his book, Dave

Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys. Examples include: “A man can have a belly you could house

commercial aircraft”, “this man can have B.O. to the point where he interferes with radio

transmissions”, “These experiments have resulted in a breed of fashion models who are 8 and

sometimes 10 feet tall, yet who weigh no more than an abridged dictionary”, etc. This great

exaggeration serves a comical purpose in his writing that engages the reader through over the top

descriptions of otherwise uninteresting or unremarkable things.

Ultimately, the message Barry puts forth in this section of the novel isn’t entirely valid

and applicable to the world of today. Barry, by saying that men generally do not care about their

appearance whereas women care greatly for their appearance, creates a dangerous assumption

that men are generally not self conscious of their bodies. I can attest, however, that many men I

know are in fact self conscious about their bodies, especially when it comes to their weight, but

they are unlikely to vocalize their insecurities. Because of the prevalence of toxic masculinity,

communication between men on insecurities is avoided at all costs as it would make the man

weak as he is then not as impervious to outside opinions as he suggests when he tries to put on an

act of stoicism. Men who voice their insecurities are often written off as whiny by other men.

Ultimately I believe Barry was only looking at the surface level of what men present. Men

present themselves as stoics who feel no pain, emotion, nor insecurity in order to be perceived as

‘Manly’.
 I do, however, agree with Barry on the fact that generally women are more insecure than

men. The beauty and fashion industry that Barry described in the 90s is just as prevalent and

predatory as today. Young girls have gone from looking at paper-thin models in the magazines to

paper-thin models in instagram and social media posts. The body type that is presented in the

media of today is impossible for virtually anyone to achieve except for a select few. It creates an

idea that the overwhelming majority of the female population does not meet the unrealistic

requirement for beauty. Men do not really have the same industry lurking over them constantly.

The beauty industry definitely puts forth the image of a ‘perfect woman’ but does less more to

promote an image of a ‘perfect man’.

Though, there have been some significant changes from the past. Since the 1990s

American society has grown less tolerant of misogyny and sexual harassment. Generally women

are less thought of as incapable of performing a job because they are female. For example there

has been a great increase in the number of female senators and congresswomen since the 1990s.

The #metoo has also helped to reveal perpetrators of sexual misconduct who often use their high

positions of power to exploit women in a sexual manner.