McGuire first drew attention to the theory after posting a video in which he draws a diagonal line on an image of Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian and warns “ladies” to not date men who lean in in photos. Needless to say, people had questions and, thus, McGuire made a follow-up video dredging up a controversial theory that originated on meminist Twitter. The video explores the “Green Line Theory” which claims to confirm who “wears the pants” in any relationship based on a single photo.
What is the Green Line Test?
The green line test claims to determine the inner psychology of a person’s relationship based on how the couple poses in photos. The idea is that you’re supposed to draw green lines over two people’s postures and see which line is leaning into the other and which one stands tall and proud. RELATED: What Toxic Masculinity Actually Means & Its Subtle But Damaging Effects On Society What people don’t realize, however, is where exactly this ‘green line theory’ came from, who started it, and why it was started in the first place.
The ‘Green Line Theory’ was started by a misogynistic, toxically masculine Twitter user named Rivelino.
With over 110,000 followers on Twitter, @alpharivelino caters to his cult following of incels, misogynists, “meninists”, and insecure men by posting these false and baseless ideas of what women are expecting from men and how men should treat women. One quick glance at his tweets should be enough to show you how much he doesn’t actually value women as their own independent beings but as objects fit for men’s taking. The idea of an “alpha” male is all over his Twitter and he reinforces patriarchal stereotypes like how men should be the “protectors” of women or “guide” them through their lives. The ‘green line theory’ is what stands in the front of all of these ideals that Rivelino preaches about, convincing men that if they lean into women then they aren’t in control of the relationship. — Rivelino (@alpharivelino) April 12, 2022
The Green Line Test is now making its way to TikTok but it lacks credibility.
In the TikTok video, he grabs the most recent picture that Kardashian shared of her and her Davidson once again. While most would simply say “aw” and scroll to the next post, McGuire and anyone else who believes the “Green Line Theory” would instead obsess over the postures of the two people in the photograph and shame Davidson for leaning into her. “[The ‘green line theory’], essentially, is showing who is pulling who in a relationship — who wears the pants,” McGuire says. He then goes into photos of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, mentioning that Prince Harry also leans into Markle, “even though he’s the Prince.” RELATED: 7 Examples Of Healthy Masculinity In Relationships It’s that last line that reinforces the patriarchal belief that men should be the more dominant and in control partner in the relationship, like being a Prince has anything to do with his status in their relationship. “This couple, based on the green line test, is not going to work long term,” he says, referring to a photo of a random couple where the man is leaning into the woman. “The green line test doesn’t care who you are or how much you bench in the gym,” he says referring to strongman Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson and his wife, Kelsey Henson.
All of these pictures, however, refer to when a man leans into a woman and never a woman leaning into a man.
Once he gets to the pictures of Jason Statham and his wife, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, he mentions that they’re both standing straight up but only refers to the fact that Statham isn’t a man who is leaning in. These subtle hints give away the fact that there’s some toxic masculinity at play here, though McGuire is much less critical of men who “lean in” that the theory’s original creator, Rivelino. The theory essentially implies that men should not lean into women because doing so would cause them to lose their dominance or control over their partner or relationship. The “Green Line Test” or “Green Line Theory” has no legitimacy aside from the fact that if a man is taller than a woman, he will lean toward her to cover the gap left by their height difference as a woman has no way of physically making herself taller. Don’t buy into everything you see on the internet and call out anyone who believes in this toxic masculinity spew. RELATED: Is It Really Harder To Be A Man? SNL’s ‘Man Park’ Skit Makes Us Wonder… Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.
