102 / Rotman Management Spring 20 19

Q

&A

Describe the ‘modes of masculinity’ that have been at the

heart of President Trump’s rise to power in the U.S.

In recent years we have been witnessing a sense of entitle-

ment among white American men — especially working-

class evangelical Christians. These men have been assert-

ing a brand of masculinity that they feel has been under

attack for the past 40 years, as we have seen increasing gains

socially, legally and in terms of policy for groups that were

historically disenfranchised. While many people under-

stand these gains as necessary improvements towards

equality, this group of men has experienced them as an at-

tack on their traditional role in society. I call it ‘the gender

of Trumpism’.

You have said that for these men, certain global econom-

ic shifts have been particularly painful. Please explain.

You only have to follow the news to know that the West is

declining in power, while we are seeing increasing power

from nations like China. This has been felt on the ground —

again, mostly by white working-class men — as a decline in

union power. Stable manufacturing jobs have disappeared

and real wages have declined, and they feel like the basis of

their identity is being eroded.

A sociologist who studies

masculinity talks about

‘the gender of Trumpism’’.

Interview by Karen Christensen

QUESTIONS FOR C.J. Pascoe, Sociologist and Gender Expert, University of Oregon