Macho Man

 

This disquisition pertains to two articles found in the  April 27, 2025 edition of The New York Times.  Maureen Dowd’s article titled Trump's Vicious Sewing Circle and Michelle Goldberg’s article titled MAGA Nationalism Is Doomed to Fail are related to the current macho  ineptitude and prejudice occurring in the White House.

To begin, common stereotypes of  macho male masculinity suggest that males are  portrayed as aggressive in face of attack with authority in legal matters, don’t apologize,are  smart ,strong independent and self-reliant in problematic situations ,are  sexually aggressive , in control of regressive urges and suppress  strong emotions, especially anxiety.  They're not passive, nurturing  or  submissive  . For example,  in my community during the 2016 presidential election.  a neighbor had a poster that had Trump's head on  Rambo’s body.

Maureen Dowd made the following points pertaining to the personification and image of masculinity.  She said Americans see in Trump’s  first hundred days , a chaotic, scary and a paternal reassurance with his cartoonish macho style-heroics and swaggering UFC and wrestling posse.  She went on  pointing out stereotypes regarding women who gossip- cat fight ,back bite and claw each other's eyes out.  She  added that it was entertaining to see the masculinity of this administration  actually reflecting and exhibiting female stereotypical behavior.

She referred to the shouting match  between Musk and Treasury Secretary Bessent  in the West Wing. Apparently the fight was about who should lead the Internal Revenue Service and then about the inefficiency of Musk and his team.  Bessent criticized Musk for overpromising and under delivering.  Musk responded by calling Bessent a Soros agent and accusing him of having a failed hedge fund.  Musk also posted on X that Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks.

Dowd stated that Pete Hegseth was a lightweight weekend warrior from Fox News. And he even ordered a spotty makeup studio next to the Pentagon's briefing room.  Dowd added that he and his top advisers do not have any experience to run that global organization and have no interest in learning.. She also pointed out that during the White House Easter egg roll , he accused reporters of publishing hoaxes and using disgruntled former employees to smear him.  She added that placing a man in charge of a budget of approximately 850 billion seems flighty and shaky with his ineptitude to deal effectively with classified messaging.  She ended with the fact that there's no adult in the Oval Office who can advise the highchair King not to do anything crazy with the military.

Another example of the personification of macho sexism according to Michelle Goldberg  is related to the declining birth rates.  Authoritarian and Fascist Hungry is trying to promote traditional families and raise its lagging birth rate. Fewer children are being born throughout Europe and according to Viktor Orban, immigration is not the answer.  In Hungary they have a seven-point family protection action plan created to encourage marriage and babymaking.  It includes government loans of about $35,000 to women under 40 when they are married, and would be forgiven if they had at least three children.  Families would receive help buying cars, houses and women who had at least four children would be exempt from personal income taxes for life.

VP  Vance said that the Administration is considering  persuading Americans to get married and have more children.  One proposal included baby bonuses for American mothers and a new  Affirmative Action Program that would set aside almost 1/3 of Fulbright scholarships for people who are married or have kids and that there'd be an executive order establishing a national  Medal of Motherhood for women with at least six children.  Goldberg pointed out that Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia   had similar incentives . Did you hear about Trump’s recent tweet about giving a newborn ‘s $1,000 ?.

America’s fertility rate reached a historic low of 1.6 per woman in 2023.  Currently the Nationalist movement is rife with misogyny, white supremacy and eugenics.  The declining fertility reality is likely due to a number of issues but not limited to  stagnant geriatric societies and not enough young working people to maintain or expand Social Security.

Nobel Prize winning Harvard economist Claudia Goldin published  a paper called "Babies and the Macroeconomy."  She compared low and lowest fertility rates in modern societies where women had more economic opportunity, but not much help from their husbands at home.  For example, in Japan., the average woman spends 3.1 more hours a day on domestic work than men compared to a Swedish woman who spends 0.8 more hours than men. 

