Been doing on-and-off research on this type of mentality because I'm a) Norse heathen and see it a lot, and b) fascinated by psychology, and while my longer thoughts deserve its own post, I have a working theory on why white cis men get stuck in this mentality:
Humans are social creatures.
Socialization is satisfying because it fulfills a basic need: Intimacy.
However, white cis American male socialization lacks intimacy due to its perception as an emasculating feature.
As a result, AMAB individuals are starved of this basic need starting at a young age. This causes a lot of AMAB individuals to experience compromised emotional development and an ever-present sense of desperation.
Now, America's male socialization teaches men there's only two environments we're allowed experience intimacy in without risking emasculation—when we're with our girlfriends, or when we're soldiers at war.
Notice how male-dominated bonding activities are almost exclusively set within a "battle" environment: Sports, LARP, multiplayer video games, historical reenactment, D&D, card games. etc. Heck, even mosh pits. Because many men only experience non-romantic intimacy in war-environments, they mistakenly learn that war is what makes a man feel alive.
I strongly believe this is why some men get extremely defensive when people suggest war isn't a male urge, or that war is nothing but a nightmare. Because in their experience, it absolutely is an urge.
But they're not craving war. They're craving intimacy. Honestly, I think this is why Valhalla is so attractive of a concept. It's a place where men will never starve for intimacy every again.
This is genuinely why I say White Imperialism is abusive to everyone, and why I think it's important to include cis white men amongst its prey.
ellievsbear
romaincrisis
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gummygunk
