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So you know how in elementary school when boys and girls didn’t like to be friends with each other because the other was said to have cooties? The dreadful cooties: just about the worst thing that could happen to you at 10 years old. If you were a boy you were definitely not about to play with a girl, and if you were a girl, boys were just about the grossest thing next to peas for dinner. It was very serious business.

Fast forward about a decade or so and we’ve got these same cootie-hating kids who are now real life adults. Yet, they are still always playing the cootie game even as they are discussing important matters, such as politics. You might be thinking: um what? Well listen to this, these elementary school cootie-hatin’ political figures took that game so seriously that it’s now a standard that they live by!

Okay, I know you’re still confused. Trust me, it’ll make sense in a second.

This game evolved out of the social constructs that stated men and women are separate beings: two opposing genders. One was black, one was white. One was blue, one was pink. It’s one of the first ways that the gender binary is internalized as a child. Thus, as an adult, these lessons are brought into the real world. To display masculinity a man must follow certain prescriptions, he must be: tough, emotionally stable, and decisive to be considered a “real” man. A woman is taught to display her femininity as fragile, docile, and emotional. Only then will she be considered a “real” woman. If a man or a woman were to display any characteristics that were of the opposing gender then they would be deemed either a “sissy” man or a “manly” woman. Sounds a lot like avoiding the cooties to me.

Of course, the consequences are far worse that just having the cooties. Within American politics, it’s obvious who the main players are: men. Originally, there was no place for women in the government as they were said to be weak and not capable of leadership. Within the last few decades women have slowly begun to occupy this boys club. But, slowly, so so slowly. More often than not, the Republican Party has been known to play into gender stereotypes to tout their own identities as being superior and stronger than their opponents; the Democratic Party. The GOP sure knows how to paint the Democratic Party as “weak” and “indecisive” aka acquiring “womanly traits” and thus not fit to elect leaders (Cunningham et al.). In reality, the GOP has the temperament of their old self: the elementary cootie-hatin’ kid whose first instinct and fears controlled their actions. This behavior has led to wars and economic failures.

The 2016 Presidential Election has proven to be a tremendous example of the way politicians just won’t stop playing the cootie game. They just won’t goddamn stop. Donald Trump bolsters his masculinity by repeatedly referring to opposing presidential nominee Hillary Clinton as weak and incapable. His promises of using the military to solve every social issue and declarations announcing, “I love war” show his domineering stature and employment of his maleness.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/740509507814600704

Here is a tweet by Donald Trump that depicts a man wearing a shirt that reads “Built Trump Tough”. Trump’s whole campaign centers on his utterly unyielding attitude that he is the strongest man capable of winning the cootie game—I mean Presidential Election. While Donald Trump constantly reinforces gender stereotypes, news stations are not far behind. Hillary Clinton is often scrutinized for playing the “woman card” to strengthen her campaign: “it’s irrelevant Hillary!” Yet, those news reporters who are quick to scrutinize are also quick to comment on her and senator Elizabeth Warren’s attire. Hmmm.

This clip from the Daily Show clearly summarizes the double standards the media has for male and female politicians: (2:30-3:30) http://www.ibtimes.com/daily-show-breaks-down-hillary-clinton-elizabeth-warren-alliance-calls-out-media-2388542

At every turn, gender is somehow a part of the Presidential Election discussion. Something so sincerely serious (say that five times fast) as deciding who is best fit to be the leader of a nation that needs major health, economic, and social reform isn’t the topic of conversation, no! It’s the pant suits. They were the same color! Did you see that?!

To really sum it all up, the cootie game needs to be left in elementary school. Its reappearance in our every day lives is affecting our government policies. How silly is that.

-Sarah Elkotbeid

I examine the way Trump’s response for mass deportation of immigrants if elected illustrates how the republican nominee uses ideas of masculinity to position himself as the best fit to restore sovereign masculinity. In this case, the lived realities of gender is accepted and applied to the nation and can be seen in the interview clip of Donald Trump discussing how immigrants are causing crime/rape are essentially a threat to the nation who must be stopped because of the fear of the nation “feeling like a woman” and therefore needing to prove their sovereign masculinity by constructing a massive deportation of all immigrants.For example, Donald Trump constructs this notion of the nation appearing subversive and needing for his aid to solve the issues that he has placed the blame on and creating ignorant proposals that gain the support of the republicans. His response of deportation is rooted in white supremacist patriarchal ideologies which would argue that this action is meant to establish the nation's manhood and send a message to others that the nation is powerful and strong. In addition, Trumps comments about immigrants being “rapists and murderers” is extremely ignorant and dehumanizes immigrants to create a sense of “us vs them”. This kind of demonizing tactic cause division and ultimately justifies the need for a mass deportation and harsh immigration skills that would further perpetuate a negative representation of immigrants. In other words, Trump’s proposal to deport immigrants with the support of Republicans illustrates his attempt to restore sovereign masculinity to the nation by “othering” immigrants and using that to enhance the nation's manhood and creating a border that will only further perpetuate hypermasculine practices. This is only one of several examples that reveal how gender realities are interconnected and applied to larger institutional structures that benefit/perpetuate ideas about masculinity.

