as in who reacts to him and how people react to him.

it's not too unlike the Girls discussion above -- the show is one thing, the response is another. I see too many hipsters who only revel in the ironic manhood angle of Ron Swanson's mustached, meat-loving ways and are totally blind to the very real heart he still possesses (as you mentioned above).

the point to me with Ron Swanson is that there is value in the rugged, masculine individualist and it takes a hero like Leslie Knope to be able to respect and learn from that. too many people I think only see the irony of the mustache, meat.