>>1541001Yeah, see, if it's genuine (personally restored or actually gets used) then I have no problem with it.
There is a store in my city that sells lumberjack-sexual type stuff, male grooming products, axes, cigar shit, etc. Once me and my brother went in to give it a look. One of the staff, a twiggy guy with a big beard and a flannel shirt, bid us to hold an axe upon entering. Like, "welcome, here's your axe, welcome to the manliness shop". We declined, saying "no thank you, we've held an axe before" (no tone of smugness, we just didn't see the need) . He looked genuinely sad we declined. I imagine he lives in studio apartment with a fine $300 originally crafted axe sitting in the corner as decoration, never been used. When his friends come over they probably get goosed up on micro-brews and pass the axe around, reveling in the illusion of masculinity they get by proximity to "manly" commercial goods.
Kind of a long story but every time I see this aesthetic I think of that guy fondling an axe in his studio apartment, trying to buy his way to a masculine, outdoors, or self-sufficient self image. teetering on an identity crisis. It bums me out.
