Patriarchy and Toxic Masculinity Are Dominating America Under Trump

[FuzzyRabbit]

Expert Terry Real explains how hyper-masculinity presents a danger to us all. Fascinating read.

. . .With Trump’s ascension to the White House, Real sees the re-emergence of a dangerous form of masculinity with potentially far-reaching psychic and emotional consequences. He argues that recognizing and addressing our personal and collective trauma—much of which was inflicted even before Trump entered the political arena—is the only way to heal.

http://www.alternet.org/trump-trauma/patriarchy-and-toxic-masculinity-are-dominating-america-under-trump

[smirkymonkey]

1. Interesting interview.

It really puts a lot of things in perspective and explains why so many men (and women) ended up voting for Trump, despite the fact that he was not even marginally qualified to be president.

[bdjhawk]

2. People focus on racism

while overlooking this deeply rooted problem. I think this is why so many men who should be for the progressives (middle class, blue collar, some minorities, etc) voted for tRump as they want to go home and rule over their wives and families and be put on a pedestal. There is a TON of that thinking going on, especially now that He Who Has Such Disdain For Women is in the White House. They also have their faux "religious" reasons to cover for their greedy, self-absorbed abhorrent behavior.

[bobbieinok]

3. Check out the rise of extreme patriarchy in Evangelicalism

It's termed 'complementarianism.' John Piper and Wayne Grudem started promoting this extreme view at the beginning of the nineties. They started the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, whose headquarters are on the campus of one of the Southern Baptist seminaries.

I bring this up to emphasize that this is another element (along with white supremacy) that the Evangelical churches have been stirring into US culture in recent decades.

(There's always been some emphasis in conservative Christianity on men as leaders and women as followers. But this view has become extreme. Many Evangelical leaders are even claiming that Jesus the Son has never been an equal member of the Trinity but was from the beginning of the universe subordinate to God the Father. This new, bizarre view of the Trinity is known as 'the Eternal Subordination of the Son' --ESS.Therefore, the argument goes, women should also joyfully accept their subordinate position.)

[wiggs]

4. Yes. George Lakoff has a lot to say about this. nt

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. Oh, they were ascendent before the election and even before the campaign.

We're soaking in it, really.