Soap Operas

I guess I didn’t explain this correctly. Of course the words “gentlemanly behavior” makes sense with a current connotation of being polite. What your not seeing, and what I object to, is the hijacking of the term to create artificial bonds that make no sense.

There is nothing inherent to “gentlemen” and shaving OTHER than the concept of “gentlemen” were shaved by what they considered to be the  lower classes. Listen to The Art of Manliness episode of the Knights of the Razor. Whether it was the man -servent for Victorian Gentlemen or African Americans or Italian Immigrants to today there are many Asian women, all doing barbering, barbering was consider a lower social class.

Within this current bubble, I don’t know who did the propaganda job but Bernays would have been proud. When I first read this rally cry, that is, “WE ARE GENTLEMEN”, I thought – what? Who cares? And what does that even mean and exactly what does it have to do with shaving???

Yet within this world, I see very “ungentlemen” behavior from “some”.

Some look down upon those that dry shave

Some look down upon those who wet shave but do not use a straight edge or safety razor only using cartridges or disposables

Some look down upon those that use “canned goo” and use this and other degratory terms for products “they” consider inferior.

And then there is the altar to the “artisans”, which I don’t understand, when at least I see commercial products that are better than “artisans”, yet a class distinction exists there.

I see the word Gentlemen used as a rally flag, yet the behavior not really there for some and that is where I am coming from. It makes no sense OTHER than a rally flag, a means to create a virtual bond in a non-physical world. Yes, we are gentlemen, we are kind, polite, and have manners, that is unless we don’t like the tools others use and we consider inferior, in which case we come up with demeaning terms and create class distinctions.  Ahh Bernays, he was a genius. its all about propaganda and marketing.  And the funny thing is, "we" are in the minority.

By using this term, the community INFERS that those who do not traditional wet shave are NOT gentlemen. That's not an accident. If you exhibit gentlemen's behavior in the common sense, then

Don't tell me canned shaving cream is goo. "we" are in the minority. The Majority disagrees with "us".

Don't look down upon those who use cartridges as heathens and the uninformed. Educate them, sure, but don't insult them

Don't pretend Dry Shaving doesn't exist.

Don't look down upon those who do NOT use "artisan" products but prefer widely available and cheaper commercial products. As many will claim, you can shave with about anything. Whats the point of wasting money on "artisan" soaps when Arko or Proraso works just fine?

I think the point has been made. Using a term from the past to create a rallying flag artificially creates a class structure that has negative meanings from the past. At least pick a different word without negative connotations.

You don't see any of that nonsense here, at least not in any broad sense or beyond the short shelf-life of an individual that will quickly fall away from this forum.

Your entire argument is based on BS that happens in places OTHER THAN DFS. So why bring that "soap opera nonsense" here?

And please...try to understand that one man's podcast is another man's venting. I don't care how historically accurate an individual might be, a podcast and a blog are opinions that define neither an industry nor a pattern of behavior. I do not base my life and vocabulary choices on whether or not a dictionary from 1890 would approve, and I do not base my behavior and preferences on whether or not some stranger doing a podcast will approve.

I base my behavior and preferences on whether or not I approve. I treat people how I want to be treated, and as far as I can tell, on this forum at least, most of us act in a similar fashion.

Hating the use of a word because of a small minority of individuals abusing the word as a means of positioning themselves higher in a fantasy hierarchy that only exists in their mind is equally silly to making up a hierarchy to place yourself atop of. Debating incessantly using 150 year old definitions to support this idea of division and insult inherent in a word, is equally silly.

You have made the classic mistake of attributing characteristics of a word globally when such characteristics are not universal. You insist that the word itself is indicative of insult and inherently divisive, but this is utter nonsense. CLEARLY the word "gentlemen" can be used in an endearing, respectful, polite, and appreciative manner. CLEARLY this manner of usage is more popular in a forum such as DFS. CLEARLY the number of people using the word "gentlemen" as a means of divisive insult are in the minority, by a long shot.

Logically, your arguments apply only to a narrow subsection of the wet shaving community, rather than to the entirety of the hobby as a whole. There is no definition of the word that is going to change the modern perception that it means "a man of honor and respectability". I don;t care if you go back to the transitional period between Latin/English/Germanic separation that helped to evolve these different languages. You still aren't going to find a universal definition that applies today in the way you want it to apply.

Your issues with the word are clearly personal, and are not, as you seem to want to insist, indicative of a greater problem within the wet shaving community. At least it is not indicative of a problem that cannot be escaped without leaving the hobby behind...  

All you have to do is be a little more selective in the public forums within which you participate. Problem solved...

guys, are we REALLY arguing over what the word 'gentlemen' means?!

I'm closing this for a few days so everyone can cool off...

Thank you BadDad and Thank you andrewjs18! Finally!