Macho Men: How the He-Man Archetype is Misused to Buoy Conservative Politicians

I have on a number of occasions wondered what these 'Men' were like in grade and high school? Where they the kids, picked on by the older and bigger guys, the bullies? There lunch money taken from them? They were pinched, poked and pushed to the ground. Some were pissed on... The same ones that the Girls, talked about, in whispers, while giggling, to their girlfriends,? Now, all grownup, is there an underlying instinct to seek revenge, to pay back and attack those that remind them of there young tormentors, from public school days? If so, that would mean that the life they live today, is being strongly influenced by their childhood brain, not their adult brain???

It seems appropriate, since the heroes of the Republican party seem to come from the movies and TV...

The Acting Government: Why Actors Shouldn't Be Taken For the Real Thing

Sorry, folks, my bad. I must have been thinking of something else.

No. That isn't the problem, as is obvious by the fact that you "thinking of something else" is a category error.

Cheers,

This is your wakeup call folks.....

This is said eedjit's wakeup call, in case he needs enough information to make a judgment about barrel bottoms:

Freeperville

Deuce of Spades

Idiot Rottweiler

WhirledNutzDaily

Clownhall

Little Green Snotballs

Hell, such sites make even the slowest of Glenn's "correspondents" (ring a bell, "Sh**ter"?) seem like Albert Einstein's and Emily Post's illegitimate child....

Cheers,

In case this hasn't been pointed out, the clip from the oregonian is a rip-off of the satirical paper The Onion:

http://www.theonion.com/content/taxonomy/tag/T._Herman_Zweibel

Zweibel refers to his manservant Standish and usually recounts those kinds of episodes.

I look forward to your book. How about this for a title:

Take it Like a Man: How the right-wing dresses up in macho drag and dresses down their opponents to sew up elections

I like the title for the use of the common stereotypical phrase used by male figures to keep boys in line with expected gender role behavior. This could be seen as a statement from the right-wing to the left, as well as a statement to the heterosexual male portion of the electorate that the right wants to keep in line. "Act Like a Man" also worked, but didn't have the same connotation of kicking someone when they're down.

The subtitle is a bit long, but I wanted to include both the right-wing's donning of hyper-masculine garb and their fabrication of gender-role violation for their opponents. Plus, the juxtaposition of the title's taunt with the words of the subtitle seemed to get across the sense of irony you wanted to convey.

Hey Glenn, there are some realy good suggestions here. You ought to have some kind of online poll, top five suggestions get free copies of your book, or something...

Apologies if anyone has made any of the following observations, but I was unable to review all of the comments.

It strikes me that among the reasons for the Republican faux macho posturing is that, more than physical appearance, this posturing is the only thing that separates them from the "elite" liberals whom they despise. Many of these "macho" Republicans went to East Coast Boarding schools and Ivy League colleges and graduates schools. Quick, other than Regent University, I dare anyone to point to a Republican attorney who did not attend an Ivy League law school.

These Republicans have always been on the higher end of the socio-economic scale and probably have little to no experience doing the things that are traditionally considered masculine (e.g., build a house, fix a car, etc.) and have not held any jobs that would be considered masculine (police, firefighters and soldiers come to mind, which seems to be why Republicans are always in such a rush to speak with and be photographed with these groups).

Also, it seems that many of these Republicans have come from traditional families with a strong father and pliant mother (although one has to wonder how much of that perception was actually reality). They base their ideals of masculinity upon the traditional stoic male who showed no doubt and no emotion. Many of the over-50 crowd in general (whether Republican or Democrat) seem to cling to these ideals, whereas men under 40 are generally more comfortable with shifting gender roles. Numerous times when I have been out with my three sons without my wife, I have had women of my mothers generation come up to me and compliment me on taking care of my boys by myself. Of course, I think nothing of it. These women then begin to comment how their husbands never did anything like this, and I can years of resentment and bitterness flow past me with each additional word.

I think that these factors, along with others, lead Republican white males to think that to be "Real Men" they must be arrogant, loud, crude, cruel, homophobic, xenophobic, racist and mysoginistic. This attitude really leads me to wonder why anyone other than a white male would vote for the Republican party. Are tax cuts or curbs on abortion really more important than personal dignity.

With that introduction, I offer the following title:

The Mis-Measure of a Man

How the Republican Party's misjudgment of masculinity leads to their far more serious misjudgments in government and politics

I look forward to seeing the book when it comes out.

Cock-a-doodle-doo: the right wing's obsession with manliness.

I am currently reading A Tragic Legacy. Terrific. Thanks!

The Eunuchs' Operating System: How Emasculated Right Wingers Trap Our Real Men and Women in Unending War

I'm guessing that Hemingway is accustomed to calling the shots as he sees them, but is unaccustomed to having his shots exposed. (Karen M @ 2200

...always shooting his mouth off.

And that makes me wonder, is there some other evidence that this Hemingway guy is making claims about relative toughness and masculinity? Or is this column a tempest aimed at one admittedly lame joke?