If You Were Wondering When The "Dad Bod" Was Gonna Become Sexist The Answer Is Today

(TIME) — The Internet often thinks that it found a new thing when it really just came up with a new name for something that has existed for decades. The most recent fad is a fixation on the “Dad Bod,” a physique that looks like a formerly fit athlete has gone a bit to seed and grown a nice layer of protective fat around his muscular girth. He’s less Muscle & Fitness than he is Ben & Jerry’s. “The dad bod says, ‘I go to the gym occasionally, but I also drink heavily on the weekends and enjoy eating eight slices of pizza at a time,’” writes Clemson University student Mackenzie Pearson in an article that went viral and accounts for the current fixation on the Dad Bod. The problem with the Dad Bod isn’t what it says about men, but what it says about women and how we treat them. That’s the problem with the Dad Bod: It continues to reinforce inequality about what is acceptable for men and women. While the ladies have to go to Pilates and watch every single calorie, guys are free to let themselves get lazy, chow down on all the chips and guac they want, and still expect their prospective mates to be fit.

I read this article last night and really couldn’t believe my eyes. I thought the Dad Bod was just something the internet was having fun with for a week or so, then we’d be done with it. I didn’t realize it was going to get essays about what it means to gender relations in America today. I certainly didn’t realize it was a “sexist atrocity,” which makes it seem like it’s one step below a holocaust. The whole “craze” stems from an article written by a sorority girl on her MyJournal. No one took it that seriously. In shape guys didn’t think “Oh fuck, better put down the dumbies and get me a pizza” and we fat dudes didn’t think girls actually found us attractive now. It was a little joke. I’m a Dad Bod guy and even I railed against it, saying the girl didn’t understand a Dad Bod comes from skipping the gym on Thursdays for Happy Hour and it’s instead built on years of degenerate behavior. I said she didn’t know what she was getting into, much like a guy who says he wants to date a model for aesthetic reasons doesn’t understand the baggage that comes with. It was a playful trend that we made some jokes about and were all but done with. But, because nothing can be fun and everything has to lead to a serious discussion about inequality in the world, now we’re at the stage of fun where we learn about how one 18 year old girl liking fat dudes means that the male patriarchy has gone too far in making girls self-conscious about their bodies while we continue to not give a fuck about ours.