I call it Munchausen masculinity. By Hal M. Brown
Above is m version of the photo used to illustrate a RawStory article about Trump and his deputies wielding power with a macho hand.
This is an excellent article well worth reading. Here’s just one excerpt:
There is a method to all this maleness, experts say.
"The emphasis on a rigid gender binary is an outgrowth of a nostalgic patriarchy that wants to return to a mid-20th century understanding of gender relations, with white, heterosexual men at the pinnacle of a hierarchical identity pyramid," said Karrin Anderson, a communications professor at Colorado State University.
Trump, of course, is at the heart of the movement.
Shortly after his return to power on January 20, the president ordered an end to passports with a gender-neutral "X" option and moved to restrict gender transition procedures for people under the age of 19.
The 78-year-old billionaire, who has promised to "protect" women "whether the women like it or not," also signed an order banning transgender athletes from participating in women's sports events.
At the signing event, he surrounded himself with women and young girls.
I call what we see in these people “Munchausen masculinity.” The real life Baron Munchausen “became a minor celebrity within German aristocratic circles for telling outrageous tall tales based on his military career.” Wikipedia A cinical syndrome was named for him, technically called Factitious disorder imposed on self.
Basically, these modern men inflate their self-worth by exaggerating their masculinity. They brag about their prowess and some of them, like Hegseth, spend lots of time body building When they have the authority to do so, they sometimes bully people because, to them. beng able to impose their will on others equates with being masculine.
It's all a confusion delusion about the meaning of masculinity. The dictionary tells us masculinity is the “quality or attributes regarded as characteristic of men or boys”. These are some of the synonyms: virility, manliness, maleness, vigor, strength, muscularity, ruggedness, toughness, and robustness. Note these are attributes or charateristic which are “attributed.” They are cultural and societal. A woman can have any of the characteristics just like a man can have characteristsistcs considered by some, often in a disparaging way, to be feminine.
Aside from physical differences between men and women, concepts about masculinity and femininity are just that, concepts. To the extent they exist in reality they are a manifestation of social norms and expectations followed by some, but not all, people.
Consider the two in the DC universe who fans consider to be the strongest, Wonder Woman and Superman, and how they are depicted. Wonder Woman has a shapely figure and Superman has rippling muscles. Fans even speculated about who would win a fight between them (here).
Only in the manosphere would anybody even think of pondering such a battle.
Addendum:
The term toxic masculinity has been used to decribe the personality of some men when it becomes harmful to others. I won’t go into this because it has been addressed in numerous acticles (here). I’ll just offer a brief definition from Wikipedia:
Toxic masculinity is thus defined by adherence to traditional male gender roles that consequently stigmatize and limit the emotions boys and men may comfortably express while elevating other emotions such as anger. It is marked by economic, political, and social expectations that men seek and achieve dominance.
Oh, those men!