Unintentionally funny book cover of the day

Click the book cover to see it at full size.

The publisher’s notes for Performing Masculinity reads as follows:

This interdisciplinary study analyzes the ways in which signs of masculinity have been performed across a wide variety of contexts and genres – including literature, classical ballet, sports, rock music, films and computer games – from the early nineteenth century to the present day.

You can buy the book on the publisher’s site. I’m less surprised about the price (even the ebook version is $80!) than the fact that it’s available in a softcover edition. Such a book should be hardcover only!

Other observations:

1. God damn, there’s a shit-ton of overcompensating going on here.
2. Good trigger discipline, dude…
3. …but what are you doing bringing a gun into a pub? Especially, since judging by the taps and the proper Guinness pour, it’s a pub in the UK?
4. That dead-eyed stare will be the one used in the news story in which the guy will be described as a “lone wolf” and that “there’s no way this tragedy could have been prevented”.
5. Once again, good Guinness pour!
6. I know that the cat is also supposed to symbolize masculinity as well — especially since most “ginger” cats are male — but there’s something about it that just makes me want to laugh. It might be my own prejudices, in which I associate cat ownership with veganism, writing terrible poetry, and crying after sex. Also, pub cats are definitely not allowed on the bar, though, although the cat bar trend may change that.
7. Doesn’t the cat get a beer, too?
8. Why is there no bacon? Seriously, that’s the one thing this photo is missing.

In case you were wondering what gender performance is, here’s a good Quora post that sums it up nicely.