this is a reFLEX to Joshua Citarella’s essay “Auto-experiment: Hyper-masculinity.”
he begins the essay by highlighting a claim made by “online conservatives” that feminization of male population, caused by external environmental factors, causes a dividual to “become leftist.”
expressed differently, because of endocrine disrupting chemicals found in “seemingly everything,” more and more people are becoming leftist.
this claim is, of course, *tugs on shirt* *touches nose* *sniffs* bullshit, it’s what everyone labels “we do a little trolling.”
it effected Joshua (CI)t(A)rella, what the righties call “a soy boy,” to spend time investigating an obviously ridiculous claim made to trigger the soyest online leftists: a cyber-invasion of an organic data-suit.
and knowing it’s obviously ridiculous, he performed this to frame himself as an “emergent artist” of this collapsing empire.
off rip, the connection made by this claim is not worth investigating too deeply: given the specific history of the world of today, it cannot be true that subjects who are statistically-dominant women or effeminate subjects are more likely to be leftwing than rightwing.
yet, what did CItArella do to investigate? performed a 3-month long self-experiment as an art performance. we offer a different route, without all the trouble: work smarter, not harder.
the claim is obviously difficult to verify, this is easy to establish for many reasons: too many variables to fix to determine any statistical significance, and due to the dependence of origination, the subject cannot be isolated from a social history to determine whether feminization will map into a leftwing subject from a neutral subject. whence would the leftwing/rightwing mapping come, if not from the social reality itself?
yet a paradox looms, which we exploit. we attack their vacuous claim differently, no need for such performance.
we deny its validity from the start to trigger the terminally online rightwing.
to them we say, that’s absurd, we won’t engage further. period.
but then, to others, so they may see it too, we agree with them using the obverse to their claim: aha! so you see, they agree that feminized subjects are more willing to undertake or side with women’s revolutionary struggle against the oedipal-machine, a leftwing project, because they have to deal with those guys, and each one of those guys know deep inside how bad it is to deal with them though they’d never admit it.
that’s all.
but then two articles are introduced to support exploring this connection (“i do cool things, please contract me, i need funding”).
one is a video of an experiment conducted on Buzzfeed writers (full stop………………………ok we continue) which at the end revealed that all four test subjects had relatively low testosterone levels: primo soys.
the other was a “much debated” study published in the Evolution and Behavior Journal, “which found” (read: weakly correlated) “that physically weaker men are more likely to have favorable opinions on the redistribution of wealth and income.”
the article finds no such causal structure… because there couldn’t be one, but us here know that there are plenty of articles produced by the academic/machine that are shit, that simply exist because some people need money and with such funding they can continue to work in their field, and explore links which practically support or theoretically oppose the dominant ideology, merely adding noise to the background: we need funding, look at this cool hypothesis that can help you, Daddy!
to the article writers, which consist of 3 man and 1 woman, we offer this: the claim is both true and not true.
when it holds true, it is because relatively “uglier” men/people are more concerned with actually important matters than the trivialities of men/people who fancy themselves handsome and so engage in (para)social relationships and sex-qua-conquering.
lol.
yet it’s also ridiculous to even consider studying that. theoretically it is garbage, pure ideology. but practically, is it useful? yes, precisely for the reason it was made mainstream and why we here have to write this, it is precisely what is in contention: that the intellectual capabilities of dividuals are being exploited to research ridiculous claims to advance a specific ideological agenda.
moving on, sadly, because it goes on.
then Joshua writes the following:
“i had always thought that my political leanings were the result of rational economic planning and a general commitment to the project of human freedom--”
hilarious, really, to suggest that because he grew up in this country and ate from its trashcan, he holds political opinions and perspectives that are the result of rational economic planning and a general commitment to the project of human freedom. another meta-gap.
concluding with an element which ironically separates him from any kernel of truth uncovered or vaguely hinted at in this performance:
“but maybe i have been poisoned by modernity.”
and here is the true crime of Joshua ciTaRELLA with this performance: of creating this meta/gap between himself and any possibility for truth, through placing himself on the side of the “may be true but” along with the personality he developed online--so that whoever sides with him uncritically will think of themselves as holding the nuanced opinion.
oh, but there’s more! before detailing his performance, he makes explicit why he’s doing this:
“I decided to try every internet folklore male improvement technique and see if it changed my beliefs.”
