A few days ago, my fellow columnist Matt Fleming wrote an excellent column about Gavin Newsom’s pathetic attempt to morph his image into a more masculine one. To Newsom, a person relates better to men when they swear a lot and use the term “bro.” This is true.
But the point was not that there was anything wrong with being masculine, it was that Newsom has no stable set of principles or personality traits and what he is depends on what he thinks will get him elected. To be fair, this is fairly common in politics; it just happens to be a lot more transparent when the change is happening so abruptly before our eyes.
Another point to take away from the piece is that this is an attempt to appeal to all of the male voters, particularly the younger ones, who responded to the masculinity coming from the right. If true, that means that those voters perceived admirable masculine traits in how Trump and his friends act.
It’s important to understand that there are a myriad of reasons why individuals might support Trump and other Republican figures – many having nothing to do with masculinity. Therefore this applies only to those whose support hinges, at least substantially, on their impression, conscious or not, of masculinity in Trump and the MAGA movement.
What sorts of things did Trump and other Republicans say or do that made them seem more like Achilles and less like Hermaphroditus (an androgynous god from Greek mythology)?
Trump often insults people and speaks confidently in bold and absolutist terms. Irrespective of whether these traits should be associated with masculinity, it’s likely the image given off. He speaks about being tough on virtually everything. In a show of dominance, he likes to yank people in when he’s shaking their hand.
Other Republicans began to mimic Trump’s vicious nature in the hope of capturing success. As has been written by many, the perception of masculinity was boosted by the endorsement of masculine podcasters and influencers.
Adding to this, men experienced years of Democratic rule where they reported feeling that they could not be themselves for fear of being labeled as toxic and were blamed for things like the existence of a “rape culture”. Whether or not this was a justified pressure that society exerted on men, it informed who young men chose to support. By its existence, the MAGA movement promised to reverse these cultural trends.
It could be true that there are features of men that are at once innate and being wrongly suppressed by society even though their ultimate effects on society are either morally innocuous or possibly even desirable. To this attack, some men have responded by lending their support to individuals that embody none of those honorable traits that men aspire to internalize.
The appropriate response to a subversion of desirable and innate traits in us is not to revolt and flip the table. Instead, we can reflect on what features of masculinity help us lead good lives and protect our families and which we must control.
When we reflect on the virtues that a great man embodies, does it include being impulsive, deceptive, thin-skinned, irrational, incapable of accepting blame, boastful, and allergic to nuance? Does a great man embody the virtue of being devoid of empathy? A great man does not sexually abuse women or speak about them as if they are undeserving of respect. He also does not show such little apprehension about tearing families apart.
When I think of a great man, I picture one who thinks carefully and exhibits temperance. In my mind, they are patient, modest, and speak truthfully. They are strong but they wield it wisely and always with fairness in mind.
This conception of masculinity is familiar to all of us – these men are all around us – yet we have somehow forgotten about our best role models. They have nurtured their characters and have served as examples to follow. Being a great man is a sacrifice of convenience. It means that they’ve made many mistakes and had the humility to take responsibility and the prudence to learn from them while being mindful of how their impulses might again lead them astray.
Trump doesn’t just fail to be a great man, he typically indulges his worst instincts – a reflective man would consider the consequences of attempting to overturn the results of a legitimate election and judge those consequences to be impermissible. Billions of dollars doesn’t buy him an ounce of righteousness. He is a bad example of the male specimen. Trump is what happens when a man is unbothered by the failures of his character. He is motivated by power, vengeance, greed, and veneration.
If righteous masculinity is what a great man does, then Trump and the politicians who mimic him are not masculine, at least not a version that should be applauded. Newsom on the other hand chooses to embody a teenager’s idea of masculinity when he could have hijacked the character of better men. Once our young men realize all of this, perhaps they’ll reconsider how much they ask of their leaders.
Rafael Perez is a columnist for the Southern California News Group. He is a doctoral candidate in philosophy at the University of Rochester. You can reach him at rafaelperezocregister@gmail.com.