It's the Challenged Masculinity, Stupid (or is it?)
A recent article is making the rounds of leftwing blogs and forums. It’s based on a press release from Cornell University, and you can read it here:
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Aug05/soc.gender.dea.html
The researcher is a Ph.D. candidate by the name of Robb Willer, and he summarizes his study by claiming to have found that
“…if you made men more insecure about their masculinity, they displayed more homophobic attitudes, tended to support the Iraq War more and would be more willing to purchase an SUV over another type of vehicle”.
Interesting. Opposition to same-sex marriage, support for the war in Iraq, and even the popularity of gas-guzzling SUVs are all symptomatic of overcompensation for challenged masculinity. One wonders what causes US “soccer moms” to prefer SUVs over used Volvos and Toyota hybrid cars presumably favored by whiny Cornell faculty members who are secure in their masculinity. Perhaps the suburban women are trying to be more masculine? And what about all those women who oppose gay marriage, support the war and voted for George W. Bush – maybe they’re simply suffering from hormone imbalances?
The other thing that one is led to wonder is if the phenomenon applies cross culturally. For example, what do practices toward homosexuals in Muslim countries have to say about the state of masculinity among Muslim men? And is the propensity for certain men to carry around RPGs wherever they go and to fire AK-47s in the air when they get excited also a symptom of “challenged masculinity”. Is beheading a captive masculine behavior? Perhaps the war on terror could be more efficiently fought and won by sending out an army of hot women to the Middle East who would simply go up to the enemy and say “My God you’re sexy and masculine Ahmed!”
Well, it would be nice if we could reduce all our problems to such simple causes. Sadly, we can’t. There are other factors that lead to support for the war in Iraq. Like, for example, the fact that Saddam and Zarqawi are dangerous men (perhaps because of threats to their masculinity?) and a threat to civilized society. But sadder still is the fact that Willer’s research will probably become the basis for his being granted a Ph.D. which, in turn, will enable him to train another generation of young people in this ridiculous excuse for scientific inquiry.
A recent article is making the rounds of leftwing blogs and forums. It’s based on a press release from Cornell University, and you can read it here:
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Aug05/soc.gender.dea.html
The researcher is a Ph.D. candidate by the name of Robb Willer, and he summarizes his study by claiming to have found that
“…if you made men more insecure about their masculinity, they displayed more homophobic attitudes, tended to support the Iraq War more and would be more willing to purchase an SUV over another type of vehicle”.
Interesting. Opposition to same-sex marriage, support for the war in Iraq, and even the popularity of gas-guzzling SUVs are all symptomatic of overcompensation for challenged masculinity. One wonders what causes US “soccer moms” to prefer SUVs over used Volvos and Toyota hybrid cars presumably favored by whiny Cornell faculty members who are secure in their masculinity. Perhaps the suburban women are trying to be more masculine? And what about all those women who oppose gay marriage, support the war and voted for George W. Bush – maybe they’re simply suffering from hormone imbalances?
The other thing that one is led to wonder is if the phenomenon applies cross culturally. For example, what do practices toward homosexuals in Muslim countries have to say about the state of masculinity among Muslim men? And is the propensity for certain men to carry around RPGs wherever they go and to fire AK-47s in the air when they get excited also a symptom of “challenged masculinity”. Is beheading a captive masculine behavior? Perhaps the war on terror could be more efficiently fought and won by sending out an army of hot women to the Middle East who would simply go up to the enemy and say “My God you’re sexy and masculine Ahmed!”
Well, it would be nice if we could reduce all our problems to such simple causes. Sadly, we can’t. There are other factors that lead to support for the war in Iraq. Like, for example, the fact that Saddam and Zarqawi are dangerous men (perhaps because of threats to their masculinity?) and a threat to civilized society. But sadder still is the fact that Willer’s research will probably become the basis for his being granted a Ph.D. which, in turn, will enable him to train another generation of young people in this ridiculous excuse for scientific inquiry.
posted by JES at 1:42 PM
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