-Jackie Perez

Hillary Clinton’s Masculine Strategy towards Foreign Policy, Donald Trump, and National Security

http://ti.me/1VzTU7A [1]

Gathering a gendered political analysis of the 2016 presidential campaign is crucial in understanding the ways politicians use masculine ideologies and strategies in order to be seen as the best suited candidate for addressing the social issues at hand. Masculinity is more than a set of personality traits that expresses conceptions of maleness; masculinity is a “configuration of practice” that is used to formulate power relations and assert dominance through various locations of race, class, and nationality, etc. That said, I will be highlighting the many ways Hillary Clinton’s speech on foreign policy, Donald Trump, and national security, evokes masculinity to demonstrate her political dominance and power in politics.

Hillary Clinton performs masculinity by using specific language and terminology to gain political capital over her opponent, Donald Trump. Clinton states that Trump’s ideas are not only different from her own, but they are “dangerously incoherent” and filled with “bizarre rants, personal feuds, and outright lies.” America needs honesty and stability, not someone who cannot contain his composure or emotions. According to Clinton, this quickness to anger and outrage only highlights Trumps weakness and thin-skinned nature. What will stop Trump from lashing out and starting a war over the smallest of criticism? Furthermore, what is most interesting about Clinton utilizing this hierarchical approach of hegemonic masculinity is the way it is often used by the Republican Party to position themselves above Democrats through emasculation [2].

Because American politics functions in a highly masculinized space, Clinton presents this masculine capital to help prove her strength and power in the political realm. In many ways, Clinton has to prove to the nation that she will be able to handle complex conflicts with intelligence, strength, and grace, unlike her temperamental opponent, Donald Trump. This masculinized construction of language produces a particular message that is important to analyze, as it creates a narrative for the national imaginary.

Gender is employed in politics to establish a particular narrative. For instance, in politics that gendered narrative is usually used in association to the nation being in peril and the candidate being the one who holds the solution to solve these national social problems at hand [3]. Hillary proposes that question of whether we as a nation could trust Trump’s to make crucial life or death decisions.

According to Hillary, the state of the nation is at greater risk if Donald Trump was to be elected as the United States Commander in Chief. Trump’s rhetoric goes against the very moral fiber of America to ensure the protection of all citizens. By promoting the values of man and the nation it helps to project the symbolic importance of national sovereignty.

Stakes are extremely high, with the danger of unraveling the very progression our society as accomplished, including the united achievements from both the Democrats and Republicans. National manhood is at risk; all of which has been gained, won, and sacrificed throughout American history could easily be taken away. However, Hillary ensures that her political track record and experience as secretary of the state will help secure American leadership and power.

Hillary makes sure that the political narrative is clear; she will do whatever she can in order to protect the very state of our nation. Incorporating the conception of family and protection, Hillary inserts and builds on the masculine rhetoric to protect our nation. Hillary contrasts protection and associates this narrative with the opposing belief systems she has with her opponent, Donald Trump.

How can we ensure our power as a nation when we don’t even consider our nation as powerful? Hillary believes America is strong, while Trump Believes America is weak. Holding onto fear will only destroy America, whereas hope, faith, and confidence will make our nation stronger. Therefore, protection in the very belief systems of America will uphold our nations dominance and power. Hillary insists that the national sovereignty of the nation is correlated to the people’s beliefs in their nation. America will only be great if we believe it is, like it always has been.

- Angela Marguerite Cook

[1] Reilly, Katie. "Read Hillary Clinton's Speech on Trump and National Security."Time. Time, 2 June 2016. Web. 20 July 2016.

[2] Cunningham, S., D. Domke, K. Coe, A. Fahey, and N. V. Leuven. "Accruing Masculinity Capital: Dominant and Hegemonic Masculinities in the 2004 Political Conventions." Men and Masculinities 16.5 (2013): 499-516. Web.

[3] Mann, Bonnie. Sovereign Masculinity: Gender Lessons from the War on Terror. New York: Oxford UP, 2014. 1-12. Print.

The leading Democrat and Republican had different views on the 'woman card' on Tuesday night.

The 2016 president election has been one of the most devastating and heart breaking elections since I was able to vote. The last two finalists for this countries doom are democrat nominee Hilary Clinton and republican Donald Trump. Throughout debates, speech’s, rallies and video broadcasts both parties have demonstrated their masculinity thrive through there power, knowledge, economical stability and apparently through saying women can not accomplish anything in this country with out utilizing the “women card”.

Donald Trump represents a different type of political masculinity he uses aggression and virility to demonstrate that he can manage the country and become by far the best president of the United States of America. Of course not many buy into his indignant remarks and false advertisement of himself. Yet through out this entire election Trump has managed to demonstrate masculinity through his attacks on other candidates and attacks on societies race, ethnicities, religions, genders, cultures and physical features. He has managed to run his campaign as if he is a 9-year-old bully on the play ground throwing tantrums. Trump manages to manipulate our citizens through conservative anger to appeal to many. He has used his close minded remarks and sociopathic lying to regain his masculinity.

