hey-3
Explanation
This is a long-format comic about a man at a bar trying to impress a woman. He launches into an elaborate, intellectualized monologue about how "the longstanding social arrangement in which heterosexual men find self-worth by providing security" has been "altered by modern women's self-sufficiency." He discusses how men now must find meaning in a service-sector economy, and asks rhetorically whether he should pursue a "men's club" for friendship and mentoring, or acquire practical skills that would make him "a whole person."
Then comes the reversal: "No, I'm gonna go to the gym and get absolutely jacked." He plans to use radical physical transformation -- implied cosmetic surgery, extreme fitness -- to compensate, because "the important thing is that I won't feel bad." He then approaches a woman with "Can I buy you a drink?" She says she is going to a comedy/cultural event and he dismisses himself as "chubby and having people-feelings."
The humor operates on multiple levels. The man's initial monologue shows genuine self-awareness about modern masculinity and the crisis of male identity, but rather than following through on any of the thoughtful solutions he outlines, he defaults to the shallowest possible response: getting ripped. The final exchange reveals that his elaborate intellectualizing was just a cover for basic insecurity, and the woman he tries to impress is already living the kind of engaged, culturally rich life he described but rejected.