What are we talking about when we talk of a crisis of masculinity?

2/4/23

Overarching Summary

Masculinity is in crisis, as readily agreed upon by many scholars, media figures, pop psychologists, and the general public. However, people mean different things when speaking of the crises, so to understand it, one can look at its usage in and outside of the manosphere.

People within the manosphere point to a loss of male purpose as being the crisis, while those outside the manosphere point to an aggrieved entitlement as being the crisis. However, neither of the two perspectives adequately captures the underlying crisis as both either essentialise or totalise (give undue importance) to masculinity (alone).

As such, the narrative of masculinity in crisis is insufficient to explain the crisis, and deeper socio-political reasons need to be explored, such as the impact of neoliberalism and capitalism on the societal structure, economy, and human psychology.

Contents

  • Masculinity is in crisis, as readily agreed upon by many scholars, media figures, pop psychologists, and the general public.
  • Yet, people mean different things when speaking of the crises, so to understand it, one can look at its usage in and outside of the manosphere.
  • People within the manosphere point to a loss of male purpose as being the crisis.
  • People outside the manosphere point to an aggrieved entitlement as being the crisis.
  • Neither of the two perspectives adequately captures the underlying crisis.
  • As such, the narrative of masculinity in crisis is insufficient to explain the crisis, and deeper socio-political reasons need to be explored.

Masculinity is in crisis, as readily agreed upon by many scholars, media figures, pop psychologists, and the general public

  • Masculinity is decidedly in crisis in the views of countless scholars, media figures, and the general public.
  • Such people point out various issues affecting men in the present times, as being evidence of the crisis.
  • For example:
    • Declining educational achievement
    • High suicide rate
    • Growing cohort of “angry men” who feel aimless in their lives

Contents

  • Masculinity is in crisis, as readily agreed upon by many scholars, media figures, pop psychologists, and the general public.
  • Yet, people mean different things when speaking of the crises, so to understand it, one can look at its usage in and outside of the manosphere.
  • People within the manosphere point to a loss of male purpose as being the crisis.
  • People outside the manosphere point to an aggrieved entitlement as being the crisis.
  • Neither of the two perspectives adequately captures the underlying crisis.
  • As such, the narrative of masculinity in crisis is insufficient to explain the crisis, and deeper socio-political reasons need to be explored.

Yet, people mean different things when speaking of the crises, so to understand it, one can look at its usage in and outside of the manosphere

  • The “crisis of masculinity” is a difficult to define concept, as it gets used by many people for a range of different objectives.
  • It is useful to examine the “manosphere” to understand what people mean by the crisis:
    • The manosphere is an online sphere — a loose network of blogs, forums, and online communities on the web — that caters to men’s interests, from life philosophies and gender relations, to self-improvement tips and strategies for success in life, relationship, and sex.
    • Examples: 4Chan, 8Chan, Reddit subforums, YouTube, incel.me (and incel forum) and trp.red (a forum for the philosophy of The Red Pill).
    • The manosphere fits within a broader “Men’s rights movement”, a reaction against feminism.
    • Participants in the manosphere can be observed to be preoccupied with rants against women, and also engage in campaigns of abuse and misogyny, both online and offline.
    • At a more extreme level, such anti feminist and misogynist sentiment has been connected to a number of mass shootings, massacres, and terrorist incidents (particularly by incels).
  • Likewise, it is also useful to examine how those outside of the manosphere (particularly feminists) perceive the crisis.
  • Inspecting how both the groups refer to the crisis will help us conceptualise it.

Contents

  • Masculinity is in crisis, as readily agreed upon by many scholars, media figures, pop psychologists, and the general public.
  • Yet, people mean different things when speaking of the crises, so to understand it, one can look at its usage in and outside of the manosphere.
  • People within the manosphere point to a loss of male purpose as being the crisis.
  • People outside the manosphere point to an aggrieved entitlement as being the crisis.
  • Neither of the two perspectives adequately captures the underlying crisis.
  • As such, the narrative of masculinity in crisis is insufficient to explain the crisis, and deeper socio-political reasons need to be explored.