In many occasions Donald trump has used his masculinity to suppress other candidates and deliberately demonstrate their weakness. He is reassuring his crowed that he is the alpha and that no other candidate is close to reaching him in this presidential election. Take a look at this example, Donald Trump is in Pennsylvania giving a speech and explains his recent rant on how Clinton has advanced in the poles. He goes on to say that the only reason Hilary Clinton is advancing in the elections is because she is using the “Women card”. As though it is shameful to be a women running to become the next elected president of the United states. Trump has made this remark to emasculate Hilary and to demonstrate that he is actually a man and can manage to create a change with out using any “cards”. Trumps only hope at showing he is tough and manly is to emasculate others and show compared to them how he is very masculine and prepared to become the next president. He is strategically focusing the spotlight on Hilary in a negative connotation in order for him to advance.

In the clip by CNN news Clinton manages to take the remark and emasculate trump into looking like a sexist masculine dummy. Clinton responds that if supposedly using the women’s card will bring her benefits than so be it. This twist manages to show Hilary standing up for herself and demonstrating her femininity and masculinity to embrace her gender and be respectful of his childish acts. Republicans have had a tough reputation when it comes to presidential elections in the past centuries. Many believe that the election is a sense of prize that can be bought and won if the individual demonstrates that they have power and are willing to do anything for there country.

The way in which Donald Trump shows his masculinity is only by serious of rants, bragging, sexist, racist and violent remarks. He is definitely unfit to become a leader or even a role model for our country. His anger and ignorance demonstrates the machismo that this country got rid of for many reasons. I believe that if Donald trump wins we are all as a nation begin to see us reliving past historical tragedies.

-Gabriela Ake

#2016 election #sexisttrump #politicalmasculinity Dontvotefortrump

The Donald

J.A.

This clip is pretty ridiculous, but Trump is playing up the fact that the presidency traditionally requires a highly masculinized identity. The ability to employ violence as a means to conflict resolution is definitive of the aggressiveness associated with American masculinity. People will vote for a politician who can demonstrate decisiveness and strength. People want someone in power who embodies the traditional masculine role of a leader and protector. And, like it or not, Trump just showcased that he possesses all of these traits in little over forty seconds through an explicit declaration of violence. As strange and wrongheaded as this whole thing is, it makes people feel safe and secure, knowing that the head of the household, which in this case is the entire country, is in complete control, willing to do anything necessary to protect his family. Plus, despite the fact that we might just have the first female president soon, many American institutions remain gendered to this day. The military still inhabits the realm of the masculine, as it always has, and Trump knows this all too well. If, for whatever reason, someone is against the “fuck-it, just bomb them” policy when it comes to foreign relations, then they’re probably, in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s words, “economic girly-men” or in the case of Trump’s political opponent, actually women. Clearly, the presidency is a job for a man, and there is no room whatsoever in this position for wimps who wouldn’t be willing to bomb entire regions at a moment’s notice. And then go on to profit from their vast oil reserves. Trump can’t just come out and blatantly say all of this, however, because that would be even more controversial than his speech already is, so instead he delicately hints at the implied dominance of the masculine over the feminine, without being overtly sexist, by reminding viewers of man’s propensity towards violence. Of course, not everyone is going to watch this speech and agree with Trump’s ideas. Some people actually believe that violence only leads to more problems, instead of solving them (crazy right?). But I don’t think Trump cares about that one bit. Here’s why: it gets people’s attention. Whether someone is genuinely excited about the notion of a Trump presidency or is only tuning in to see what stupid thing he’s going to say next, he’s got their attention. And in a world where he has to compete for that attention with the likes of Game of Thrones and Sportscenter and all of those fun apps on our smartphones like Pokemon Go, is it really a surprise why he would choose to employ such heated language in order to get his point across? In this culture of constant distraction, Trump is the ideal candidate, because he’s more entertainer than politician. And when he effectively employs this kind of specific, masculine rhetoric in order to aggrandize himself and diminish his opponents, he presents this image of himself as a hero figure, as the only one with the guts to take on all of this country’s problems and beat up the bad guys.

-Prabhdeep Hayer

What is happening. Our country. WEAK. Crooked Hillary Clinton. Divided nation. Law, Order & Safety. Chaos, crime & violence. I will make America safe again.

These are the words from Donald Trump, who could potentially become the next President of the United States. Bitter and antagonistic, Donald Trump resembles a fascist eager to remove every human life he self-mindedly believes does not belong in a nation that is supposed to represent freedom and the American dream. In order to promote his political campaign, Donald Trump seeks to emasculate and belittle his opponents and addresses issues that portray a masculine America again.

