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| Click above to enlarge images of medal Hegseth might have been awarded. |
Republicans Look Past Sexual Assault, Alcohol Allegations Against Pete Hegseth
Reading this led me to react the with title of this blog and to spend some time trying to make medals to illustrate it (above) to show the kind soldiers in a sick toxically masculine military might be awarded for sexual assault and drunken behavior. Trump and card carrying members of the phallocentric manosphere encountering soldiers sporting these medals would shake their hands and say "thank you for your service."
Popular culture has glamorized the hard drinking womanizing man whether a he's a soldier, detective, or some other heroic figure who solves the crime and catches the bad guys or makes a ton of money.
This is all related to Trump's phallocentric beliefs. I wrote about this here: Trump is a delusional unhinged sadist living in a phallocentric manosphere.
I have no way of knowing for sure what rocks Pete Hegseth's boat, if you'll excuse an expression more appropriate for a former Navy man. My impression of him is that he is like many men who consider heavy drinking to be a sign of masculinity. I also think he believes that women exist to satisfy the needs of men. I don't know whether he thinks their role in life is to wait on men hand and foot or gratifying male sexual desires.
How he fits into the concept of toxic masculinity remains to be seen. Wikipedia's definition of toxic masculinity begins:
The concept of toxic masculinity is used in academic and media discussions to refer to those aspects of hegemonic masculinity that are socially destructive, such as misogyny, homophobia, and violent domination. These traits are considered "toxic" due in part to their promotion of violence, including sexual assault and domestic violence. Socialization of boys sometimes also normalizes violence, such as in the saying "boys will be boys" about bullying and aggression.
I wonder what he'd say if someone asked him what he thought about the photos related to his hero below:
What does it say about someone (usually a man, Marjorie Taylor Greene is an exception) who finds excuses to show off their muscles?
For that matter, what does it say about RFK Jr.? Of course he's not in line to become Secretary of Defense.
Trump isn't about to pull a Hulk Hogan and rip off his shirt on TV. I am sure he wishes he could. He has to content himself with issuing AI created images of himself and seeing people waving flags with him as a Rambo character on them. He has to pleasure himself with being able to inflict his toxic masculinity on the nation.
It isn't just muscles, or even gender, that makes someone toxically masculine. It is a set of beliefs that might makes right. It is an abiding desire to exercise authority over others. We can speculate that it is rooted in feelings of inferiority which began in childhood, but this hardly maters when these people get power.
Kash Patel and Steven Miller, just for two examples, aren't muscle bound hunks. Women like Pam Bondi and Linda McMahon may have many characteristics of toxically masculine men. At its worst toxic masculinity can include a sadistic personality. This is when cruelty, inflicting pain on enemies, becomes the point.
Primary Hal Brown's Blog website is halbrown.org (if you are reading this anywhere else any additions or corrections will be at this address)
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