{"id":1367442,"date":"2022-03-09T16:46:13","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T21:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1367442"},"modified":"2022-03-09T16:46:16","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T21:46:16","slug":"washington-post-gop-wimps-obsessed-with-grotesque-masculinity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/washington-post-gop-wimps-obsessed-with-grotesque-masculinity\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Post: GOP \u2018Wimps\u2019 Obsessed with \u2018Grotesque\u2019 Masculinity"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwashington-post-gop-wimps-obsessed-with-grotesque-masculinity%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1367442&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\"><span>The GOP is obsessed with \u201ctoxic\u201d and \u201cgrotesque\u201d masculinity, according to a recent <\/span><i><span>Washington Post<\/span><\/i><span> piece that blasted Republicans\u2019 \u201ccartoonlike conception of manliness\u201d and likened them to \u201clittle boys playing at war\u201d ignoring \u201creal-world consequences.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Monday <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2022\/03\/07\/republicans-trump-toxic-masculinity\"><span>essay<\/span><\/a><span>, titled \u201cThe GOP: An unending display of toxic masculinity\u201d and penned by <\/span><i><span>Post<\/span><\/i><span> columnist Jennifer Rubin, began by arguing that Republicans, through their actions, have revealed themselves as obsessed with \u201ctoxic masculinity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>\u201cIn their head-spinning transition from apologists for Russian President Vladimir Putin to proponents of World War III, Republicans reveal not only their utter lack of principle but also their obsession with toxic masculinity,\u201d she wrote, adding that both \u201cadmiring Russian ruthlessness and going to war are features of a party in constant need of masculine affirmation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Does anyone remember a national party running on such a naked appeal to masculine insecurity? asks <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JRubinBlogger?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JRubinBlogger<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/RW1dsPGNub\">https:\/\/t.co\/RW1dsPGNub<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Washington Post Opinions (@PostOpinions) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PostOpinions\/status\/1501051840812785664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 8, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Accusing former President Donald Trump and his supporters of having \u201csimply switched to a more politically acceptable side from which to assert their masculine bona fides,\u201d Rubin then turned to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who recently called for Putin\u2019s assassination, claiming the Senator was \u201calways eager to find a tough guy to attach himself to (first John McCain; then Trump).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>Other Republicans, according to Rubin, have tried \u201cto claim they were tougher than President Biden [through having] advocated a no-fly zone [over Ukraine], which would escalate the chances of direct conflict between the United States and Russia.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cLike little boys playing at war, these Republicans don\u2019t bother to think through the real-world consequences (war with an unhinged dictator with nuclear weapons),\u201d she wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But such a phenomenon is not new, the author asserted.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cAs the saying went during Trump\u2019s administration, cruelty \u2014 or the raw assertion of power over the powerless \u2014 was the point,\u201d she wrote. \u201cIt still is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>She then went on to list alleged actions and policies of Republicans which she deemed a form of \u201cbullying\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote>\n<p><i><span>Whether they are separating children from parents, spying on and infringing on women who do not want to be compelled to complete their pregnancy, or threatening to take away transgender children whose parents seek appropriate medical care, manliness manifesting as bullying has been the Republicans\u2019 defining feature of late.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>\u201cAnd they\u2019re using the full force of the state to impose their will. All to enforce the frantic assertion \u2026 that \u2018men are men, women are women,\u2019\u201d she added, quoting Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Describing Scott\u2019s \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/02\/22\/rick-scott-11-point-plan-republicans-win-elections-plans\/\"><span>11 Point Plan to Rescue America<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d as \u201cludicrous,\u201d Rubin asked, \u201cDoes anyone remember a national party running on such a naked appeal to masculine insecurity?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>Calling former President Trump an \u201cideal caricature of toxic masculinity,\u201d she claimed he managed to give his constituents a false feeling of toughness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIn Trump, the MAGA crowd found its ideal caricature of toxic masculinity,\u201d she wrote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cExcusing war crimes, egging on police to injure suspects, defending White vigilantes and standing by men accused of abuse, Trump gave the MAGA crowd the vicarious thrill of being tough guys without having to leave their living room couches,\u201d she added.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p><span>Rubin then referred to last year\u2019s Capitol riot, where the former president \u201cdelight[ed] in watching thugs attack the Capitol and threaten the lives of lawmakers\u201d as well as then-Vice President Mike Pence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt\u2019s not surprising that a Trump wannabe such as Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) would sell a mug depicting his fist pump to the Jan. 6 mob,\u201d she wrote. \u201cHis speech decrying that \u2018traditional masculine virtues\u2019 are under attack illustrated precisely how masculine insecurity masquerades as manliness.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And while the GOP accuses the left of \u201csystematically destroying masculinity,\u201d Rubin claimed Republicans staging a \u201crevival of strong and healthy manhood in America\u201d may sound \u201ccomical\u2026 if not an admission that their male audience is made up of a bunch of wimps.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cBut in today\u2019s GOP, this is red meat for the MAGA crowd,\u201d she wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Rubin then accused the former president and other Republicans of \u201creverence\u201d for dictators.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cFor Trump \u2014 a man who escaped military service for \u2018bone spurs\u2019 \u2014 palling around with thugs including Putin allowed him to acquire a sense of toughness by association,\u201d she wrote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cHis and other Republicans\u2019 reverence for authoritarians (the Saudi rulers, Kim Jong Un, Recep Tayyip Erdogan) and for the Russian army (!) exposes their cartoonlike conception of manliness,\u201d she added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Claiming it\u2019s \u201cno mere coincidence that one of the factors that closely correlates with support for the MAGA cult hero is belief in \u2018traditional\u2019 gender roles,\u201d Rubin cited a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.prri.org\/research\/amid-multiple-crises-trump-and-biden-supporters-see-different-realities-and-futures-for-the-nation\/\"><span>poll<\/span><\/a><span> that found majorities of Republicans \u201cagree with both the statement that society punishes men just for acting like men\u201d as well as that \u201csociety has become too soft and feminine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The MSNBC contributor concluded by concurring with \u201cthe press, historians and political observers\u201d who she claimed have \u201crightly focused on the MAGA crowd\u2019s fixation with establishing America as a White, Christian nation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe should not forget that part of that formula involves a grotesque version of masculinity \u2014 one that preys on those perceived as vulnerable at home and sends the United States careening from one dangerous and extreme national security position to another,\u201d she argued.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The essay comes as the left and the media are continually accused of \u201cfeminizing\u201d men while seeking to undermine traditional masculinity.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p><i><em>Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshuaklein_\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@JoshuaKlein<\/a><\/em><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The GOP is obsessed with \u201ctoxic\u201d and \u201cgrotesque\u201d masculinity, according to a recent Washington Post piece that blasted Republicans\u2019 \u201ccartoonlike conception of manliness\u201d and likened them to \u201clittle boys playing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1367442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1367442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1367442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1367442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1367442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1367442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1367442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}