Although the consumption of nicotine pouches is still very limited in Europe, their addictive power worries the European Commission, which recognizes that due to the existing legal loophole and the absence of tobacco in these products there is no specific directive regulating their use .
Apparently, these John Waynes of 2024 have made workouts and nicotine pouches their new symbols of masculinity and have decided that physical activity is the best way to claim it
However, Stacey Kennedy, president of US tobacco giant Philip Morris, says sales numbers have risen above expectations for the campaign thanks to the sale of the tobacco pouches. Demand for Zyn pouches, the best-known brand, rose 66% in the United States in the third quarter of last year.
Body worship
The American public sphere has politicized the use of nicotine pouches and associated it with an idea of masculinity that it sees as threatened. It’s not the first method to attempt to restore macho ideals in a world – according to the far right – threatened by feminism and so-called woke culture: before Zyn there were testicle tans and testosterone parties.
Tucker Carlson, the controversial former Fox News anchor, has emerged as the first Zynfluencer. “He was using smoking semiotically, he switched to nicotine gum, he switched to Zyn a few years ago and now he worships it. He calls it mind-enhancing medicine.’
And he also came up with this heuristic, which has been heard by many conservatives: that right now, the state, from Democrats to Republicans, want to legalize THC. They want to legalize marijuana, but they want to continue to ban nicotine. Why is this happening; He claimed that THC makes you lazy and docile. Nicotine wakes you up and makes you accomplish things,” journalist David Weigel told NPR in an interview discussing how nicotine patches have become the latest political battleground.
“They hate nicotine. They love THC. They promote weed to your kids, but won’t let you use tobacco or even smokeless nicotine delivery devices, which don’t cause cancer. Why do they hate nicotine? Because nicotine frees your mind and THC makes you docile and passive”
But Carlson isn’t the only one extolling Zyn’s purported benefits: people who use these pouches, which, when placed under the lip, cause nicotine to be absorbed at high speed to raise blood pressure and heart rate. rhythm, they claim to free the mind and increase both productivity and sexual potency.
Thus, nicotine pouches have become part of a masculine and hyper-masculine vision of health, which, as pointed out in a Vox article, makes the worship of the body and these nicotine pouches its weapons to become more sexual and productive.
Looking for lost masculinity?
Nicotine sachets, which are inspired by a tobacco-derived product called Snus, contain a highly addictive stimulant and have become popular in industries linked to the economy and technology.
From tech moguls like Elon Musk to the controversial and sexist influencer Andrew Tate, the message they all send is that hand in hand with stimulants and body worship it is possible to regain the ultimate dominance that, according to their beliefs, they are being robbed by society and feminism.
“Many bunch of men are afraid of losing their power and privilege, from cyber-misogynists to neoliberal success coaches. They are trying to cling to the historical patriarchy and an outdated power that is taking its last breaths, which undoubtedly speaks to their complexes and fears,” explains sociologist and sexologist Erick Pescador Albiach.
“What some men are promoting and selling on social media, the idea that you should achieve the best version of yourself, reminds me of the number of disillusioned, depressed or suicidal men that this system has created and destroyed.”
Nicotine, protein, caffeine and creatine
“They hate nicotine. They love THC. They promote weed to your kids, but won’t let you use tobacco or even smokeless nicotine delivery devices, which don’t cause cancer. Why do they hate nicotine? Because nicotine frees your mind and THC makes you docile and passive,” Carlson told Fox News in January 2023.
He has also confessed to having a Zyn sachet under his lips until seconds before falling asleep and can’t understand why the left is against nicotine. “It may be bad for some, but it’s not bad for everyone, and it actually has many medical benefits that have been documented. It increases your mental capacity, your testosterone levels, and it can fight Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, so I don’t see what their problem is,” he said.
“They fear a society where a man wakes up in the morning, drinks plain coffee, opens a cool upper decky mint [ένα σακουλάκι Zyn] and messing with people,” Greg Price, communications director for the ultra-conservative State Freedom Caucus Network, said on social media. “A man with nicotine, protein, caffeine and creatine coursing through his veins is an unstoppable force. Imagine if Joe Biden had some smooth sixes [σακουλάκια] which he took every day. Maybe he knew where to walk when he finished his speeches,” he added.
The paradox of masculinity
Apparently, these John Waynes of 2024 have made workouts and nicotine pouches their new symbols of masculinity and have decided that physical activity is the best way to claim it. “The cult of the body has always been a classic value of masculinity that commodifies men, either by militarizing them or making them work with their bodies [χειρωνακτική εργασία]explains to EL PAÍS Manuel Gare, author of Macho, an essay on masculinity that runs through the world of sports, work culture, success, failure and male silence.
“If we add to work and war physical strength [που επιτυγχάνεται] through sport, we have the three pillars on which men have historically gained meaning in our societies. But now men no longer hold all the positions of power and their relationship with the opposite sex has changed. For some it’s a release, but for others what’s left is a feeling of emptiness and failure. Faced with this lack of answers, many return to the body.”
*With information from El Pais | Main theme photo: YouTube
