• 4 Posts
  • 177 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 1st, 2023

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  • It’s times like this where I sometimes feel people need a license to surf the internet.

    Following the Debate I had a Trump supporter come to my door. We have yard signs but, uh, the dude went a step deeper and knew our names. Weird but okay I guess that shit is publicly available in registration dbs after all…

    Anyways, he seemed innocent enough but boy would he hop skip around point to point. Just as you corner on one thing, they jump to the next. “I’ll show you the source on my phone!” yet he wouldn’t and jumped to the next subject. I asked him to identify his sources for information and he dodged that as well, just vaguely alluding to, “googling.” Really fascinating and kind of fun to interact. I can see why Klepper does it so much lol.

    On the flip-side it’s just a bit sad to see people who seem like decent people but are completely led astray and living in an alternative reality. “You’ve been… Living in a dreamworld, Neo.”




  • Well said and fair points. Ultimately I can agree that this entire article could be written as-is but for the exclusion of white. No doubt toxic masculinity is a problem. And no doubt there a considerable amount of white privilege; though the two probably should be separated as opposed to conjoined in discussion. Trump is a spoiled, silver-spooned manchild whose position has come about through a considerable degree of white privilege. Though as you said, one must be careful to narrow the scope of the conversation. That strictly applies to him, and probably should not be generalized more broadly.

    Whereas toxic masculinity is more widespread and certainly not unique to white men (although in the moment under the MAGA banner and the audience of Jordan Peterson or Joe Rogan, it just so happens to predominantly be this group). I’ve read several articles about how inroads are being made with hispanic and black young male groups just the same — again, due to right-wing propaganda making inroads.

    This where Walz could come in and why the VP Debate may be a bigger deal than many people realize. Walz has the capacity to do just as you said and project a certain male confidence. In his speech just yesterday he explicitly said, “Don’t mistake kindness for weakness.” If he carries through with this message as a military veteran and as a coach who can speak the frat bro language… Well, it may resonate with some and bring some back.









  • Is it racist to identify the elevated white male privilege, compounded by spoiled child syndrome? I don’t think so. I’m a white male and don’t find this in any way racist against me. Hits the mark in my opinion on why many of my fellow white male men are duped into maga bullshit.

    Communication scholar Paul Elliott Johnson argues that Trump’s brand of demagoguery is “defined by a reliance on victimized, White, toxic masculinity.” Some scholars have focused on how this rhetorical strategy appeals to men who are “secretly insecure about their manhood,” as The Washington Post reported in 2018.

    Trump’s own white masculine insecurity was on clear display throughout his debate against Harris. It was a different type of pathological masculinity than the aggressive and aggrieved toxic masculinity Trump perfected as MAGA stagecraft.

    Trump’s performance in the debate illustrates why insecure white masculinity should be disqualifying for a presidential candidate. When triggered, it short circuits the candidate’s strategic thinking and elicits demagogic and dehumanizing arguments.