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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe plague of angry white men: How racism, gun culture & toxic masculinity are poisoning America
http://www.salon.com/2015/07/07/the_plague_of_angry_white_men_how_racism_gun_culture_toxic_masculinity_are_poisoning_america_in_tandem/A superficial reading would suggest that the our is simple to decipher: Roof is channeling his white nationalist understanding of America as a country synonymous with and exclusively for white people. This is the logic of the phrase that America is a white mans country. The our also signifies the control and possession of white womens bodies and personhood by white men.
The idea of black men raping white women is a centuries-old white American fantasy: It is the justification for the lynching tree, where thousands of innocent black men were made into strange fruit. The lynching tree also reinforces a cultural lie, that white women are the most desired among all others, and tries to conceal how many white women from both before the founding of the United States, through to the Age of Obama, willingly have had relationships with black men, a perfectly banal observation that nonetheless enrages white supremacists.
Nationalist and politically chauvinistic ideologies tend toward patriarchy and sexism. White nationalism is no exception. As such, Dylann Roofs white racial terrorism is an act of violence, and one that is grounded in a particular understanding of gender: Male or female are designations of human, sexual, biological difference. Masculine and feminine, however, are social constructs that are not fixed, which change over time, and in response to particular arrangements of social and political power. Here, gender is a type of performance (in its most binary and simple form) as a given person acts male or female. And toxic masculinity is a performance that emphasizes violence, control over others, sexual aggression and a lack of emotion and vulnerability. Dylann Roofwith the guns, violence, resentment, right-wing politics and racismis the extreme embodiment of toxic white masculinity.
randys1
(16,286 posts)stories and you remind me that I am not alone, that liberals like myself do exist
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)I serve as a sort of aggregator.
Needless to say, a supermajority of my FB friends are fellow lefties.
calimary
(81,304 posts)This is yet another most interesting read.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Especially considering it numbers less than 500.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)Brilliant article.
Spot on.
malthaussen
(17,202 posts)Or vulnerability, if it comes to it, because usually one resorts to violence because he is afraid, which would seem to indicate vulnerability.
And how does one explain the lynching of black women in this context?
Finally, aside from other queries, what would constitute "toxic femininity" under this rationale?
I think rather than tagging the condition with labels like "masculine" and "feminine," one should simply reduce the problem to that the definition of "strength" is taken to be "the ability to impose one's will on another" and proceed from there.
-- Mal
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)Perhaps this is an act of "hatred of the mother, the woman". Black women often raised the white children. In some respects they would have held a position of authority over the children. This could cause a great deal of resentment toward her from the biological mother and father. And a sense of inadequacy on the parents part, that they are not capable of raising their own children.
Sexual advances refused, or rape/murder also may have a strong case for explanation.
malthaussen
(17,202 posts)... but it seems the idea being put forth here is that the violence is a direct retort to a perceived attack on "masculinity," and parenthood is not usually listed among the "masculine" virtues. OTOH, a strong man is supposed to be an iron-fisted father, so there could be something there.
The assessment itself I have no quarrel with, just not completely convinced it fits into the context, which is another reason why I don't find the model/profile satisfactory as stated.
-- Mal
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)I agree with your idea of them being faced with (afraid of) their own vulnerability. Being faced with one's own vulnerability can cause overwhelming fear. And that fear is the core of toxic masculinity.
zentrum
(9,865 posts)
was the number one item in the ideology deliberately constructed by rich, white plantation owners on the eve of the Civil War.
It was a way to scare and galvanize the poor white yeomen famers of the South who didn't own slaves, (didn't own them because they were too poor). There were some moments when it seemed slaves might unite with the poor white farmers to resist the oppression of the rich white guysbut the ideology assured the secessionists of having an army to fight the war with while also not having to worry about rebellion at home as they faced the North.
This lie and the purposely constructed ideology it comes from is partly what makes American slavery different from slavery in most other parts of the world in history.
That's what's in the confederate flag.
olddots
(10,237 posts)Anti science , education and anti progress .Things sure have changed in 50 years .
SunSeeker
(51,571 posts)Dylan Roof had plenty of one type of emotion: anger.
But he could not empathize with his fellow human beings unless they were just like him.
I also think empathy is the key difference between liberals and Conservatives.
63splitwindow
(2,657 posts)toxic, white FALSE masculinity. Real men do not suffer from the affliction described. There is an old saying that goes something like, "A man stands no taller than when he stoops down to help a child (or another) (or the less fortunate)." Real men understand this and do so without even thinking about it.
gordianot
(15,238 posts)Inflated egos gone off the rails wth violence it is usually abandoned when there a chance
libodem
(19,288 posts)Great article. This expresses what I could never articulate. Thank you.
craigmatic
(4,510 posts)gun control is still off the table. Also you still can't cite the white women crying rape and getting black men lynched and not see some parallel to how the media is treating Cosby. Even if he did do it nobody is doing background research on all the accusers to separate the real victims from people who are just trying to cash in.