‘I Call’ Em Like I See’ Em’: Trump, Authenticity, and Misogyny

• In Event: Seeing Through Trump

Abstract

The shortcomings of Donald Trump as a leader of arguably the most powerful country in the world are both legion and obvious, yet perhaps his most distinctive trait is his aggressive misogyny. Trump’s misogynistic ways not only of characterizing but also treating women as a means to an end (the end being the restoration of patriarchy) circulate in the economy of visibility, but often without acknowledgement that these expressions and practices are misogyny. Trump’s misogyny has been interpreted by many of Trump’s supporters as a crucial kind of authenticity, a glorious refusal to play the game of politics. Misogyny here is folded into state structure because of its apparent authenticity, its “realness” in a context of “fake news,” “alternative facts,” and post-truth society. I argue that Trump is not only faithful to the logics of popular misogyny, but also that he perpetuates and fortifies them, seeing everything within the frame of a zero-sum game: politics, just like other practices of popular misogyny, is just about winning. Part of the familiar heteronormative hyper-masculine logic, to “win” means to affirm male superiority over women, at women’s expense. Trump presents himself (and his supporters see him) as being on a recuperative mission – to restore patriarchy, to repair injuries caused by women, to return capacity to men. Trump has weaponized white male rage specifically, by emphasizing hopelessness and fear in voters—a fear of being emasculated by a woman leader. Trump’s success is contingent on this rage, this popular misogyny, a success that validates a reactionary response, a structural violence.

Author

• Sarah Banet-Weiser, London School of Economics & Political Science