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The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars, and the Politics of Anxious Masculinity
A professor of psychology shows how "anxious masculinity" is a factor in many wars and conflicts, offering a sweeping treatment of the subject, from the contentious politics of ancient Greece through the backlash against Hillary Clinton and the current War in Iraq.
291 pages, Hardcover
First published September 9, 2004
8 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 25, 2023
Baixei esse livro porque ele basicamente falaria sobre um tema muito próximo ao da minha tese, só que trocando Jair Bolsonaro por George W. Bush. É interessante perceber que na época dos dois governos de Bush Filho ele era tão impopular - talve um pouco menos - do que Donald Trump foi durante sua única gestão. A Guerra Santa entre Ocidentais e Orientais estava em voga e foi substituída por outro tipo de guerra, a Guerra dos Sexos, que já tinha bastante pronunciamento na época de Bush. É interessante a análise que Ducat faz da figura de Hillary Clinton que foi masculinizada, feminilizada e depois masculinizada de novo pela mídia em geral durante o governo, anterior de Bush, o do marido dela, Bill Clinton. Uma trajetória que aqui no Brasil pode ser comparada com a de Dilma Rousseff, que acabou desempossada de seu cargo também em razão de uma pretensa Guerra dos Sexos no nosso páis, disfarçada, como se sabe, de coisas muito piores. De toda forma, apesar de trazer alguns isights interessantes, o livro não é tão cativante assim de ser lido.
March 3, 2025
This book is extremely revelatory on the whole about how American politics handles feminization and the presence of 'female' traits in political spheres; which is, not well! Mostly this book just made me angry (which means it did its job right), and it's hard not to think about how similar the present circumstances are, despite a 20-year gap between the time of writing. An updated version is needed! And a prescriptive section!
Also this book demonstrates that the scariest thing to ever walk this planet, according to men, is women. Be afraid!!! I'm coming for your masculinity!
Also this book demonstrates that the scariest thing to ever walk this planet, according to men, is women. Be afraid!!! I'm coming for your masculinity!
February 11, 2015
A bit dated - Bush-focused - but this book changed my views, even as a pretty leftist queer guy. The connection between (supposed/cultural) masculinity and conservatism deserved to be explored, and read about, in depth.
September 2, 2008
This is exactly the kind of gender-based social criticism that I hate: take a bunch of Lefty truisms and "prove" them through psychoanalytic theory.
March 6, 2018
VERY interesting book.
The author posits that all children identify with their primary caregivers from birth, which is generally the mother. This is fine for girls, as girls are expected to grow up and become women and mothers. Society expects boys, however, to grow up to be men but, since men/fathers are absent from early childhood compared to mothers, boys don't naturally identify with men. Societal expectations force them to break from their mothers, and the easiest way to do this psychologically is to deny any identification with women/mothers. Because their success or failure as men rides on this break, the feminine becomes something for boys/men to fear and, as Yoda teaches us, fear leads to anger, and anger to hate. This hate--however unconscious--then colors their view of women and their relationships to and with women.
The author readily admits not all men hate women, but argues that fear of "the feminine" exists to some degree in most men. He also argues that this is part of the backlash from the straight white male community against minority groups. I would have liked to see more exploration into the origin of the societal forces that created these expectations for boys--I got the sense that it's a very chicken-and-egg story--although that's probably a book of its own.
Wimp Factor was published in 2004, and I would LOVE to see an updated edition that covers the Obama administration, the Trump campaign, and the #MeToo movement. The book's concept also dovetails with another theory I've been hearing about recently; namely, that, as we empower girls and women to be more vocal/active/participatory in all fields, boys and men are left without a clear guide as to how to be masculine, distinct from feminine. How do boys become men in a time when girls are taking part more and more in spheres that once were reserved for men?
The author uses some anecdotal evidence from his private practice, but mostly a number of psychological theories and studies to support his conclusions. (I was definitely expecting more anecdotal and less scientific evidence; the technical nature of the text reads more like a dissertation than an airport pop-psychology book, and was why it took me so long to get through what is actually a pretty short book). The book's discussion of the impact of male fear of the feminine on politics does seem to stray from the impartial. I can't think of any glaring claims or assertions which were not, prima fascie, backed up by data, but I detected a LOT of hostility in the author's attitude toward conservative politics OUTSIDE its relevance to the thesis. I suspect that will engender commensurate hostility towards these ideas from people eager to criticize them.
I don't think one book has or can answer all questions about men and women in the world today, but I will definitely be thinking about this one for a long time.