Trump fortifies his dominant masculinity to suppress Muslims from entering the US “until the country’s representatives can figure out what is going on,” and to eliminate immigrants who are “bringing drugs, bringing crime, and they are rapists.”[1] He blames immigrants and Muslims for the terrorist and monstrous events that have occurred and continue to happen in America. Similar to the ideas of war on terror, Trump devalues chaos, crime, and violence as emasculating and feminine characteristics. He speaks on feminine national issues, such as violence and crime, to prohibit them from entering the United States again.[2] Trump believes that people who enter the United States illegally and undocumented or uncharted are a danger to the nation, and he wants to put an end to these behaviors or actions that emasculates America’s masculinity. Then, he ensures America that he will make the nation great and safe again by focusing on law, order, and safety, which are masculinizing traits to bring America together and undivided again. Donald Trump readily reinforces his masculinity to his supporters and to the public sphere that he is the ideal candidate to sit on the next presidential seat. Trump points out issues on law, order, and safety because he knows that those are issues that will make America great and masculine again, and by addressing these particular issues, he has gained majority votes from the public against Hillary Clinton.[3]

Furthermore, he enforces hegemonic masculinity against his opponents, Obama and Hillary Clinton. That is, he describes Obama and Hillary Clinton in downgrading ways that strengthen his masculinity and empowerment. He describes Obama’s leadership as weak – a to-the-point statement that emasculates Obama’s masculinity and failure to be a great leader to the nation. He refers to Hillary as Crooked Hillary Clinton. He disregards Hillary Clinton as suitable for presidency because she “makes decisions based on her emotions.” By using these tactics, Donald Trump continues to progress in majority of America’s favor in his potential to become the next President of the United States. Trump uses words such as weak and indecisive to emasculate and devalue his opponents’ presidential candidacy. This simplifies that a true president does not possess weakness or indecisiveness, and if he or she does, then that person is not good enough to be president.[4]

Donald Trump will continue to use derogatory attitudes and remarks to emasculate his opponents, and make himself empowering and masculine to the end before the November election. It is up to us as general public to vote against him and make America great again! On a side note, Donald Trump may have forgotten that he has an emigrated ancestral background, so if he would like to eliminate all immigrants, perhaps he can start with himself.

[1] http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/07/politics/donald-trump-muslim-ban-immigration/

[2] Puar and Rai. “Monster, Terrorist, Fag: The War on Terrorism and the Production of Docile Patriots.” 2002.

[3] Mann. “Strange Cousins: Introduction to Sovereign Masculinity.” 2014.

[4] Cunningham et al. “Accruing Masculinity Capital: Dominant and Hegemonic Masculinities in the 2004 Political Conventions.” 2013.

-- Naly Thao

Posturing is to politics as chocolate is to being delicious, but much like with sweet chocolatey goodness, eventually enough is enough--or, you know, maybe not. As Americans, we have the privilege in this election cycle of having so many candidates who are chomping at the bit to show us just who is the most manly and masculine man--and sometimes woman. Now of course, this is nothing new to American politics, but the race for the Republican Party nomination may have gone above and beyond the call of duty. To paraphrase modern-day philosopher and all-around good guy Spongebob Squarepants, "This isn't your average everyday masculinity, this is...advanced masculinity."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/21/donald-trump-my-hands-are-normal-hands/

What you see here are two short video clips, the first being taken from a speech by former presidential hopeful Marco Rubio, followed by a clip from presumed Republican nominee Donald Trump. In these clips, you'll see that these two fine gentlemen focus on the real problems this country is facing, the hard-hitting issues that make this election so crucial--the size of their hands. Also referenced are things like, "Who's the tallest," "How far can I hit a golf ball," and, "Make America orange again!" Okay, so maybe that last one isn't entirely true, but there definitely was a reference to how orange Donald Trump's skin is. Now, I'm not saying that Trump's skin is orange, but even the state of Florida was like, "Damn, that's pretty orange."

Now again, this attempted emasculation of candidates is nothing new in the political space. As Cunningham et. al tell us in their article Accruing Masculinity Capital, both Democrats and Republicans aren't shy to attack one another on bases other than the issues that most intelligent voters would be interested in hearing about. During the 2004 election run, Cunningham (et. al, can't forget those guys) looked at how Republicans and Democrats talked about themselves and each other, and their findings are more or less what one might come to expect, if thinking in terms of liberals versus conservatives.

Democrats had a tendency to refer to George W. Bush--then on his way to a second presidential term--as a, "war president," which is a really polite way to say, "war monger." Republicans on the other hand would refer to their left-wing opponents as being interested in fighting a more, "sensitive war on terror." Both of these statements are emasculating for different reasons; referring to Dubya as a war monger is akin to dehumanizing him, taking what would otherwise potentially be considered as a positive masculine trait--a fighting mentality--and turning him into a monster of sorts, though again in nicer words. And of course, saying that the Democrats want to fight a sensitive war, with speakers as notable as the former Governator of California going so far as to call them, "girlie men," well, maybe subtelty isn't their strong suit.

Today's Republicans are more than a stone's throw from the Republicans of only twelve years ago when it comes to the masculine posturing. Remember those commercials for Nerf footballs from the 1990's where the NFL quarterback throws the ball an entire field length or more? I'd say that these modern-day candidates--Rubio, Trump, et. al--took not only a page from their forebearers, but decided to write a whole damn book. Certainly this makes for more interesting television, as this campaign cycle seems to be more a game of, "he said, she said," rather than emphasis on the issues. In the modern-day classic movie Tropic Thunder, when speaking on the topic of committing to a role, Robert Downey Jr.'s character--who himself was a dude, playing a dude, disguised as another dude--said that you should never go full retard. Well, consider this then a message to Donald Trump and the Republican Party at large: you've gone full retard.

