Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan and the Proud Boys: How the fragility of the male ego fuels the far-right

[Nevilledog]

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Amanda Marcotte
@AmandaMarcotte
Tucker Carlson's comments about paternity leave are a reminder of how the engine that runs the rising authoritarian movement is male fragility. They're building an army of insecure dudes who think they have something to prove to destroy our democracy.

Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan and the Proud Boys: How the fragility of the male ego fuels the far-right
Authoritarians know how to play on the gender anxieties of insecure men, building up an army of bitter chumps
salon.com
9:56 AM · Oct 18, 2021

https://www.salon.com/2021/10/18/tucker-carlson-joe-rogan-and-the-proud-boys-how-the-fragility-of-the-male-ego-fuels-the-far-right/

The Proud Boys had another rally in California over the weekend, and a telling moment was clipped and shared by Ron Filipkowski, a lawyer turned chronicler of the far-right. One speaker, armed with a bullhorn, pointed to a group of Proud Boys and declared, they "got some single real men over here looking for some housewives." The men in the clip then joined together for a photo, flashing the "OK" symbol that has been appropriated as a way for white supremacists to signal each other while also — always — trolling the left.

In the space of a minute, it was a perfect illustration of the two-step process that the far-right has used for years now to recruit new followers: First, bait insecure men with fantasies of female submission. Once they're in, recruit them to white supremacy.

The misogyny-to-white-supremacy pipeline has long been well-documented, but in the past year and a half — with the rise of QAnon and the anti-vaccine movement, both perceived as more female-friendly than groups like the Proud Boys — the centrality of misogyny to authoritarian recruitment has faded somewhat from the discourse. Recent events, however, have been a strong reminder of how crucial gender anxiety is to far-right recruitment.

Authoritarians prey on insecure men, feeding them a story of how all their gnawing self-doubts can be silenced by embracing an unapologetically male chauvinist attitude. They recruit such men with a fairy tale about how the modern world is scary and confusing. The solution, they say, is to return to rigid, unforgiving gender roles that just so happen to value straight, cis men above all other people.

*snip*

[Initech]

1. It's all about preying on the insecure.

That's how the right wing and Facebook propaganda recruit new members. They find people's weaknesses and then exploit the hell out of them.

[CrispyQ]

2. This:

...all the hand-wringing about "fatherlessness" is just a feint. After all, many divorced or separated fathers are deeply involved with their children's lives. No, as the Proud Boys rally this weekend showed, what's really at stake is anger at women for rejecting subservience. Single mothers, same-sex marriages, and egalitarian marriages all show that there's nothing inevitable about male-dominated marriage. That threatens men who are attracted to the dominance fantasy of traditional marriage to silence their own nagging sense of inadequacy.

[Faux pas]

3. Kickin'

[gratuitous]

4. I see or hear Joe Rogan's name

And I can't help thinking of the episode of Newradio where his character tried to pass off a stick-figure cat with the legend "Stinkbutt" as fine art. I'm going to refer to Rogan as Stinkbutt from here on out.

[womanofthehills]

5. Putting Rogan's name in the same headline as the proud boys is misleading

Rogan actually said on a recent podcast he is actually a progressive Dem who voted for Bernie. He said he’s not telling people to or not to get vaccine - he chose not to.

[Champp]

6. Republican #MaleFragility now trending downward

into the sewer of FAIL.

Republican boys need to find a way to become men, and to serve and protect the community and communities of these United States -- all people, all waters, all airs, all beauty.

Take a stand for a clean safe healthy world and you will at last earn the respect and honor you perversely seek by being a toxic man.

[Skittles]

7. hell, it fuels the RIGHT, let alone FAR right

yes indeed

[cilla4progress]

8. I'm sorry but I'd like to add the word

white to the OP, as in "white male ego"...

[IbogaProject]

9. An old book "The Mass Psychology of Fascism" describes this

An old book "The Mass Psychology of Fascism" describes this, the author's theory is that the psychology of submission to Fascism is intertwined with sexual repression and sexual frustration.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mass_Psychology_of_Fascism

[kacekwl]

10. That's why all these "men" support

trump cause they are afraid the other "men" they encounter will call them pussy liberal if they don't. I'm convinced of this being a man and liberal.

[lindysalsagal]

11. "their gnawing self-doubts" that most of them aren't even aware of

because they're too emotionally detached to know what they're feeling, except fear and rage.