People within the manosphere point to a loss of male purpose as being the crisis

  • People within the manosphere refer to a loss of male purpose
  • The argument they give is:
    • Men are inherently and genetically competitive and aggressive
    • Societal and feminist demands/expectations of men are contradictory to men’s nature, and result in a heavy burden
    • This leads to men feeling left “out in the sea, rudderless”
  • People within the manosphere argue that the crisis of masculinity has been inflicted upon them by an anti-men world.
  • Such a situation has led to the emergence of right wing figures who focus on men and masculinity, coupled with anti-feminist and anti-left sentiments.
    • Example: Jordan Peterson

Contents

  • Masculinity is in crisis, as readily agreed upon by many scholars, media figures, pop psychologists, and the general public.
  • Yet, people mean different things when speaking of the crises, so to understand it, one can look at its usage in and outside of the manosphere.
  • People within the manosphere point to a loss of male purpose as being the crisis.
  • People outside the manosphere point to an aggrieved entitlement as being the crisis.
  • Neither of the two perspectives adequately captures the underlying crisis.
  • As such, the narrative of masculinity in crisis is insufficient to explain the crisis, and deeper socio-political reasons need to be explored.

People outside the manosphere point to an aggrieved entitlement as being the crisis

  • People outside the manosphere refer to an aggrieved entitlement of men
  • The argument they give is:
    • Men, specifically white men, are experiencing a loss of power and privilege at the hands of social justice movements and feminism.
    • These men are socialised to feel entitled to this power and privilege (which were actually used to dominate and devalue others, especially women).
    • Therefore, these men are angry, lashing out in various forms of abuse and misogyny.
  • These people argue that the crisis of masculinity is caused by men themselves, who are clinging on to toxic traits of masculinity.

Contents

  • Masculinity is in crisis, as readily agreed upon by many scholars, media figures, pop psychologists, and the general public.
  • Yet, people mean different things when speaking of the crises, so to understand it, one can look at its usage in and outside of the manosphere.
  • People within the manosphere point to a loss of male purpose as being the crisis.
  • People outside the manosphere point to an aggrieved entitlement as being the crisis.
  • Neither of the two perspectives adequately captures the underlying crisis.
  • As such, the narrative of masculinity in crisis is insufficient to explain the crisis, and deeper socio-political reasons need to be explored.

Neither of the two perspectives adequately captures the underlying crisis, as they end up essentialising and totalising masculinity

  • The perspective of people within the manosphere ends up essentialising masculinity and male power.
    • These people essentialise masculinity and femininity as rigid behavioural traits.
    • “Men are rational and individualists, women are overly emotional and collectivists”.
    • They ignore how society socialises boys and girls to form such traits.
    • Counter argument: If such a form of masculinity is inherent in men, then they cannot operate without them — which, as per the manosphere, they are operating without in an “anti-men” society.
  • The perspective of people outside the manosphere ends up essentialising men’s drive to dominate women, without examining why this happens.
    • They assume that men are inherently misogynistic.
    • Counter argument: But if men are simply bad, then there is no way to fix problems associated with their behaviour.
  • Both proponents end up totalising the male experience and masculinity.
    • Both proponents take for granted that the crises such men face are solely due to masculinity (either due to loss of it, or due to enforcing it).
    • None of the other social experiences or economic circumstances are as important in explaining the crises as masculinity is.

Contents

  • Masculinity is in crisis, as readily agreed upon by many scholars, media figures, pop psychologists, and the general public.
  • Yet, people mean different things when speaking of the crises, so to understand it, one can look at its usage in and outside of the manosphere.
  • People within the manosphere point to a loss of male purpose as being the crisis.
  • People outside the manosphere point to an aggrieved entitlement as being the crisis.
  • Neither of the two perspectives adequately captures the underlying crisis.
  • As such, the narrative of masculinity in crisis is insufficient to explain the crisis, and deeper socio-political reasons need to be explored.

As such, the narrative of masculinity in crisis is insufficient to explain the crisis, and deeper socio-economic and political reasons need to be explored

  • This crisis is bigger than masculinity, and we need to look beyond it to understand this. The narrative of masculinity in crisis cannot do this for us.
  • Some deeper socio-economic and political reasons have had subtle yet monumental impact on our lives:
    • Neoliberalism and its restructuring of society, culture, and psychology
      • This has led men to develop their sense of masculinity/intimacy/sex that is individualistic, and in line with Neoliberal ideals.
    • Neoliberalism/capitalism’s negative economic outcomes
      • Unemployment, poverty, etc., are hard to pin on an invisible economic order (i.e., capitalism), and so get pinned by men in the manosphere on women � the easy target.
    • Neoliberalism and nihilism
      • Neoliberalism has increased nihilism through its attacks on both society and democratic politics, causing tendencies towards nihilistic forms of action.

End

The original article can be found here

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