-Al Blum

#icantseemtobeabletoembedvideos #idontunderstandhowtousethiswebsite #imightbetoooldforthis #scratchthatiamwaytoooldforthis

Anything Goes in Politics?

https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/752691462223966208

-Nohely Gonzalez

*Puar, J. K. "Monster, Terrorist, Fag: The War on Terrorism and the Production of Docile Patriots." Social Text 20.3 72 (2002): 117-48. Web.

Don’t Trump on Me

It is no secret that toxic masculinity is one of the recurring motifs of the 2016 Presidential Election. Trump’s many references to his dick size as well calling Ted Cruz a “pussy” are just some of the highlights. His accusations were not only towards men, but Trump said in a RollingStone interview that Carly Fiorina was “too ugly” to ever be President. Sadly, Trump was not the only candidate to make these kinds of references, as Cruz and Jeb were only a few steps below Trump’s risky comments towards the other candidates. I will be analyzing some of Trump’s tweets, a useful tool in any presidential campaign. Trump prides himself on the overexposed slogan of him promising to “make America great again” but what he fails to mention is how America was always great for him, and the rest of white America. Trump’s language proves to be very interesting, as he never outright blames Clinton’s choices on her womanhood, or attacked Obama based on his race, instead he illustrates his points with coded terms and sly uses of misogyny, racism, and xenophobia.

Donald Trump’s tweets regarding the Orlando shooting are unapologetically uneducated and beside the point. After 49 people were killed and 53 people wounded in the Orlando shooting on June 12 2016, the only message Donald Trump had for his followers was an unapologetic “I told you so” tweet. In these tweets Trump’s only response, other than the shooting “proving” his theory of Islamic terrorism, is about America’s “weak” leadership and how as a country we need to be tough and vigilant. Trump uses gender coded terms to undermine his Democratic opponents. The many references made by Trump on Obama “sleeping”, or not doing enough “manly” things for this country. “Weak” is used to describe the kind of leadership Obama depicts, as well as attempting to emasculate Obama as dominance and strength are often associated as traditional masculine traits.

Trump even went as far as mentioning Hillary in bed. “If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America” (Twitter). When broken down, Trump is insinuating that if Hillary can not keep her husband happy in bed (referring to President Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky), how on Earth could she “satisfy” America? Not only is this misogynistic, it also degrades Hillary as a flousy, while her husband is off of the hook with his white male privilege. Trump continues to use subtle sexist messages to emasculate Hillary and maintain his own dominant and hegemonic masculinity; traits very important to many American Republicans.

Something else that Trump seems to keep consistent is the way he refers to Hillary: “Crooked Hillary is unfit to serve as President of the U.S. Her temperament is weak and her opponents are strong. BAD JUDGEMENT!” (Twitter). In other words, according to Trump “Crooked Hillary” will not be a good fit for President because our “opponents” are stronger than her. To Trump being a woman is synonymous to weak, proving to not be suitable for President. This is an example of how deep presidential leadership and masculinity are intertwined with one another (Cunningham). Trump’s attempt to discredit Clinton by insinuating she lacks specific characteristics required for a leader only further proves his misogyny; that she lacks these qualities because she is a woman.

Overall, Trump’s tweets prove to be interesting, as he certainly knows how to get people’s attention. The specific brutalness he carries himself with and the hyperdominant traits he possesses are all traditional American qualities this country prides themselves on. Trump is the American Dictionary definition of what it means to be an American; xenophobic, racist, sexist, and white. The only thing that separates Trump with the majority of white America is the fact he has a lot of money. This alone only fuels the love and support for the Trump campaign because it gives white middle class American families something to idealize – as if they didn’t have enough white celebrities and millionaires to look up to. With America only increasingly moving towards a melting pot of cultures, languages, and ethnicities the very dated traditional qualities Trump possesses are also getting him supporters.

At the end of the day, and stepping back from the whole he-could-actually-end-up-being-president conversation (and anxiety), Donald Trump’s twitter is a very entertaining account. There are those specific moments that we will remember for a whole. For example, when he would conduct studies and theorize the real talk..

Or when he was a relationship therapist....

#BeSmartRobert

By Naeem Salameh

#naeem #masculinities #sociology #christie #phd #avocado #love #pits #avocadopits #chancetherapper #145 #831 #ucsc

Due to his racist and sexist comments Donald Trump has become/ is one of the worst candidates that could have emerged from the American Republican Party. Despite all the controversy, he has managed to gather a rather large amount of support from the nation. His promise that he will restore order and protect the rule of the law has many jumping up and down while cheering “Trump”!!!!

On the other hand, Bernie Sanders the youths most favorable candidate with his well known slogan “Feel the Bern” was unable to snatch the Democratic nominee, which meant that Hillary Clinton would become the one that would represent the Democratic Party. Ever since the selection of the two representing candidates Trump has wasted no time in defaming Hillary's name in every speech or tweet that he has given/posted.

