Early this year, Mark Zuckerberg made headlines by saying corporate culture needs more “masculine energy.” This sentiment was echoed by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s call for the military—an employer of 2.1 million Americans—to return to a “warrior ethos”, promoting traditional masculine standards like aggression and athleticism.

And yet, according to recent news reports, recruits at ICE (another workplace) are struggling to pass basic fitness tests, and Hegseth allegedly installed a makeup room at the Pentagon. Such contradictions remind me of a former manager who once criticized a potential hire for being “kind of girly,” yet spent most of his free time online researching spa treatments and shopping for floral polos.

Masculinity standards can be nebulous and conflicting. GQ’s 202

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