 Goldin also found that men claimed they wanted to have more children than women  in these  countries, studies suggesting that women would have to shoulder most of the  rearing burden of childcare. If perhaps  fathers and husbands committed to providing more time at home, the differences in fertility desires between the genders might lessen . 

Many women, it appears , don't want to get stuck with all the domestic drudgery that comes with rearing children, and there's little evidence that state subsidies can make traditional social arrangements more appealing. For example, Hungry spends more than 5% of its GDP on its family policies, which is a greater percentage than America spends on defense. The fertility rate there rose a bit but now it has sunk to 1.38

According to a Pew poll last year ,57% of American young men surveyed said they wanted children someday compared to only 45% of young women. And, this  administration is led by an old-fashioned sexist who bragged that he had never changed a diaper. “ I'll supply the funds and  she shall take care of the kids, “ Trump boasted on the radio show .

Goldberg added that antifeminist influencers who form the White House brain trust tell their listeners that spending too much time with one's children is effeminate and the father should be like a superhero . And it's hard to be a  superhero if you're at home every day arguing with your wife about changing diapers, that's not what a man should do.

Macho Men don't eat quiche. They are king , with firearms, drink beer ,swear ,  attend wrestling events and truck rallies with aggression. With  strong muscles, the wrestlers brag, shout and beat up on each other.  They hit each other with chairs and throw each other out of the ring to the delight of many. They model disrespect, contempt , sadistic power and control

 Authoritarian macho men lead and control people,countries and demand loyalty and submission  or expect  harsh punishment. Submission is a virtue and disobedience a sin. They don't apologize, they are never wrong, and they rule with an iron fist.  They don't care  about many and despise the weak and poor.. 

Previously, women attended the University to find a husband.  Now, women attend the University to become economically independent.  Why become a marriage and divorce  statistic?  If you attend the University ,you might be one of 42 million people that hold student loans from the federal government totaling more than 1.6 trillion . Who has time for children while being in so much debt ?  And why commit to someone in debt? 

Also , authoritarian families have a supply of alcohol, guns and an emphasis on control and obedience .In these traditional families are found violence and adult and children victimization. These families have excessive amounts of  fear, terror, low self-esteem, difficulty concentrating, difficulty with trust, intimacy, sexual difficulties, anxiety, problems with memory, cognitive confusion, depression, anger, irritability, shame and embarrassment.  Individuals in these homes also have physical injuries and medical needs. Look at the authoritarian  “macho” controlling the White House . He models irrationality, fear , terror , economic threats ,coverups  and danger to mental and physical health ...

Briefly, from a historical  psychological perspective, this macho man's ideal type origins go back roughly over  3-4000 B.C.  It's a patriarchal authoritarian social structure with the father being the head as he owns and rules the family. He is the king of his castle .And, within this social dynamic structure, patriarchal love is conditional .Love must be earned with loyalty and submission to that father figure.  Also ,within the society, ruling principles are directed by the state,the  law ,a father figure or the abstract within this framework. The authority of  the  state is supreme and whoever defies  must die .Loyalty ,obedience are virtues and disobedience is a sin  and punishable . ICE is an example.

Our Judeo-christian religion was founded on a patriarchal God and he is depicted as a great authority that we should all obey.  And ,with Freud’s  super ego there is an internalization of paternal commands and prohibitions (authoritarian). For example, eventually the child learns that his father no longer has to tell him "don't do that "  to keep him from doing something that father forbids .That behavioral command  becomes him. Also ,the father’s commands are supreme and to receive his blessings and love,the child  must obey. In other words, commands,obeying  and prohibitions go back to a  paternal authority.  For example,we have that patriarchal authoritarian as president and that 37-year-old mother of three  and  the  VA male nurse "disobeyed" and therefore their  death was warranted and justified as they  did not obey .However , psychologically that was murder and an example of cold sadistic cruelty...

Reference

 American Psychological  Association.  Violence and the Family