Interesting Article on Masculinity and Politics

[cally]

Whose is bigger?

For the Republicans, claiming traditional masculinity is a matter of existential urgency, not just a tactical move. With traditional masculinity beleaguered and uncertain of its future, conservatives are clutching with increasing desperation to the John Wayne version. The more anxious they feel about what it means to be a man, the more they tend to enshrine the archetype.


This anxiety, which tries to come off as macho toughness, is something the Democrats ought to exploit. Kerry has tried hard (perhaps too hard) to counter the Republican attack on his masculinity. But Democrats should also expose the anxiety and insecurity that motivates the Republican's macho campaign to begin with.

Schwarzenegger's remark, for instance, deserves to be derided as not only crass and sexist, but also completely dishonest, even ludicrous, coming from a man who made his name as a bodybuilder. Bodybuilders spend all their time, money and energy refining the way they look: The kind of vanity that sustains the endeavor is arguably unmatched by the girliest girl in the world. There is no practical application for a bodybuilder's muscles: They are not to be used to win a fight, or a race, or to prevail in any other match of strength and skill. It's strictly about appearing a certain way. Bodybuilding was born, in fact, as a method to beef up scrawny physiques, and it was originally marketed at insecure young men who felt all too easily dismissed by women and bullied by other men -- most famously in the Charles Atlas ad in which a voluptuous woman scoffs at the cowering "97-lb. weakling" tormented by a beach bully. It was, in other words, a self-help tool for "girlie men," one that replaced insecurity with vanity -- a different kind of "girlie" quality.

Bodybuilding competitions are essentially male beauty contests where bikini-clad competitors strut their stuff in front of jury and audience. Preparing for them, professional bodybuilders combine hard-core training with chemical self-abuse, extreme dieting, tanning, and the shaving of all visible body hair, while spending countless hours posing in front of mirrors to learn the angles, the lights, the twitches that display every part of their bodies to their best advantage. In short, bodybuilders train to preen; the whole pseudo-sport is a gigantic, shameless exercise in preening. Shall we talk about girlie men? (It should also be noted that bodybuilding magazines count on a vast gay readership, and the aesthetics of gay porn owe bodybuilding an obvious debt. I suspect Arnold is sophisticated enough to realize that full well, which makes his remarks all the more callous).

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/08/07/masculinity/index.html

[murielm99]

1. Funny, when I see today's repuke leaders, all I see are

a bunch of old, white men.

And did you catch that Letterman joke last week, that during the convention, all the New York crack dealers are going to switch to dealing Viagra?

Of course they are clinging to their ideal...desperately.

I don't see anything masculine in the flabby, flaccid, rich and spoiled men running that party today.

Ahnold is getting a bit long in the tooth himself. He probably knows it, too.

[Nite Owl]

3. Flabby, faccid, rich and spoiled

That's a description of Bush* alright. He's looking pretty bad lately. And Cheney? Masculine? No way. Just like their policies they are all talk.

[BillZBubb]

2. The Chickenhawk syndrome

is probably as good an example of this as you can find. The Repug leadership is 99% chickenhawks. The Repug rank and file is also disproportionately so--although they do have a very large contingent of military support (go figure!).

[Cat Atomic]

4. Corporate Party=Masculine, Labor Party=Wimpy?

That's just never made sense to me at all.

Republicans promote a very strange version of masculinity, alright. They seem to idolize conformity, incuriosity, anti-intellectualism, and shallow bravado. That's not masculinity.

When I think of masculinity, I think of some of the men I grew up around; all thoroughly blue collar, labor activists. They were well informed and well read. They never just swallowed what the powers-that-be told them.

Conformity is not masculine, but that seems to be the quality Republicans enshrine above all others.

[izzie]

5. wimps

have you all forgotten power and money?

[Kanary]

6. So, why *aren't* the DEMs "exploiting" this?

Why let the RW get away with all of this?

After all this time, and supposedly getting smarter, why are the DEMs still in defensive mode?

How much more do we want to lose?

Excellent article....... thanks for posting!

Kanary

[cally]

7. I think the Dems are trying to fight this

but it is difficult. Pols like Arnie, *, and Reagan give two of three word answers and seemed to master the arrogant swagger of a cartoon image of masculinity. Dems tend to be more nuanced and have more outspoken women around them. With the changing roles of men and women, many tend to take re-assurance from the cartoonish version that is familiar to us through movies and television shows.

[Kanary]

8. Yes, ........? But, then why not talk OPENLY about this?

Why is only one obscure source bringing this up?

Where are all the high-profile DEMs?

Defending the status quo isn't helping us one bit.

Kanary

[skygazer]

9. Interesting too

that so many of the Repuke leaders who speak so belligerently never came close to serving in the military or doing much that could be considered "manly". * was a cheerleader, a truly manly sport and Cheney has a heart condition which would indicate frailness. It's like they take refuge in words and seek a vicarious dose of "manliness" from the poor bastards they've sent to Iraq and Afghanistan to do their dirty work.

[DeepModem Mom]

11. Exactly -- cheerleader v. swiftboat captain, bodybuilder v. Nam vet Gray..

Davis (yet it was Davis who was seen as a wimp). How dare these chickenhawk Republicans think they're the manly men. Noticing the shape of your avatar, I'd say that those great MEN of courage Dean and Jeffords, and also Leahy and Sanders, are worth a dozen Cheneys or Frists, and any number of Bushes.

[aquart]

10. The difference between male and female beauty contests is that....

...men aren't required to have talent or care about the fate of the world.

And they know there's no point in giving a college scholarship as the prize.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

12. Masculine: just like FAT J.D Hayworth???

:eyes:

Funny isn't it?