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There’s a real danger in this kind of warrior mindset - which I think is necessary and has its place - when it’s severed from any ethos of restraint and compassion, and when it’s just about destroying the enemy or owning the libs or defying norms, that’s very bad. Not to get too stereotypical, but that’s essentially what you’re talking about when you’re talking about, say, how a Marine Corps boot camp turns a boy into a man. So what does a healthy masculinity do? It channels these characteristics toward virtue and away from vice. These things are characteristics, not vices, by and large.
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That was a virtue.Īggression can be virtuous, or it can be deeply problematic. Going back to my military experience - I served with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment - and I saw men react in moments of incredible crisis with an unbelievable degree of calm. Or “anti-femininity” - I’m not even sure exactly what that means, it might be a “you know it when you see it.” But other things such as achievement, stoicism - I mean, believe you me, there are times in life when stoicism is an absolute virtue, especially in times of crisis. Now, there are some characteristics in there that they mention, like dominance, that are, I think, actually problematic in almost all forms. I have real problems with that formulation. The guidelines themselves say that traditional masculinity ideology - which is defined with socializing boys toward anti-femininity, achievement, eschewal of appearance of weakness, and adventure, risk, and violence - limits their psychological development. Essentially, what it says is traditional masculinity is harmful, and this is one of the ways that a person defined it on their website: that traditional masculinity, marked by stoicism, competitiveness, dominance, and aggression, is on the whole harmful. This is a good example of the kind of thing that a lot of folks are worried about on the cultural right, and I think justifiably so: The American Psychological Association, back in late 2018, early 2019, put out these guidelines for psychological practice with boys and men. So what exactly does the right think the left is doing to the American man? David French I say all that because I want to at least try to steelman the conservative point of view here, and you’re better positioned to do that since you’re a conservative. But there are excesses and blind spots and yes, toxicities, and it’s not anti-male to explore them honestly. I grew up in a culture of traditional masculinity, and for all the excesses and blind spots, I do think there’s something good and useful there, and we can get into some of that later.
Trumps cult animosity shows up full#
As always, there’s much more in the full podcast, so subscribe to Vox Conversations on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. We discussed how Trump became the model of masculinity for Republicans, what exactly the right thinks the left is doing to the American man, and how the anger and response to that have helped pave the way for eruptions of political violence like the assault on the Capitol last January.īelow is an excerpt from our conversation, edited for length and clarity.
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French tracks conservative politics as closely as anyone, and recently wrote about what he calls “the cult of toughness” on the American right. I reached out to David French, a senior editor at The Dispatch - a center-right publication that’s been critical of the Trumpist turn in conservatism - and now a contributing writer for the Atlantic, for the latest episode of Vox Conversations. That’s quite a statement, and whether you agree with it or not, it’s crucial to grapple with its appeal and how it’s shaping our politics. In a recent speech at the National Conservatism Conference, for example, Hawley argued that the progressive left is trying to “deconstruct” the American man. Republicans like Josh Hawley, a senator from Missouri and a star of the New Right, have made masculinity a signature issue. If you follow conservative politics, you know that the state of masculinity in America has been a hot topic this past year.