It’s All Greek to Them

They’re everywhere: guys who radiate youth, exuberance, confidence, sexuality, athleticism and smugness. In advertisements, TV talk shows, movies and politics. Suddenly, frat boys are back.

Consider the evidence:

CBS’ new “The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn” mines the tension between the host’s vaguely lascivious-guy jokes and his self-consciousness about his hair.

Jude Law’s tan, beautiful Dickie in “The Talented Mr. Ripley” frolics abroad with his girlfriend and newfound male admirer on daddy’s dime.

Coke’s newest ad campaign features well-toned college boys diving off a colossal waterfall.

Ben Affleck appears on the cover of this month’s People, identified as “part frat boy,” an image that helped him and friend Matt Damon become the certified It Pair when “Good Will Hunting” was released.

In Iowa, on caucus day, George W. Bush ripped off his jacket, stuffed his tie into his shirt and joined a pickup basketball game, high-fiving the kids when he made a basket.

What do men like Bush and Kilborn have in common? They’re exemplars of a resurgent national archetype: the frat boy.

And though an exact definition remains elusive, most people know a frat boy when they see one. They’re the men who use hair-care products and fret about their clothes but still retain their “guyness” in the eyes of peers. They can jump into a pickup basketball game with a group of strangers. They can gawk at women and still be considered endearing and cute.

Frat boys take various forms, but here’s what they share: striking good looks, inexplicable popularity, unearned self-confidence, pervasive charm and just a hint of self-deprecation.

Not all frat boys are rich, but all frat boys act rich. Not all frat boys are violent, but all frat boys exude unchecked machismo. (Downside: date rape, criminal hazing sometimes spring from unchecked machismo.)

Does W. qualify as a frat boy? Yep. Steve Forbes? No way. Matthew McConaughey? Definitely. Jerry Seinfeld? Nope.

Why is the frat boy so captivating to the popular culture?

Maybe it’s an effort to dust off the “clean-cut” white boy and reinstate him as the linchpin of our society. Maybe it’s part of a backlash against feminism and the civil and gay rights movements. Or maybe we’re just becoming more comfortable with men’s sexuality--we’ve long fawned over images of youthful women, now it’s the guy’s turn.

The definitive retail source for the current frat boy look is Abercrombie & Fitch. The popularity of the store--a step up from the Gap, a step sideways from Banana Republic--is mostly due to its highly controversial catalog/magazine, the Abercrombie & Fitch Quarterly, which contains everything from alcoholic-drink recipes to highly erotic pictures of men and women in various pairings.

The catalog’s male models embody the image with their perfect abs and sly smirking grins. The look in their eyes says without question that they know you’re looking at the photo with lust or envy but probably both. And the clothing store knows you’ll cover yourself in A&F; gear just to try to look like the Adonises gazing out from the photos.

While clothes definitely contribute to the image--just look around at all the young men wearing button-up, long-sleeved shirts tucked into khakis and white baseball caps--it’s not just clothing or perfectly proportioned muscles and a strong jawline that make the frat boy. It’s not even always about youth. You can almost always see the glints of a former frat-boy life in older men; the image may have faded into baldness and extra padding, but the golden-boy core is still there.

At 54, Bush may be the nation’s oldest, most photographed frat boy, proving that there are no age limits to the phenomenon.

W. still has the athleticism--real or perceived--the cocky attitude, the smirk. He pouts when things go wrong. During debates, when other candidates ask questions, W. answers as if his time would be better spent picking lint off his suit. In short, W. doesn’t just expect to get the nomination and the presidency--he knows this the way a doted-on 6-year-old knows that Santa won’t stuff his stocking with coal no matter what he’s done.

It doesn’t really matter whether a frat boy has ever pledged a fraternity or even considered it. In fact, only a true fraternity boy could pull off the look without ever having set foot in a fraternity house.

In a 1995 piece for GQ magazine, Mark Adams wrote that the frat boy sensibility involves developing a fundamental “tolerance and commitment” toward other people--even ones you despise.

“That’s why fraternity men make such good brokers and congressmen,” he wrote. “They already know that in the real world one has to cut deals with cretins and idiots, and that you can’t run away from everyone whose interests and foibles don’t jibe with your own.”

In other words, frat boys have a gift for balancing conformist, self-centered and often thuggish behavior with their warm personalities, arresting good looks and endearing masculinity. They come across as honorable, American, even downright charming. And that may just explain their broad appeal, because, seriously, who doesn’t secretly wish they could do the same?