(Previously in Swedish on this webbsite 2017)

The tie is a very odd male accessory without any practical or actual function. It doesn’t warm us or cover our bodies. Most men just wear it to feel important, dressed up or to conform to their surroundings, and many men express that they feel “naked” without their tie.

The tie is often associated with power, especially by those who lack real power. These men pull on a tie because other men with perceived power use one and think that a little bit of the power are inherent in this piece of fabric. But what exactly is a tie and why is it associated with power and masculinity?

Simply put, the tie is a fake penis that men hang around their necks. And why? Well, because it is not acceptable to show their real dicks. If you do, you are seen as perverted. Instead, men show a symbolic one. For these men, their self-confidence is based on that they are a man and this needs to be manifested and constantly proven, both to themselves and to their surroundings.

The masculinity must then have an important value for these men to have a function as self-confidence builder, there must be something to compare with, something that has a lower value. In this case, it will be the other half of the population, the women, those who lack a dick and therefore cannot or should not wear a tie. The tie thus becomes important because it shows that they are not women, they have dicks even if they only are allowed to show a symbolic ones.

When women try to break into men’s traditional territory, they sometimes try to adapt to the men’s world by dressing in traditionally male attributes such as suit-like clothing and sometimes even ties. But suit and tie on a woman is usually seen as a bit odd and something negative.     

But refusing to wear a tie among men can also be a way to show power. If you understand the norm but consciously violates them, can be seen as a sign of absolute power. Not wearing a tie in a context when you are expected to wear one can symbolizes that you have a position that  you can put yourself above the system. You don’t have to worry about the others, they don’t pose a real threat to you. Not wearing a tie expresses that you don’t need to have a symbolic penis around your neck to show that you are a real man.