After the recent US election, fascist influencer Nick Fuentes posted a slogan that has since then gone viral: “your body, my choice”. In a sense, this slogan contains all that is wrong with contemporary concepts of masculinity in a nutshell: it is aggressively patriarchal, unapologetically portraying masculinity as forceful domination of women. The fact that this kind of statement is made in the context of an election that was won by Donald Trump reminds us how important this kind of domination is for any kind of authoritarian rule. As widely different as they are, authoritarian regimes can agree on an aggressive anti-feminist and anti-LGBTQI* stance. And the fact that the slogan is a malicious reversal of a well-known feminist statement – “my body, my choice” – shows that this a reactionary backlash against developments that many thought to be irreversible.
Even if we won’t let these people define masculinity, their position cannot be ignored, and masculinity today cannot be extricated from patriarchal society. Where do the problems lie? How are children turned into men? How do gender, race, and class interact? How can masculinity interact with feminism? Can we develop a positive concept and practice of masculinity?
A seminar reader will be provided in the first session.
- Kursleitung: Christian Grueny