America’s social order has changed. There is a growing amount of economic and financial precarity, and previously marginalized groups are no longer confined to the margins of society. Future shock has left many members of American and global society feeling unmoored and increasingly confused and uncertain about their role in the present. Existential obsolescence breeds anger, resentment, irrationality and violence. Societies and individuals who are experiencing such a crisis of meaning are often attracted to fascists, authoritarians and other such leaders who promise salvation and empowerment.
Male rage is misdirected at the wrong individuals and groups as it is processed through conspiracism and anti-intellectualism and manipulated by malign actors who are masters at gaming the algorithm and attention economy; facts and reality generally do not supersede or override the power of perception and emotions; joy and hope and calling people names such as “weird” are not effective strategies for stopping such destructive forces.
The male rage that powers Donald Trump and his MAGA project and the larger neofascist movement is not race-neutral: It is fueled by aggrieved white male entitlement, racism, and white supremacy. The “natural order of things” in America that is to be restored by Trump and MAGA is one where white men are placed above and made superior to all other groups forever. In practice, this means rich white men. The poor, working-class, and middle-class white men who form the base of Trumpism and American neofascism will be discarded once they prove to be inconvenient to Dictator Trump and the movement. Likewise, the Black and brown people and the women who are attracted to Trump and the MAGA movement will just be used as fuel for the infernal machine once their usefulness ends — and it will end very quickly and very soon if Dictator Trump takes power in 2025.
Jackson Katz, Ph.D., is an educator, author, and scholar-activist who has long been a major figure in the growing global movement of men working to promote gender equity and prevent gender-based violence. He is a frequent contributor to Ms. Magazine, where he writes about masculinities, politics, and violence. His new film is entitled “The Man Card: 50 Years of Gender, Power, and the American Presidency." He is also a co-founder of the Young Men Research Initiative. Katz is the author of two books, including the classic bestseller "The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help." His next book, entitled "Every Man: Why Violence Against Women Is a Men's Issue", is scheduled to be published by Penguin Random House UK in February 2025. His TEDx talk on that topic has been translated into 27 languages and has over 5.5 million views. He has lectured and trained in all fifty U.S. states, eight Canadian provinces and every continent except Antarctica.
In this conversation, Katz explains the relationship between the Age of Trump and the so-called manosphere and the “men’s rights movement.” He also highlights how Trump’s crude humor and juvenile humor and obsessions (in this example with golfer Arnold Palmer's penis size) reflect insecure masculinity and a larger culture of distraction and superficiality. At the end of this conversation, Katz shares his predictions about the outcome of the 2024 election and how, if Trump wins and becomes the country’s first dictator, angry (white) men will be mostly to blame.
This is the second part of a two-part conversation.
How is the Age of Trump related to the rise of the "men's rights" movement and the “manosphere” and male victimology entertainment propaganda machine?
Many millions of white men, including young white men, are really kind of lost at sea. They’re uncertain about what it means to be a man and some of them are looking for guidance in some of the most dangerous places and leaders. Some are being radicalized online, where the algorithms take them from an interest in men’s issues all the way to chat rooms for organizations that espouse white nationalism and advocate for armed resistance to federal tyranny. It’s a little shocking how much the language and ideas of the misogynous manosphere have made their way into “mainstream” social media.
On the other side, many liberals and progressives are more interested in mobilizing communities of color, women, the LGBTQ community, and other marginalized communities than they are in addressing the needs and interests of cis white men. I think that's a huge mistake politically because what happens when liberals and progressives don’t speak directly to........