The author posits that all children identify with their primary caregivers from birth, which is generally the mother. This is fine for girls, as girls are expected to grow up and become women and mothers. Society expects boys, however, to grow up to be men but, since men/fathers are absent from early childhood compared to mothers, boys don't naturally identify with men. Societal expectations force them to break from their mothers, and the easiest way to do this psychologically is to deny any identification with women/mothers. Because their success or failure as men rides on this break, the feminine becomes something for boys/men to fear and, as Yoda teaches us, fear leads to anger, and anger to hate. This hate--however unconscious--then colors their view of women and their relationships to and with women.
The author readily admits not all men hate women, but argues that fear of "the feminine" exists to some degree in most men. He also argues that this is part of the backlash from the straight white male community against minority groups. I would have liked to see more exploration into the origin of the societal forces that created these expectations for boys--I got the sense that it's a very chicken-and-egg story--although that's probably a book of its own.
Wimp Factor was published in 2004, and I would LOVE to see an updated edition that covers the Obama administration, the Trump campaign, and the #MeToo movement. The book's concept also dovetails with another theory I've been hearing about recently; namely, that, as we empower girls and women to be more vocal/active/participatory in all fields, boys and men are left without a clear guide as to how to be masculine, distinct from feminine. How do boys become men in a time when girls are taking part more and more in spheres that once were reserved for men?
The author uses some anecdotal evidence from his private practice, but mostly a number of psychological theories and studies to support his conclusions. (I was definitely expecting more anecdotal and less scientific evidence; the technical nature of the text reads more like a dissertation than an airport pop-psychology book, and was why it took me so long to get through what is actually a pretty short book). The book's discussion of the impact of male fear of the feminine on politics does seem to stray from the impartial. I can't think of any glaring claims or assertions which were not, prima fascie, backed up by data, but I detected a LOT of hostility in the author's attitude toward conservative politics OUTSIDE its relevance to the thesis. I suspect that will engender commensurate hostility towards these ideas from people eager to criticize them.
I don't think one book has or can answer all questions about men and women in the world today, but I will definitely be thinking about this one for a long time.
March 2, 2009
It's a good read, although a little too "psycho babble" at times. Basically, Ducat's argument is that the Republican party and conservativism have been cast as masculine (the party and ideology of "real men") as opposed to the Democratic party and liberals who have been cast as feminine (the party and ideology of "girlie men"), particularly via their support of the "nanny [welfare:] state." I mean really, how girlie is it to have the government "take care" of us? Republicans, on the other hand, are "real men" because they want Americans to take care of themselves...so masculine :) I also like the arguments about the fear right-wingers have of powerful women in the chapter cleverly titled, "Vaginas with Teeth and Castrating First Ladies: Fantasies of Feminine Danger from Eve to Hillary Clinton." All in all, an intersting read...
I'm reading this book for a paper I'm co-writing on the way the speeches at the RNC attempted to emasculate Obama.
I'm reading this book for a paper I'm co-writing on the way the speeches at the RNC attempted to emasculate Obama.
Want to read
October 17, 2009from the library
Book News
Why has testosterone become the magic elixir of political power, asks Ducat (psychology, New College of California), why do spin doctors and handlers spend so much effort pumping Viagra into a candidate's rhetoric and to stage baroque macho photo opportunities? He draws on his own and other research, and on historical case studies, to highlight the connection between the magnitude of a man's terror of being feminine and his tendency to embrace right-wing political opinions. Alas, his governor's girly men came too late for this edition. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Book News
Why has testosterone become the magic elixir of political power, asks Ducat (psychology, New College of California), why do spin doctors and handlers spend so much effort pumping Viagra into a candidate's rhetoric and to stage baroque macho photo opportunities? He draws on his own and other research, and on historical case studies, to highlight the connection between the magnitude of a man's terror of being feminine and his tendency to embrace right-wing political opinions. Alas, his governor's girly men came too late for this edition. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
January 4, 2016
I was pretty interested in the topic discussed, though at times it was repetitive, dated, and sounded a bit like a college paper in need of revision. Regardless, Ducat made many good points and had a wealth of examples of how stereotypical masculinity and femiphobia permeate American politics, particularly in his chapter entitled "Vaginas with Teeth and Castrating First Ladies: Fantasies of Feminine Danger from Eve to Hillary Clinton".
April 23, 2008
Those who study gender know that its effects can be seen EVERYWHERE. This is a very good study of gender in politics. It should give anyone who reads it a whole new respect for Hillary Clinton regardless of personal feelings toward her.
March 22, 2009
An interesting analysis of the development of gender roles in the 19th and 20th centuries and the central role the meaning of masculinity has had on American politics.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews