A recent study by The Washington Post found that men with “fragile masculinity” — insecurity about their manhood — are more likely to support Republicans and U.S. President Donald Trump, a man who has publicly bragged about his penis size and high testosterone levels.
The Washington Post looked at the nationwide frequency of Google searches for terms like “erectile dysfunction,” “hair loss,” “how to get girls,” “penis enlargement,” “penis size,” “steroids,” “testosterone” and “Viagra” — words that have been correlated with fragile masculinity in men.
Researchers then cross-referenced a map of these searches with electoral maps from the last three elections.
Related: The gay scene has a toxic masculinity problem. Here’s how we can end it together.
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“We found that support for Trump in the 2016 election was higher in areas that had more searches for topics such as ‘erectile dysfunction,'” The Washington Post reports. “In contrast, fragile masculinity was not associated with support for Mitt Romney in 2012 or support for John McCain in 2008 — suggesting that the correlation of fragile masculinity and voting in presidential elections was distinctively stronger in 2016.”
Their theory also applied to support for Republican House candidates in the 2018 midterms.
The Washington Post made sure to point out that correlation isn’t the same as causation: That is, they’re pointing out a casual connection between fragile masculinity and voting Republican — they’re not saying that one causes the other.
However, these findings jive with another recent study showing that Trump was “disproportionately supported by people who hold traditional ‘masculine honor beliefs’ equating masculinity with physical courage and aggression.”
Thus, Trump’s aggressive posturing can be seen as a political strategy designed to reassure white men about their power and superiority over everyone else.
While this might seem funny — implying that Trump’s most ardent male supporters are actually balding, impotent, involuntary celibates — men with fragile masculinity are more likely to laugh at homophobic jokes and support homophobic government policies, two forms of violence which are no laughing matter.
Aires the Ram
The Washington Post. Second only to the New York Times in being Ground Zero for anti-Trump, anti-Republican, anti-male propaganda. We get it Daniel Villarreal, you hate Trump. You can’t really articulate why, it’s just that the lemmings on the left tell you how to think and how to vote so that you can stay in good graces with them. Brilliant. I’m sure you’re very proud of this so-called “article”. Bravo
Daniel Villarreal
I appreciate you spelling my last name correctly. And I can articulate why I dislike Trump. My extensive history of reporting on Trump makes very specifically clear why. And my interest here is in why men support him, not in Trump himself who I find quite mediocre, predictable, boring and dangerous.
Kangol
“Lemmings on the left”? You are so hilarious. No one “hates” Trump, but what’s clear is that he’s very likely eventually going to go down for one of the gravest transgressions in the history of the US presidency: conspiring with an enemy power (Russia) as well as other foreign country to steal a US election, as well as for obstructing justice to prevent the investigation into his “high crimes and misdemeanors.” The evidence becomes starker every single day, but you refuse to see it.
That’s fine, it’s your right, hold fast to your beloved Trump and the GOP. One doesn’t have to be a “lemming” to tell right from wrong, or to not support anti-gay, or racist, or pathologically lying politicians, but if that’s what you call people who saw through Trump’s grotesque lies and gross criminality, and his economic, moral and ethical bankruptcy from Day 1, so be it.
Juanjo
Speaking of men with sexual insecurity issues and Aires the “ram” pops up and bleats out his hurt feelings. Funny how that works. It was a lovely ad hominem post though, Aire-head.
QueerTruth
LMAO!!! Nice try, little Ram, but you keep swinging and missing the ball. Thank you. You’re comments make me laugh (at you).
Creamsicle
“Water is Wet!” Declares groundbreaking new study.
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stuffedpuppy
Oh please, it has been known for quite some time that it takes rather weak men to support biggots like Trump and other such “rough” people…it’s a no-brainer!!
