Geno Segers Told Men to “Tighten Up.” Maybe He Should Take His Own Advice.
by Chris Peterson
Geno Segers had a phrase he liked to use in his videos.
“Come on, man. Tighten up.”
One example can be heard at the end of the video clip below, which Segers posted last October while mocking the idea of trans men becoming pregnant.
He would use the phrase when lecturing other men about toughness. It became part of his online persona. Segers presented himself as someone willing to say the difficult thing, even when other people did not want to hear it.
That confidence seems to have disappeared rather quickly.
After Segers was announced as the next Hades in Hadestown, theatre fans began sharing clips from his social media accounts. The videos included commentary about transgender people. Some mocked trans identities. Others questioned whether trans people were actually being oppressed.
The response was swift. Then the videos started disappearing.
Videos were removed from YouTube, including while we were editing our first article about Segers. His Instagram account became private after we published our editorials opposing his casting.
Content that Segers had once been happy to publish suddenly became much harder to find as it began to affect his career.
Segers seemed perfectly comfortable sharing these views when he believed he was speaking to people who agreed with him. He attached his name and face to the videos. He spoke with confidence.
Well, apparently, that confidence did not hold up once a larger audience started watching.
Yesterday, Segers and the producers of Hadestown announced that he would no longer join the Broadway production.
You know what was missing from that news? Accountability.
Accountability would require Segers to address what he said. It would require him to explain whether his views have changed. He would also need to recognize why trans performers and theatre fans found the videos so disturbing.
So far, that has not happened.
There has been no meaningful public apology from Segers. There has been no explanation of what he believes now. Instead, the content has simply been pulled from view.
That makes the whole “tighten up” routine look even more ridiculous.
Segers built an online identity around telling other people to be tougher. He wanted men to stop complaining. He wanted them to accept uncomfortable truths.
Now he is facing an uncomfortable truth of his own.
For years, Segers told other men to toughen up when they faced criticism. Now that his own words have consequences, he appears unwilling to stand behind them.
Come on, man. Tighten up.