was discussing this with a friend of mine (she’s an anarchist but she actually organizes and shit). she was saying there can be no such thing as revolutionary masculinity because the two things are contradictory. but i’m a marxist so contradictions really butter my bread.
i think in a utopian, communist world gender identity would be completely different, to the point where it might not even be legible to us today, but my question is more about how we get from here to there. basically, can we men find a way to not be shitheads in such a way as to bring about communism, or does that not even make sense
feel free to dunk on me if this is a dumb question
Death to America
I’ll try not to make a super long effort post. I think much of the issue is that so much of masculinity is based on non communist values: individualism, competition. Men are taught to repress their emotions, to remain aloof. I mean the current “sigma” male, “alpha” male rhetoric, really most of the manosphere, is not really new stuff but is just the contemporary packaging of what men have always been taught, by fathers, mentors, coaches and peers. Masculinity is based on values that are antithetical to communism.
My adolescent years were bliss, and because of this I do think a revolutionary masculinity exists because I believe that’s what I experienced then. But maybe it wasn’t so much a “revolutionary masculinity” but instead the antithesis of masculinity, to the extent something like that could exist among non-political teenage boys in the early 2010s. Tbh I don’t know too much about the definitions of terms and I think a definition of masculinity needs to be decided upon before asking if revolutionary masculinity exists. Obviously machismo is not revolutionary - is machismo the same as masculinity? Tbh idk. But yeah I do agree that masculinity as it is presently understood cannot be revolutionary, because many of its essential characteristics are anti-revolutionary. But I know from experience men can learn to be communal, collaborative, emotional, caring, without necessarily adopting more “feminine” cultural tastes or even behaviors (so long as certain “masculine” behaviors are not inherently anti-revolutionary). Whether that still constitutes masculinity, revolutionary masculinity, or what idk, but I do think it gets at the core of your question.
Now what to do about gender identity itself moving forward I’m not the person for that. But in terms of what we need to be presently concerned about, especially after that “ideological gender gap” post last night (which I realize some people pushed back on a little but which also lines up with my experience - which granted might just be due to friends getting older and climbing their respective career ladders), I think it’s an attempt at an answer. Culturally non-masculine behaviors can be embraced from a “masculine” perspective.
What we need to do is construct an entire masculinity from scratch. This is not an easy task, but it is possible, and we have some inklings of where to start. The notion of responsibility is already considered integral to some people’s ideas of masculinity, and we could possibly extend that in a communist sense if we worked at it. Though, I’m not sure if I like behavioral masculinity or feminity. I think it would be easier and less toxic or reactionary to simply emphasize masculine-presenting, revolutionary people to those who need an idea of what masculinity means.
So, what we want is revolutionary masculine (AND feminine) aesthetics, not vague philosophies. Communist theory should be able to encourage good behavior regardless of gender identity or presentation.