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People are asking why right-wingers are all for small government when it comes to social services, but still want the most bloated military budget in the world. It's very simple: The military is macho, taking care of poor people is not.
Look at any political issue, and conservatives will be on the macho side of it. The environment? Bring in the bulldozers. The energy crisis? Drill things and blow them up. Guns. The death penalty. Gay rights. The list goes on and on. The thing is, machismo has absolutely nothing to do with being truly masculine. It has everything to do with being not-feminine. It stems from a deep, paralyzing, all consuming fear of femininity in our society, particularly the feminine sides of our own personalities, along with the myth of the "opposite sex".
Masculine and feminine are not opposites. They are not even mutually exclusive. Each one of us possesses both a masculine and feminine side. But this phrase perpetuates the concept that it frames, that to be feminine in any way is to therefore be not masculine, and therefore for anything that is either truly or stereotypically feminine, the opposite must be masculine. Giving birth is feminine, therefore killing must be masculine. Being gentle and thoughtful, caring and considerate, open to other viewpoints, tolerant of others, appreciative of the arts, all of these things are stereotypically feminine. Thus, someone in the throes of femiphobia will go out of their way to prove to themselves and the world that they possess none of these traits, and in fact proclaim very loudly (being meek and silent is "feminine") that they are the exact opposite of all these things.
The GOP is the Party of Fear, and femiphobia is a fear that they are masters of exploiting. As a result, they always have a hook into the inner psyche of not only their base, but a good number of independents as well.
In the short term, we must turn the tables on them with our framing. When John Boehner yells on the floor of the House, call it, "impotent rage". With financial reform, the GOP is "soft on Wall Street". Real men go to sports bars, not "tea parties".
Long term, we have to start talking about masculinity in our culture, and redefine it. The Women's Rights movement has done a wonderful job in the last half century of empowering women, but that's only one half of the problem. Men have been encouraged only to get in touch with their feminine side, as if their blustery machismo was evidence that they fully understood and embraced their masculine power. Totally wrong. True masculinity is about being a provider and protector of others. It is selflessness, sacrifice, discipline, integrity, honor and bravery.
Interesting thing about the list above: Not one of them is a Republican trait. If we redefine what it means to be a "real man" in these terms, it will expose the right-wingers as the selfish, petty, greedy, impulsive lying amoral cowards that they are. And all the remaining support that still clings to the Party of Macho will crumble away to dust.
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