I would not only call them weak but also “repressed”. Freud had unmasked these types over a hundred years ago. 😉
gymmuscleboy
How is Trump a bigot?
gymmuscleboy
Another interpretation is that men who resign themselves to erectile dysfunction, hair loss, no sex life, a small penis, and physical weakness do not support Trump.
dubril
Daniel Villarreal, you really need to take a class in logic. First, the Washington Post is notorious for being a left-wing rag sheet. Just saying. And that’s my ad hominem for the day. Second, the study you cite is not peer reviewed nor replicable, two reasons for anyone in his right mind to dismiss it with disdain. Third, Quine’s underdetermination thesis gives us permission to conjecture probable explanations for the correlation between a right-wing political orientation and searching for improvements to one’s sexual appeal and performance other than the one proffered and the one that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. I here am taking for granted the assumption of the authors of that study arguendo. So, to repeat, Quine’s underdetermination thesis permits us to conjecture a probable explanation that you and the other Democrats who conducted the study didn’t think of that puts a monkey wrench in your self-satisfaction. A Democrat and journalist a couple of decades ago said that even though he was a Democrat he preferred to report on the young Republicans’ get togethers because the young Republicans were so much better looking than the young Democrats. He isn’t the only person who has noticed that fact. Everyone notices it that I’ve talked to. Alpha-looking young males are invariably on the Right, either Republican, Libertarian, or alt-right. And young Republican females are noticeably better looking than young Democrat and socialist females a.k.a. man-hating feminists. Devastating to Democrats is that taxonomists now inform us that physical looks correlate almost 100% with behavior and genetics. So, say they, it’s perfectly acceptable to judge a book by its cover, to classify species and subspecies just by looking at them, including the subspecies of human we call races. Common-sense has returned to science at last. Just by looking at the faces of the alpha males on the Right and the faces of the beta males on the Left tells you everything you need to know about the quality of their souls. You can tell by looking at Congressman Schiff that he’s a Democrat. I looked over the mob at the Democrat Party Convention that nominated HIllary Clinton as candidate for the Presidency. I’ve never looked over an uglier bunch of losers. So, with that fact that you can tell a lot about a person by their looks under our belt, Quine permits us to conjecture that the more physically attractive and testosterone infested young Republican males, as they age, yearn for the days of their lost youth. Naturally, they would be more inclined to seek out ways of regaining what they have lost. Democrat males are not that attractive nor testosterone driven to begin with. Aging hasn’t caused them to lose anything. They’re become habituated to being unattractive. So, they’re not motivated to seek ways of restoring what they didn’t have in the first place. Quine’s underdetermination thesis permits us to conjecture other explanations for the correlation. But that’s enough for now.
Kangol
You not only sound a bit unhinged, but also like someone who happened upon an article discussing W. V. O. Quine’s work, completely misunderstood it (the Duhem-Quine thesis), and now cannot get it out of your head, so you apply it nonsensically to everything. Fortunately, this kind of derangement is what psychologists and psychiatrists are for. Seek help. The ACA mandates all health care plans cover it.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Dubril: Umm, You pretty much 100% Co-signed Daniel’s post. My question is are you a Viagra or Cialis user???
Juanjo
Plays Well – you beat me to it.
Officiant
Ya think?
Kangol
Robin DiAngelo published a short, excellent book this summer titled White Fragility, and her arguments underscore how white male fragility correlates to support for Trump and the GOP. You can Google it or Katy Waldman’s New Yorker article on the topic, which explains it in a format anyone can grasp.
SportGuy
Thanks captain obvious.
DarkZephyr
I’m not a big fan of the term “fragile masculinity”, but reading some of the comments from those who have been triggered by this article kinda make it worth it. 😀
o.codone
If Trump support has to do with fragile masculinity then why isn’t every f*ag a Trump supporter?
youarekiddingme
O.codone. Wtf are you blabbering about? I’m a f*g and trust me—I don’t have fragile masculinity as a result. That sounds like your personal problem to me!
Kangol
Because most gay people aren’t homophobes like you.