Joshua does two things here: admits to his soyness with another instance of ironic distancing, thus closing in on what he pretends to escape, and creates the following if/then condition: if his 3-month long experiment does not change his opinions from a leftwing soyboy to a rightwing “chad” (as the righties would say), then most or all connections hinted at in this performance are equally ludicrous concerns, the concerns or investments of paranoiac-machines.
needless to say, an easy ride for the negation.
the experiment consists of: mewing, lifting, drinking raw onion juice, avoiding phthalates and xenoestrogens, sperm retention, taking InfoWars: Super Male Vitality supplement, and sunning the testicles.
right away i could tell this is a :halfthought: project not worth considering--but precisely because enough people take him seriously, and precisely because i take myself seriously (enough to not fear firing or coming under fire in the cyberpolis), i feel socially obligated to invest a couple hours of energy to critique it.
he begins with mewing, which is the silliest one so the tone at first is playful. i did not know what it was until he explained it, then i read his “trick” which is to not chew from side-to-side.
i opened a separate tab and literally typed “jaw bone muscle structure” and from this picture i immediately determined the following: no shit.
the muscle fibers run up and down the cheek so of course there’d be no muscular contraction by moving side-to-side. why would Joshua try that without first considering this basic fact, a fact emerging immediately from the organization of his body?
then to couple with the majority of his audience, he shares that he lifted in the past as a hobby, that during some period it was “pursued seriously” and then mentions Zyzz, some internet cult personality. for those who don’t know, that’s like bringing up a rare reference that everyone who knows will appreciate.
then the raw onion juice. look you guys, i even have a video of myself drinking it! i’m sure he only drank it once.
“brush your teeth because this will be the worst breath you have ever had in your life (you will be able to smell yourself exhale, breathe through your nose as much as possible).”
ha ha, goes the reader, now coupled to the syntho/data/suit of Joshua CItArella.
and this is when ciTaRELLA begins to commit his second crime. he shifts tone when discussing phthalates, beginning with:
“toxic chemicals everywhere… right now, it’s already in your blood and in your pee.”
he’s right, you know.
then he constructs a paranoiac personality: “I remain in a constant state of anxiety trying to manage my consumption while avoiding toxicants. I buy fresh produce and when possible I bring my own cloth bag to the store.”
he develops this paranoiac personality further when he remembers an interaction with his father holding a receipt: “I felt overwhelming anxiety and began to slowly back away as if he were wielding a weapon. Even looking at a receipt now fills me with existential dread.”
note the shift to first-person present tense.
the crime has been committed: with the ironic-distancing-and-paradoxical-closing-in established in the beginning, here he develops the psychology of the strawman, the online conservative. they become paranoid because of these fears: the neighbor/thing now becomes these toxic chemicals.
“the real worry is long term storage in plastic.”
is the real worry long term storage, or your imagined worry stemming from a lack (of knowledge)? whoever is concerned with long-term storage knows not to use plastic, Joshua.
case in point, “I now use glass and/or stainless steel containers for food & drinks.”
good, a positive.
now, to avoid xenoestrogens, one must avoid a reasonable list of items and, apparently, a singular task: avoid seed oils; no alternative milk products; no cow milk; no beer. reasonable things to avoid, especially cow milk; and, finally, no eating at restaurants, since they use the cheapest oil, canola oil, which contain, in its very constitution, these xenoestrogens.
i’ll repeat this point later, but although Joshua makes it seem like a militant restriction, it is only so when it is misapplied.
then mr. ciTaRELLA reflects on the benefits of a diet that minimizes carbs, pushing his body to use stored fat for energy, which minimizes insulin resistance/maximizes insulin sensitivity, since these restrictions mean no ridiculous shit snacks or candy or soda throughout the day:
“This summer, I’ve basically survived on eggs, meat and vegetables. On the positive side, I feel great! I have sustained energy throughout the day and my mind feels sharp. If you can manage your consumption this will really improve your life. These rules are extremely tough and you're going to slip up once in a while-- but you’re also going to feel so good that you won’t want to cheat on the diet.”
imagine if a majority were so restrictive with themselves? or take a limit case, as i like to do, and imagine if everyone restricted themselves from all candies or all those products that exist only to get rid of the supply of something valueless like tartrazine.
no one would be spending money on that weaponized sugar, so according to market laws, zero demand eventually results in zero supply.
here is a critical point: this wouldn’t mean less material extracted. the issue remains that the raw material that would otherwise be used for those snacks or whatever, would instead be applied elsewhere, for a new product, to satisfy a new consumer habit.
this is why we shouldn’t separate ourselves from the capital/machine through irony or other means, because through this meta/distancing we actually close in on it from the other side: we return to a position of full submission to its authority over us. yes, honey.
we have to recognize its power and deal with it seriously in order to seriously halt its machinations without needing a nonhuman leviathan. this would be an opportunity for momentary peace as a venue of attack against the capital-machine: why is it a venue of mockery, mr. (ci)T(a)RELLA?
on to the most important takeaway from this performance:
“Seriously, thermal paper is the single most toxic thing you can come into contact with. It is literally covered in BPA or BPS and these chemicals are immediately absorbed through the skin. Remember, xenoestrogens are not “real” hormones. This stuff does not belong in the human body. It is poison. Be safe.”
yes, true, it is the most toxic------------in material composition. the temporal aspect is important here: in most cases, for most people, they only very briefly hold on to the receipt.
fools check for correctness, holding on to it for longer periods, but the wise immediately dispose of it or walk away without it.
