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"*In this op-ed, Siobhán McGuirk explains how white masculinity ties in with the reactions to the white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville.*\n\nThe fragility of white masculinity — which seemingly causes men to aggressively assert their “manliness” alongside their whiteness — has been on display yet again in Charlottesville. That’s not surprising. Just as the white supremacist members of the so-called “[alt-right](http://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-the-alt-right-is)” believe all white people are members of a \"superior race\", they also believe that men should have [total domination over women](http://idavox.com/index.php/2017/07/27/they-want-us-caged-anti-feminism-white-sharia-and-traditionalism) and see feminism as a scourge. They have also shown hatred toward LGBTQ\\+ people — [particularly transwomen](https://www.advocate.com/media/2017/6/13/reading-far-right-homophobia-veiled-and-overt). These white nationalists are deeply threatened by campaigns against patriarchy, heterosexism, and misogyny, as well as by anti-racist movements.\n\nIn this context, the homophobic undercurrents of online commentaries opposing white nationalism are troubling.\n\nFollowing the lead of the Twitter account [@YesYoureRacist](http://www.teenvogue.com/story/viral-social-media-account-identify-people-participated-charlottesville-rally), photos of men marching with Tiki torches across Nameless Field at the University of Virginia on Friday night have gone viral. The aim is to name and shame Unite the Right attendees — to hold them accountable for their incendiary and racist actions. Amid hundreds of responses to these photos a popular theme emerges: These are not “real men.”\n\nSome comments and memes are played for laughs, and chime in with [crybaby](https://twitter.com/YesYoureRacist/status/896729718929727488) and [“mama’s boys\\!”](https://twitter.com/YesYoureRacist/status/896729718929727488) jibes.\n\n\n\n[#twitter: https://twitter.com/eyeswidebutt/status/896336233479143425]\n\nGiven the fragility of white masculinity, it’s understandable that appalled onlookers want to skewer the “tough man” posturing of extremist right-wing groups. Or perhaps people are trying to find humor in dark times. But this joke is only funny if you buy into harmful stereotypes about what it means to “be a man.”\n\nOne Facebook photo album of Unite the Right attendees was shared over 83,000 times before being made private on Tuesday. Under three of the photos, I counted that nearly one in 12 commenters used a sexist or homophobic slur. To these posters the men in the photos were “little bitches” and “pussies” who wouldn't last long in a “real fight.” Others noted, “of course they’re single\\!” and joked that they were probably virgins. As Roqayah Chamseddine argued in [*Elle*](http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/news/a47398/stop-telling-white-nationalists-they-just-need-to-get-laid/) this week, the idea that “getting laid” can dissuade men from Fascism or that having sex is the marker of a “real man,” only “embolden[s] violent masculinity.”\n\nVirginity is not the only “accusation” thrown at white nationalist men, however. Comments about “missing Pride” or suggesting that they have boyfriends implies these \"soft\" men must be gay. Other posters were more explicit, speculating that these white nationalists “suck d\\*\\*k,” or “looks like a f\\*\\*\\*\\*t to me\\!”\n\nThat’s the whole gag: Gay men are feminine, weak, and powerless, unlike “real men.” It’s an old, popular joke. Maybe you’ve heard it before. TV hosts Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, and a few others made it earlier this year about President Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin. The punchline is that Trump is the [“bottom”](http://www.teenvogue.com/story/six-things-you-shouldnt-assume-about-queer-sex) in their relationship, emasculated by Putin’s (sexual) power over him. Meme-makers chimed in with their [own interpretations](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/07/07/donald-trump-meeting-vladimir-putin-and-internet-going-nuts/458214001/). A statue of Trump as the Emperor Has No Balls unveiled in 2016 offered a different riff, apparently [“shaming”](https://theestablishment.co/those-trump-statues-arent-funny-and-they-sure-aren-t-progressive-e21206131624) Trump as having a micro penis, as if that were the true test of manhood.\n\nThese jokes do not “hit them where it hurts.” They perpetuate harmful ideas about gender and sexuality and in particular about the perceived dangers of \"[sexual deviancy](http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2017/07/10/jokes_about_trump_being_gay_draw_on_deep_rooted_stereotypes_about_gay_men.html)”— ideas that just happen to sit very comfortably in right-wing manifestos.\n\n\n\n[#image: /photos/599611207c192955fb5888ff]\n\nWe’re also fooling ourselves into thinking that only “real men” have power. In fact, we should be as equally disturbed by clean-shaven Fascists in chinos and polo shirts as by those with tattoos, guns, and shields, or by those who incite hatred from podiums. They are all [very real](https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/theres-nothing-fringe-about-these-white-people-1797784175). Even more so, we need to recognize how white supremacy manifests itself beyond individual people and individual acts. White supremacy does not start and end with angry men spewing hate in the streets. It's deeply embedded in our institutions, in our laws, in how we govern, and in our culture — including in the things we post online.\n\nWe emasculate and belittle people in order to make them appear less threatening. This can obscure the severity and the reach of threatening ideas. As Laura Smith explained in [*The Cut*](https://www.thecut.com/2017/08/charlottesville-attack-women-white-supremacy.html), it can be especially dangerous to underestimate the role of women on the right. White nationalist women present radio shows, write newspaper columns, speak at rallies, and run for office. While only a few may join marches, many more help to plan and promote them. On [Twitter](https://twitter.com/mahrohj/status/896794701273194497), these women are often imagined as wives or mothers providing [domestic comforts](https://twitter.com/JamilahLemieux/status/896372757012893696) to the men in the streets. Pervasive ideas about gender can disguise more unsettling truths. In reality, they are [not so passive](https://harpers.org/archive/2017/09/the-rise-of-the-valkyries/).\n\nFraming feminine traits, virginity, and homosexuality as signs of weakness or as points of shame also erases the incredible work of the women, trans, queer, and LGBTQ\\+ folks at the forefront of anti-Fascist and anti-racist movements. The founders of [Black Lives Matter](http://blacklivesmatter.com/herstory/) and the water protectors at [Standing Rock](http://www.teenvogue.com/story/whats-happening-at-standing-rock-from-2-native-american-girls) have each had to battle against their HerStories being erased. Of my friends countering Unite the Right in Charlottesville over the weekend, the majority identify as queer women or femme queer men. There is no shame at all in the \"pussies,\" \"bitches,\" and queers putting their bodies in the way of a white nationalist militia. Toxic masculinity, on the other hand, will only bring us down. We must push back against it where we see it.\n\n\n\n[#image: /photos/599610e393f92551f0bff53b]\n\nThe idea that neo-Nazis are not “real men” is just as counterproductive as the claim that “Charlottesville is not the real America.” Historically and presently speaking, the United States is built on and propped up by white supremacy. It also runs lucrative sidelines in patriarchy and heterosexism. In responding to \\#Cville and to white nationalism in general, we must continue to talk about fragile white masculinity. But we must do that without painting its adherents as \"failed men\" because we cannot fight bigotry with homophobia and misogyny and still expect to win.\n\n**Related:** [Axe Ad Shows How Toxic Masculinity Impacts Boys](http://www.teenvogue.com/story/axe-ad-shows-how-toxic-masculinity-impacts-boys)\n\n\n\n[#cneembed: script/playlist/5862d8befd2e61174e000010.js?autoplay=1&muted=1]\n\n"
<https://www.teenvogue.com/story/are-white-nationalists-real-men>