Political Masculinity

Men with assault rifles, balaclavas and Hawaiian shirts pulled over bulletproof vests. Horned warriors with painted faces and fur headresses draped over their naked torsos. Misogynistic dating coaches. The storming of the Capitol brought together men who had previously come across one other only online in the Manosphere. These were men with a common interest, followers of a male-supremacist ideology, who rioted in order to fight for their privilege. Before then, the world had looked on as devastating attacks were carried out by incels: those who seek to gain unfettered access to women's bodies by redrawing the hierarchy of the sexes in order to ensure the subjugation of women.

For all of these men, masculinity is a political project, and the events at the Capitol were one episode in a growing movement. From Canada to New Zealand, from Poland to Brazil, right-wing extemists, religious fundamentalists and male supremacists are coming together in order to translate their reactionary dreams of male domination and entitlement into politics. Evidence of this can be seen at the highest echelons of power, from Trump to Orban and Bolsonaro. And even if Trump has now faded from public view, his fan base is still going strong, while bestselling theorists such as Jordan Peterson demonstrate how seductive misogynist ideologies can be. The fact that misogyny and sexism are so central to right-wing political movements attests to the masculine roots of the authoritarian backlash.