'I like a real man': Jerry Seinfeld says he misses 'dominant masculinity'
Jerry Seinfeld misses “dominant masculinity” in society from the days of his youth saying, “I like a real man.”
The “Seinfeld” sitcom co-creator and star who has made America laugh for decades made the comments on the “Honestly with Bari Weiss” podcast Tuesday in a talk about his latest film “Unfrosted” set in the idyllic 60s.
When asked if he had nostalgia for the time period, Seinfeld, 70, said he does.
“There’s another element there that I think is the key element and that is an agreed upon hierarchy, which I think is absolutely vaporized in today’s moment,” Seinfeld said. “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 noted that masculinity was a part of that.
“I really thought, when I was in that era, again it was JFK, it was Muhammad Ali, it was Sean Connery, Howard Cosell, you can go all the way down there. That’s a real man. I want to be like that some day,” the comedian explained.
But he joked that sadly, as a comedian, "I never really grew up,” calling his profession "a childish pursuit."
“But I miss dominant masculinity. Yeah I get the toxic [masculinity] but still, I like a real man,” he added.
“Unfrosted,” now streaming on Netflix, follows the rivalry between cereal giants Kellogg’s and Post to create a treat to revolutionize the breakfast table: Pop-Tarts toaster Pastries.
It features Bill Burr as President John F. Kennedy and includes cameos by Jon Hamm and John Slattery as advertising executives — a nod to their role in the hit TV show “Mad Men,” which was also set in the 60s.
It’s not the first time Seinfeld as been outspoken on modern culture. In April, he suggested that political correctness was killing comedy after he said in an interview with The New Yorker that the era of golden comedy no longer exists.
“It used to be you would go home at the end of the day, most people would go, ‘Oh, ‘Cheers’ is on,” he told the publication. “‘Oh, ‘M.A.S.H.’ is on, oh, ‘Mary Tyler Moore’ is on. ... You just expected, there’ll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight. Well, guess what? Where is it? This is the result of the extreme left and PC crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people.”
Earlier this month Seinfeld faced boos and a walkout during his commencement speak at Duke University in North Carolina.
Seinfeld, who is Jewish, has been a vocal supporter of Israel, and he visited the country following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the capturing of hostages that led to the war between Israel and Hamas.
Marlene Lenthang
Breaking News Reporter
