snip
...
Nichols writes that “Another way these young men express their sexual insecurity is to seek heroic redemption by imagining themselves as the defenders of helpless women against sexual threats from other men.” This language of condescending protection animates so much of right-wing politics, from abortion bans Republicans claim are to protect women (from predatory doctors, from themselves) to attacks on transgender people using the bathroom or playing sports (to protect women and girls) to book bans (to protect children from “groomers” or just liberal ideas).
Of course the young men who pick up guns and enact mass violence are not the same as the men who simply vote Republican. But so much of what today’s Republican Party stokes in its base — resentment over race and immigration and changing gender roles; a sense of entitlement to resources and power; the narcissism of being cast as the only Real Americans — shows up, dangerously magnified, in these dangerous young men.
...
Of course there are other connections, but much of this rings true.
Comments