Since the founding of the Americas, there has been this idea that the nation must be connected to white, European masculinity.The passing of time, however, has led to the evolution of this linkage as well as the evolution of the masculinity that is associated with politics. In these modern times, politics as well as political candidates have aimed to attain and maintain masculinity capital which consists of dominant and hegemonic masculinity. Political candidates seek to increase their masculinity capital by associating themselves with qualities such as strong, aggressive, protector. These traits empower their dominant masculinity which they go on to say makes them suitable to be leaders of a nation.

Trump sticks to the hegemonic and dominant masculinity ideals which leads him to continuously attack Hillary in every way that he can. He belittles her by placing emphasis on her female traits which in his point of view are not suitable for leadership. On the other hand, he seeks to empower himself and his masculinity so that the nation is aware what a leader not only looks like but is also capable of.

As you can see in the video, Trump describes himself as the “Law and Order candidate”. He believes that he will be able to restore order and protect the rule of law. His use of words suggests that only a masculine figure who is strong and decisive will be able to restore the nation to how it once was which was safe and without crime. Trump then proceeds to attack Hillary by stating “that Clinton is weak and pandering.” Here he begins to emasculate Clinton by suggesting that, due to her being a woman, she will lack the strength needed in order to enforce the law. Not only that but he goes on to say that she has only embarrassed but will continue to embarrass the nation if she becomes president. In his attack, Trump is claiming that Hillary does not have the characteristics that are required of a leader (strength, toughness, decisiveness) indicating that these characteristics are only associated with strong men (aka him). In the last couple of seconds of the video he makes it clear that a good president will put the nation back on track by being tough and smart. Trump has and will continue to downgrade his opponent while showing that he is the ideal candidate due to all the masculine traits that he has portrayed and will continue to portray.

#Betsy Ventura

https://www.google.com/search?q=little+boy+not+presidential+material!&rlz=1C5ACMP_enUS522US528&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjm66WF9IPOAhVNyGMKHQSGBOIQ_AUICigD&biw=1220&bih=636#imgrc=Le9xZWGCrISQjM%3A

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/675296416529534976

Alina Wanchoo

June 12, 2016 is a date that will live on in infamy. It is the day that an American security guard opened fire on a queer nightclub in Orlando, Florida. It is the day that 49 queer people of color lost their lives and 53 more were wounded, the most damage that has ever been done in a mass shooting in America. It also the day that the media glossed over the identities of those who suffered the attack. It is the day that “radical Islam” was blamed for the queerphobia displayed in this assault and the public eye was turned to the “War on Terror” instead of to the mirror.

The attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando shook the foundation of the American queer community, particularly queer people of color, and stripped away their sense of safety in queer spaces. So, imagine the outrage when previously anti-queer politicians began offering their condolences to the community as if they didn’t have a hand in fostering the kind of anti-queer sentiment that this attack was steeped in. The cherry on top, of course, is Donald Trump’s response to the shooting.

Before touching the steaming pile of shit that is this tweet, it’s important to touch base about what a Good President is in the eyes of the public (or at least, what a Good President is in the eyes of the public according to a few sociologists).

A Good President:

-Is decisive -Is strong -Really hates terrorists and what occurred on 9/11

Now, let’s break this tweet down, shall we?

-Appreciate the congrats for being right…-

Who’s congratulating you, Mr. Trump? Certainly not the families of the deceased. This insensitive “I told you so” appears to be Trump’s way of accruing masculinity capital by presenting himself as knowledgeable and able to predict where the nation is headed, implying that like A Good Father ™ he will be able to steer the country in the right direction if given the presidency. (+1 pt for Decisiveness)

-…on radical Islamic terrorism,-

Jumping the gun, aren’t we? So far, no real connection has been found between Daesh and the shooter. By posting about Daesh at 8:43 AM on the day of the attack, Trump is attempting to fearmonger and further strengthen himself as a capable candidate in the eyes of the general public. Additionally, by referencing Islamic terrorism here, Trump shifts the blame of the attack from American culture to radical Islamic culture… because Americans aren’t homophobic, right? (+1 pt for Terrorism Mention)

-…I don’t want congrats,-

Then why bring it up in the first place? Because he wants to win this presidential pissing contest by displaying his so called “power” and pretending to desire to put it aside for “the good of the people”. He doesn’t want congrats! He wants to be a man and take action. (+1 pt for Strength)

-… I want toughness & vigilance.-

Aaaand there it is. As with many political speeches about tragedies, Trump culminates by peacocking about how no one has done enough when it comes to terrorism, but he will. (+1 pt for Strength, +1 pt for Decisiveness)

-We must be smart!-

Because we weren’t being smart before? Because being smart is fearmongering approximately 4 hours after the attack? Well, he isn’t entirely wrong. If Trump is trying to present himself as a Strong Candidate, then he’s playing it well. He’s equating intelligence with decisiveness, strength, and hatred of the ‘terrorists’ that are tearing American apart. In other words, he’s equating intelligence with masculinity. (+1 pt for Strength, +1 pt for Decisiveness)

That tallies up to 7 whole Masculinity Points ™! And just in one tweet! Trump sure does know how to cater to the public.

Now onto the Final Translation:

#Arina G #happily accepting criticism and edits!

