Masculinity

By Richard Hawley

Given the exigencies of the time, Fomite offers a series of bound pamphlets on urgent political, social, cultural, and organizing issues from a radical, anti-capitalist viewpoint.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fomite
• Release date: Jan 23, 2017

Richard Hawley

Richard Hawley is a Sheffield-born singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. He found success as a member of Britpop band Longpigs in the 1990s, was briefly a member of the band Pulp, and as a solo musician has released eight studio albums. He has been nominated for a Mercury prize twice and once for a Brit Award. He wrote the music and lyrics for the musical Standing at the Sky's Edge, a collaboration with Chris Bush (Sheffield Theatres, 2019; revived 2022, and at the National Theatre in 2023; West End in 2024). It was based on his 2012 album of the same name.

Book preview

1

Masculinity

The emergence of Donald Trump and the passions that motivate his political base can be seen as the inevitable end-stage in the devolution of masculine fortunes in the developed world. This devolution has deep historical roots and is culturally well documented.

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To understand what has happened, it might be helpful to begin with the transparent surface of the Trump emergence: the face he presents to the world, his language, his posture, his attitudes, his choices, and his observable behavior. Few would challenge the conclusion that all of these expressions have a strongly masculine cast. They might even be said to be stereotypically masculine—although, from the standpoint of feminist-leaning moderns, masculine in the ugliest, worst possible way.

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What does this mean? Why have Trump’s slurs, boasts, and swaggering posture energized millions of followers to turn up at his rallies, shout with approval at his disparagement of rivals, brandish his signs, vote for him to lead them? When asked in surveys and election exit polls why they support Trump, the predominant response of his followers has been he tells it like it is—this despite the overwhelming conclusion of fact-checking agencies that he has lied, intentionally misrepresented, or spoken in error far more than any of his presidential rivals in either party. What telling it like it is means to those supporters is not tells the truth but rather "affirms what I