The Whimp Factor GOP hyper-masculine strut-fest...

[katty]

http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/05/03/int05011.html

March 2, 2005

Stephen J. Ducat Dissects "Anxious Masculinity," Making Sense of America's Strutting, in a Psychoanalytic Kind of Way

A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW

I saw the Republican National Convention as essentially a hyper-masculine strut-fest. The real point of the convention was to make John Kerry their woman.... They had already done that with John Edwards by dubbing him the “Breck girl.” And Arnold Schwarzenegger went on to proclaim that any men who were anxious about the loss of jobs under the reign of George W. Bush were, as he put it, “economic girlie-men.” The inference was that Democratic candidates who were always whining about pink slips may as well be wearing pink slips.

* * *

Like a jilted lover out to prove his masculinity with a series of new conquests, our Bush regime today seem always out to prove something. They will fight any war (with or without allies). They will ram through legislation (with or without the democrats on board). They will eliminate supportive social programs (since only wimps need "safety nets"). In other words, their America is a John Wayne/Rambo/Terminator figure. But why? Recently Stephen J. Ducat, author of The Wimp Factor, talked with BuzzFlash about where this delusional and destructive mindset comes from, and how it manifests itself in our country's domestic and foreign policies. When you think about it, the right wingers have played our fears and fantasies darned well, exploiting fear on the one hand and our hopes and dreams on the other. Perhaps "anxious masculinity" played out on the world stage does help explain the right wing's virulent attitude towards Hillary Clinton, and their determination to slur Vietnam war hero John Kerry as "French." As George Lakoff has commented, "It is crucial to notice and understand the central role of a certain version of masculinity in American politics. Ducat's book helps enormously."

Stephen J. Ducat is a clinical psychologist in private practice and a professor at the New College of California. He is a candidate at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California.

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BuzzFlash: In your book, The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars, & the Politics of Anxious Masculinity, you argue that the current positions and attitudes of the Republican Party and Bush Administration can best be viewed through a certain lens that we traditionally associate with the he-man, the virile figure--you call it the phallus. Briefly, how would you define "anxious masculinity?"

more at...http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/05/03/int05011.html

[ewagner]

1. Thanks for re-posting this

We need to be reminded of this constantly and don't play into their hands.......

[Larkspur]

2. Frame Repukes as "Femiphobes" instead of "Misogynists"

I like calling the Reichwing Repukes "Femiphobes," because that is the neurois that fuels their attacks on Democrats, Liberals, and feminists. It definitely fuels their attacks on women seeking abortion and artificial birth control.

And I definitely agree with Ducat that the US loss in Vietnam created the current "anxious masculinity." It certainly fueled Reagan's trivial but brutal invasion of Grenanda. And I think it is why the Repukes will never accept John McCain, who was a Vietnam POW, as a Prez candidate.

[katty]

3. Agree-reframe to femiphobes...the term should

be thrown out frequently in the PD dialogue, along with a few key phrases/quotes that coin the term without confusion - it would be interesting to observe joe, mister 'scarborough country' (whatever that is suppoed to mean) and his ilk try to shake it off with their usual, hyper-attack dog modus operandi. it's pretty cut and dry, they are a pack of femiphobes just like those whacko islam fundies.

[ElectroPrincess]

4. Here here! :-)

Kudos to those folks who believe in re-framing the acidic misogynistic terminology. In martial arts "fighting like a girl" can kick machismo a** ... in a heartbeat. ;)





It's beyond time to dispense with degrading all things feminine.

Sincere thanks for a progressive and truly viable game plan. :-)

[applegrove]

5. The end of the British Empire was lead by a bunch of elite dandies too!