Masculinity as Political Capital

In this video, individuals discsuss how Trump uses his masculinity to further his campaign. Feeling attacked by Marco Rubio, trump says “look at those hands. Are those small hands? . . . I guarantee you there’s no problem”. Trump is implying the size of his penis in this conversation. What might the size of his genitals do with him running for president? This is a clear indication that Trump is using his masculinity as political capital to benefit himself in the election. Trump understands that most of his followers are conservatives and would entertain the idea of electing him as president based on his proven “masculinity”. Trump may prove to voters that he is more masculine than another man by challenging them by using things such as his birth given sex and its counterparts. However, when competing against a woman, Hillary Clinton, masculinity is not something to compete for. Trump automatically wins the debate of masculinity when facing Clinton,simply because he is a man and she is a woman. Even though there are different types of masculinities, such as the ones Judith Halberstam discusses in An introduction to to Female Masculinity, it is not common knowledge to recognize such traits of an individual. Trump uses masculinity as political capital to win votes by guaranteeing the size of his penis, taking advantage of the public, regarding its ignorance of different types of masculinities, and constantly attacking others to prove his strength and power as an individual, following his desire to prove his masculinity. Overall, he is arguing that a man must be president. Whether he genuinely believes this or simply acts in such ways to satisfy certain groups of populations, Trump is capable of using his masculinity for personal gain. Many ideologies would argue that gender should not be a determining factor in making such political and important decisions for the country. Presidency should be awarded to the one most capable, disregarding gender bias. In Strange Cousins, by Mann, ontological weight is discussed. According to Mann, ontological weight is “. . .lived experience of the subject”. When gender is broken, someone may find out who they really are, without the influence of any culture. This philosophy should be followed when viewing Trump and Clinton as competitors. They should be judge on their ideas to better the United States, disregarding their gender.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/do-you-have-to-be-manly-to-be-president/

Gurjot Kaur

#womancard

In what ought to be one of the most crucial elections in the history of the United States, we are faced with the first woman Democratic candidate that has an extensive political resume and presence in our government, and a Republican with no political experience and an agenda filled with xenophobic, misogynistic and inhumane policies. In a time where their candidacy is crucial to some people’s survival. Their campaign strategies and tactics are telling of where they are going to steer this country. It is essential to analyze these strategies and tactics and the effects that they have on our nation.

In the past, in order to gain political capital, candidates have resorted to use tactics that are discursive performances of masculinity. In a nation where dominance and hegemony are embedded into bills, policies, institutes and culture, it is essential for them to use masculinity in their campaign to display their political power.

Twitter has been a prominent platform for the candidates to communicate with their supporters. It is also a direct way of insult and response between them. In one tweet, Hillary Clinton has managed to encompass the general tactics both parties have been using.

Let’s break this down into several segments. First, Donald Trump said that Hillary was playing the woman card. By this he meant that given her gender, she was able to gain supporters. If she were a man, her policies and pledges of getting into the White House would not allow her to get that far into the presidential race. Trump was emasculating Clinton’s campaign through gender coded language. As a woman – her policies display attributed characteristics of femininity – therefore she was gaining followers. However those same policies coming from a male candidate would not be associated as ridged, aggressive or assertive enough to gain political capital. Compared to his policies hers are weak and soft.

Second, Trump comments that his hearing was damaged and was still recovering because when Hillary was talking, she was “shouting.” Once again, Trump’s usage of gender coded language is evident. He is exuding his dominant masculinity over Clinton. He is dismissing Clinton’s political presence by characterizing her with attributes we associate with femininity. Implying that she was screaming and being loud aligns with women being seen as rowdy and talkative. Further her pestering caused him to lose his hearing. The over view of this message was that Clinton was just all talk and no action – just like how she would act if she entered the White House.

Hillary Clinton has vowed to fight for women’s rights, claiming that Trump’s comments aren’t a joke and that she would endure his whiplash so that other women wouldn’t have to. In response to Trump’s dominant masculinity antics, Clinton asserts her presence as a candidate but insinuating that Trump’s antiquated ideals are ridiculous. She states that her assertiveness is her being a woman.

Further she quotes the picture with clips from Trump’s statements about his damaged hearing. As the proclaimed protector of women’s rights, she calls upon hegemonic masculinity to emasculate Trump. The quoted sections in her tweet shows how he was complaining and whining about her. Ending her tweet with “Really” is her form of telling him to get over himself and stop whining. This form of complaint is not only associated with femininity, but it is also stating that he’s acting weak like a little girl. She is aligning herself with dominant masculine traits – assertive strong and aggressive while devaluing womanhood – him being portrayed as a whining little b****.

Overall, as progressive as women have come, American politics is still infused with dominant and hegemonic masculinity strategies in order to gain political capital. Either parties promote a genderized agenda that will always ensure that those who perform gender accurately will be worthy of their fruitful offerings.

-Brenda Avila

FULL Speech: Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally in Reno, NV (1/10/16)

Section Clip: 1:08:36-1:13:15 https://youtu.be/HceVjMEyRoY

It would not be an understatement to say that Donald Trump has been the most horrible and racist candidate that has represented by the Republican Party thus far. Not only is he ignorant, but also mediocre. It is inexplicable how so many individuals believe him when he says that he will make America strong, respected, and safe again! Maybe it’s because he uses his speeches to convince his supporters that America is losing and only he can make it win.