“Be safe,” smirks ciTaRELLA.
and finally, what CItArella took away from this performance.
“This has been a miserable but enlightening summer”
perhaps only miserable because you have constructed or allowed your life to center your wellbeing around such empty objects: i’m sure you missed beers, your sugar/free or sugar/full sodas, your candies, eating out almost every night because you probably don’t make time to cook, and so on.
so i posit that mr. citarella didn’t learn the lesson here at all.
but there’s more: he admits that it’s not possible to manage our consumption this carefully, “no one can.”
“Living like this is akin to a religious or military type of discipline without any external support. You’re going to screw up. A lot. But this is actually the point-- more than the bodily transformation, the constant anxiety is the experience. Living in a state of vigilant paranoia is more potent than any xenohormone. I’m terrorized in the grocery store. I’m gang stalked by chemicals. The feeling never shuts off because it’s never safe.”
no the point isn’t for the awareness of these neuro/bio/chemical invasions to cause anxiety, or for the subject to add to the signified of the neighbor signifier a “vigilant paranoia” against xenohormones or plasticizers or whatever else we might not even know about.
the point isn’t to submit yourself to this restriction forever, no one can. just like with a ketogenic diet or water fasting, it is done for a specific purpose for a specific period of time. not indefinitely.
the point is to minimize the damage by all these attack tensors against the organo-machine, the human body, and through this damage control, optimize the body all while damaging the capital-machine. it needs you to re/oil itself. and with a strong body, healthy mind, with many comrades seriously engaged, we could seriously halt business as usual.
for the neurotic/subjects, for the paranoiac-machine, as mister CItArella admits being or distancing from to mock (hence both), they may become “terrorized” in the grocery store, “gang stalked by chemicals.” of course this is bullshit, this is precisely the strawman’s psychology sketched earlier: the paranoiac/machine. a receipt? mister CItArella doesn’t think more than two times about it; the third thought, it’s too late anyway.
“This stuff is literally in the water,”
it really is and we continue to allow this to happen.
in fact, so much EXCESS happens without our awareness of it, EXCESS that doesn’t have to exist and only exists to continue supporting the very body which makes it an organ, a need.
For me, this project was not about a simple before-and-after photo (gym selfie) or measuring a numerical increase in my T levels. Instead, I wanted to experience a material and spiritual transformation to learn if my worldview might be rooted in something of which I was previously unaware.
and here we are, what the wise has learned. of all things that could’ve been learned, of all ways this could’ve been performed, this is what is has come to:
“But I don’t feel as if my political leanings have changed. If anything I became more enthusiastic about data and planning. “
because of course, only 90 days after 2021-1987 years of living in this country embedded in its Environment (big E to signify the most general category, including physical environment with its air and water, agrotoxins used in harvesting, EXCESS chemicals added during distribution and production, cosmetics, foods, commodities, habits, etc), with his particular mode of existence in this world (white male, able bodied) and hence with his particular orientation toward it, his dreaming of his future in it--would result in such drastic changes, especially with this attitude toward it all.
“Its almost like fitness and policy are two separate things :thinking:”
actually they are not separate, mr. CItArella: individual/social wellness and policy do inform one another: weak men create hard times. :thinkingharder:
the only reason they appear to him as separate is because he foolishly tried to seize by identity, one moment of individual/social wellbeing, mistaking it for the whole: fitness is nothing outside of its social embedding, and the specific degree of importance it holds in a culture infers the quality of life of a population.
after all, is it not true that policy influences mental health, and is not mental health part of fitness, and more broadly still, wellness? yes, it is. by isolating a moment and treating it as a whole, one can find manifold ways to dismiss its interconnections.
to conclude: Joshua Citarella has “right-winged” these concerns, mostly expressed, misrepresented really, by the online right, though it is not exclusively their concerns.
we are living during an extinction event and people like Joshua Citarella are using social malaises to perform excess art. no surprise here, to be sure. i do expect this kind of performance to become more rampant as environmental conditions worsen.
could not this have been turned into a project where ciTaRELLA and his group seriously engaged with all this, and instead of derision, extended the research to clarify on it, in order connect with the conservative right speaking about this while connecting them to anti-capitalist attitudes, exposing them to an actually revolutionary politics?
well, this is the problem with ironic distancing now: he knows the distancing legitimizes it and is doing it anyway. after all, his takeaway is that he became more “enthusiastic about data and planning.”
hence Joshua Citarella is a techbro of the peripheral institutional artworld:
a soybro.
yawn...
next.