In the Australian magazine last weekend, profile writer Kate Legge struggled to unpack the paradox of Mark Latham.

He’s a stay at home dad, who supports his wife’s career but slags off working women like Annabel Crabb for employing help at home. He’s informed and passionate about ending poverty and disadvantage in western Sydney, yet he picks a fight with anti-domestic violence crusader Rosie Batty.

He takes to Twitter under a weird, fake account to troll his enemies, yet in the brilliant Latham Diaries he speaks truth to power.

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What is he? Who is he? Who is the real Mark Latham?

Is it possible that Latham is actually a “brogressive”?

According to the Huffington Post, in a piece dissing bro movie Ted 2, “the Brogressive is a privileged individual (most often a white, straight, cis male) who outwardly claims to support progressive causes, but insists on doing so without challenging their own comfort or ideas.”

Brogressives are a product of a society that has largely absorbed the language, norms and behaviours of “political correctness”. In this sense, Latham may not fit the bill entirely – he’s never been particularly political correct, after all – but he’s got brogressive DNA.

What was once progressive has been absorbed into the mainstream. It’s not cool to be the person that doesn’t support marriage equality, or thinks that women should be paid less for the same work as men, or that Australia wasn’t invaded by Europeans. You’ll get shouted down on social media if you hold those views. So the brogressive goes with that flow – but something in him refuses to budge.

It’s the bro within that defines him, but also holds him back. What’s at stake? By following the progressive agenda he has to share his power – with women, with so-called minorities, with people that in generations past have not had a seat at the boardroom table, or in the corporate box at the football, or in parliament.

A cousin of the brogressive is the so-called “Bernie bro”: seemingly progressive dudes who support Bernie Sanders, and will take to social media to rant that Hillary Clinton is a liar and a witch. And no – they are not being sexist because Bernie Bros identify as feminists ... sort of.

Brogressives can also be found in literature – like the man-feminist douchebag protagonist in The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P or the feckless Nino Sarratore from Elena Ferrante’s Neopolitan series. In Australia, you may find them playing goal attack in your mixed netball team, or wearing a white ribbon while voting for a premier that closes down women’s refuges.

Here’s how to spot that contradictory but not uncommon species – the Australian brogressive:

Active on social media, changing his profile picture to rainbow colours in support of marriage equality and other progressive causes but still describes bad things as “so gay”.

Keenly live tweets the women’s tennis final but kinda thinks Novak Djokovic was right that male players should be paid more than women because more people watch their games.

Disapproves of the idea of strippers but the idea of having ANY women at a buck’s night horrifies him.

Is into David Foster Wallace and has finished Infinite Jest but has an aversion to novels written by women (even though everyone says Evelyn Waugh is really good).

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