In Trump’s Nevada Rally, he uses gender narrative to explain how football is an analogy for the United States. He says that in order to have good game, players must be aggressive and tackle one another with great force. The lack of aggression is considered soft, in other words feminine, doing things like a girl would, and not showing tough characteristics like a man should. Trump explains that football was a competitive and masculine sport, where men showed their power and strength, but now it is weak just like this country.

Regulation of our country is the reason why we are failing. Politicians believe that in order to be a great leader one must be masculine. Trump associates himself with characteristics like being aggressive, strong, and powerful in order to make himself appear as a “good” and “effective” leader. Trump says that our country was strong before but currently it is weak and if he becomes president he can make it win, win, win. He will make his country win so much that they will ask him to lose one or two times!

In order to make America win, Trump convinces his supporters that he has intelligent plans for America to become great again. In his speech he uses masculinity as a form of political capital to prove that as president he will have power and strength to do the things that a leader ought to do. He pulls his supporters in by saying that he will kick the shit out of ISIS, in other words he will bomb and end ISIS. By using foul language, he appears to his supporters as a man who has power and is not afraid to show his masculinity.

To make himself appear brilliant and knowledgeable he emasculates Obama by undermining his policies such as the ObamaCare. He will create a better health care system that will help all. Obama doesn’t have the power or potential to build a better health care, but he does. By doing so, he’s reassuring that he’d be a great leader. He further explains that he’ll build a wall to keep out rapists and drug dealers from the country, by rapist and drug dealers he’s referring to immigrants, primarily Mexicans. He’ll build a wall without the need of an environmental impact survey approval. He’ll beat the snakes, turtles, and snails that could not get the survey approved. Trump refers to them as turtles and snails to show that they were slow and could not get their work done. By this he means that by being slow and snake-like is tied to femininity. Since the country is weak, soft, and slow it is feminine because it is portraying women like characteristics. His actions will be faster and he will go against what the environmentalists say because he is protecting America and showing how being masculine and in control gets the job done. If he becomes president the country will no longer be feminine rather have dominant masculinity and strength.

He believes he’s going to make America strong, respected, and safe by not making horrible incompetent deals that he cannot comply with and use his brightness to make it great again. But in reality, does he have the potential to run this country smoothly and make conscious decisions? The answer is no!

Deseary Burciaga

Donald Trump is arguably one of the most horrifying things to come out of American Republican Party. He is racist, sexist, and xenophobic, yet he has managed to amass a vast amount of support. How? Because he promises to make America great again! And because his campaign is run using time-tested methods, proven effective by generations of Republicans before him.

Although Bernie Sanders gave a fierce and passionate fight for the Democratic nominee, it looks like Hillary Clinton will be the one to represent the Democrats in the November polls. Now that the Democrats have their candidate, Trump’s campaign has wasted no time trying to slander and defame Clinton. Given his misogynistic ideology, it’s actually quite a surprise that Trump hasn’t outright blamed Clinton’s inadequacies on her sex. He’s smarter than that, or at least he hires people who know that blatantly insulting 50% of the American population is not a good move.

There is no denying that American politics has been steeped in masculinity since the founding of our country. After all, no woman or man of color had a part in writing The Declaration of Independence, or any of the other founding American legislation papers. So it makes sense that white, European masculinity has been the ideal from the get go. Over time, these ideals have evolved into the dominant and hegemonic masculinity ideals that we see today.

Studies have shown that politicians associate themselves with qualities such as strength, aggression and decisiveness. They then go on to imply that these traditionally masculine traits are the necessary characteristic of an effective leader. Therefore, good leaders have to be masculine. By doing this, the politicians perpetuate dominant masculinity the sole ideology that is acceptable for a man in a position of power.

Fortunately, that ideal is being turned on its head with the emergence of female politicians. In today’s more feminist atmosphere, hegemonic masculinity which requires the man to be superior to the woman is losing its place in society’s spotlight. However that does not mean that it has disappeared entirely. The misogyny can still be seen between the lines of Trump’s Twitter criticism of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

source: x

As you can see, there are no standard misogynistic insults i.e. “too emotional” or “like a girl.” But Trump uses gender coded terms to undermine his Democratic opponents. He attacks Obama, specifically using the word “weak” to describe Obama’s leadership. Trump is attempting to emasculate Obama by calling out his lack of strength, a traditionally masculine trait. At the same time, if we follow the dialectic tendencies of society, Trump is also insinuating of that a lack of masculinity automatically means femininity. So in calling Obama weak, Trump is calling him feminine. Similarly, Trump states that Clinton is “incompetent and of very bad judgement.” Again his is trying to discredit Clinton by claiming she lacks the characteristics that are required for a leader, implying that she lacks these qualities because she is a woman.

Regardless of who he is trying to insult or undermine, Trump continues to use subtle sexist messages to emasculate his opponent and perpetuate dominant and hegemonic masculinity. So since Trump loves his masculinity so much, I leave you with this vine:

#Grace C

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