One of the central tenets of "traditional masculinity" is strength, which is interesting since quite a few people who espouse the ideas of a "strong alpha male" find that position so easily threatened.
Self professed alpha male going "Alpha Rivelino" has had enough of seeing men pose incorrectly in photos, so he has posted a few helpful tips on Twitter - and pretty quickly got dragged for it.
According to this paragon of manliness, a man leaning in when taking a photo makes him weak and undesirable. Rivelino says men should always be standing upright with little to no interest in the people they are taking pictures with.
He calls the concept of relative body positioning "relationship polarity" and says it indicates the health and status of the people in the picture.
Please check out these handy-dandy examples of "weak" men.
Note the helpful green lines.
GREEN LINES: Thread #1
May 2020https://t.co/kP5U3RGfNW
— Rivelino (@alpharivelino) February 1, 2021
Rivelinos examples of weakness include UFC fighters, a Prince, a history-making successful Black comic and actor and a man famed and beloved for his size, strength, and character.
The Alpha Rivelino account does not present itself as a parody or comedy account.
To save men from themselves, this "Alpha educator" sells a shirt with his green line on it "to remind you to stand up straight and not lean in."
It's not just the leaning and head tilt, though. Rivelino is also incredibly concerned with genital placement.
If you, like us, typically don't even think about where your genitals are aiming when you're just trying to take a photo with your partner or family, Rivelino wants you to know you're doing it all wrong.
Penises must face the world. Vaginas must face the partner.
"This is correct."
If all of these rules seem complicated, don't worry.
Rivelino is here with an example of perfect masculinity and 'relationship polarity."
ASK RIVELINO
"Can you show me a photo of a man with good posture?"
Check out Jeff Gordon. He is facing the world. His focus is his mission, his next challenge. He is confident and relaxed. Meanwhile, his girl is completely focused on him. This is beautiful posture and polarity pic.twitter.com/bdQFfYKifn
— Rivelino (@alpharivelino) February 2, 2021
The ideal according to Rivelino?
Race car driver Jeff Gordon and his former wife, Brooke. Their marriage ended amid rumors of infidelity and other "marital misconduct."
Rivelino doesn't seem to think that's important in this case even though it was relevant for the image of Mary-Kate Olsen and Olivier Sarkozy.
We'd be lying if we said there weren't some people who seem inexperienced enough to agree with and "learn from" Rivelino.
But by and large, the entire thread quickly became a laughing stock.
It did not take long for Twitter users to find, and start reporting, some of Rivelino's older and more troubling tweets.
While Rivelino's photo-genital theory is clearly toxic and ridiculous, it is not inherently dangerous. The other tweets indicate something more troubling going on.
Twitter has not yet responded to reports.
