Politicians are expected to be strong, decisive, unemotional, and calculated. These traits are “associated, stereotypically speaking, with the idea of masculinity,” explained Clark University Professor of Political Science Valerie Sperling in an interview with the HPR. Given that gender stereotypes are deeply entrenched in the political realm, “political leaders across the world legitimize their rule by relying on masculinity,” Sperling said.
The impact of performative masculinity was at the forefront of controversy during the COVID-19 pandemic when hypermasculine leadership made mask-wearing a partisan issue. Particularly in the United States, the political rhetoric around mask-wearing incorporated an appeal to masculinity, where political leaders such as Former President Trump declared themselves too “macho” for masks. Trump’s actions associated public health measures with stereotypically feminine characteristics like weakness and vulnerability.
Appeals to gender stereotypes are usually perceived as incompatible with contemporary liberal democratic values. Surprisingly, however, anti-maskers …“present themselves as defenders of democracy itself,” as University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor of Sociology Myra Marx Ferree noted. Their slogans against public health regulations are anchored in political claims about the essence of democracy and freedom. Ferree and MIT Professor of History Elizabeth A. Wood addressed how German and U.S. pandemic restrictions-related resistance movements challenged democratic values in a seminar organized by the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard.
Crisis of Democracy?
One of the topics discussed in the event was the weakening of democratic regimes across the world. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a proponent of the illiberal democracy government system in which elections take place, but citizens are deprived of civil liberties, declared that democratic values and gender equality do not necessarily go hand in hand. In a propaganda video, he encouraged women not to give up “their privileges over some misguided fight for emancipation.”
Russia has also seen backsliding toward illiberal democracy under President Vladimir Putin. Putin refused to debate political dissident Alexey Navalny, who was poisoned last year. The international community strongly suspects that the attempted assassination of Navalny was orchestrated by the Russian State. “If you’re not willing to debate your opponents, something is seriously wrong with democracy,” Wood said during the event.
American democracy has also been facing serious threats. In the 2020 presidential elections, Trump’s allegations regarding voter fraud represent an overt threat to democracy. By calling into question the legitimacy of the election, Trump directly repudiated established democratic norms and paved the way for future attacks.
Ferree defined democracy as an “aspiration” — a work in progress. Ferree’s definition implies that one can only build a democracy incrementally, shielding it from repressive forces and taking advantage of opportunities to make democracy more democratic. Unfortunately, both established and relatively new democratic regimes are facing increased distrust in institutions, an alarming rise in populism, and a resurgence of performative masculinity in politics. All of these trends threaten the foundations of democracy. As a result of these anti-democratic developments, there has been an international rise of autocratic and illiberal movements.
Political Masculinity and its Impact on Democracy
The decline of democracy and civil liberties in Hungary, Russia, and the U.S. is connected to the tendencies of these countries’ leaders to emphasize masculinity and bravado in their politics. Wood explained that “when Putin first came to power, he was an outsider, so he had to look macho to look powerful.” Decades later, the Russian leader still continues to display his masculinity to emanate power or vlast, through photoshoots accentuating his physical prowess.
Furthermore, the weaponization of gender by Putin makes violence not only tolerable but necessary for looking strong. This endorsement of aggression has alarming consequences because violently repressing peaceful pro-democracy protests was endorsed and even encouraged by groups who connected it to masculine strength. This phenomenon also manifests itself on an international level, where, for example, Putin’s annexation of Crimea is perceived as a patriotic and courageous act.
Liberal democracy has been under attack in the United States as well through the performative masculinity embraced by Trump and the GOP. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump made numerous references to his testosterone levels and penis size. He continued to weaponize masculinity — a central element of his popularity — over the next four years. Directly following his release from the hospital where he was treated for a severe case of COVID-19, Trump encouraged his fellow Americans to follow his example by confronting the coronavirus instead of running away from it. Trump proclaimed to the American public, “Don’t let it dominate your life. Don’t be afraid of it.” These recent shifts in gendered politics pose the question highlighted by Ferree: “Is democracy going to become something that women really belong to?”
In Germany, the answer is a tentative “yes.” From today’s perspective, it might seem quite surprising that Germans were not enthusiastic about having a woman chancellor before Merkel was elected. In fact, as Ferree commented, Germany was “a very strong breadwinner state with a very strong commitment to unequal gender relations,” meaning that the gender normative roles were deeply rooted in the German society. Nevertheless, due to Merkel’s professionalist approach to the chancellorship, public skepticism slowly dissipated, and her personal approval rating reached more than 70% in 2020.
Her political successes have significantly contributed to reversing the masculinization of power in Germany and the European Union. Merkel’s initial successor as head of the Christian Democratic Party was a woman, and her fourth cabinet includes eight women as federal ministers. Nonetheless, she never explicitly described herself as a feminist and resists being characterized as “merely a woman.” Merkel’s desire to distance herself from stereotypically feminine traits is understandable as they are often perceived as incompatible with the traits of a successful politician. Merkel may have broken barriers as a woman, but her self-portrayal indicates that masculinity is still a political asset.
Even so, right-wing parties that use performative masculinity as a fundamental part of their platforms do not have nearly as much influence in Germany as in the United States. The AfD, a far-right, anti-immigration, anti-EU party that won a jaw-dropping 12.6% in the last German elections, “does not have the clout that the Republican Party has in creating space for performative masculinity,” Ferree said.
Political Masculinity in the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic challenged political regimes in every corner of the world. Each country’s ability to face it was determined largely by its resources, but also by its governing elites’ leadership strategies during the international crisis. In Germany, Merkel’s effectiveness and focus on experts’ advice led to a high level of compliance with the government’s imposed regulations, such as mask-wearing and lockdown measures. Ferree argued that Merkel’s “feminine national leadership helped make mask-wearing less of a polarized masculine and nationalist discourse than it became in the U.S.” Merkel’s deference to expert opinions is counter to masculine politics.
Contrary to the trend towards de-gendering politics in Germany, masculinity is reemerging as a crucial part of many Americans’ political identities. Trump structured his campaign strategies to cater specifically to these Americans by performing hypermasculinity, and the consequences of this approach are best reflected in the U.S.’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump deepened the political divides within the American society through his “hypermasculine resistance to mask-wearing and distancing,” Ferree said. An illuminating example of Trump’s performative masculinity is his personal experience with the virus when he tested positive for COVID-19 and had to be hospitalized. Professor Sperling commented on the media perception of this event, “There was nothing said about ‘oh, he’s so weak!’ Instead, it was almost the opposite story, that he is a hero of health.” In order to showcase his strength and stamina, stereotypically masculine qualities, Trump purposefully took off his mask when entering the limousine, signaling that he did not need it.
Consequently, masks and other health regulations have acquired an undeniably partisan and de-masculinizing meaning in the United States. Ferree claimed that by “voting for Trump” and “insisting on mask-wearing as feminizing and unnecessary,” men are “reasserting their masculinity.” Trump’s hypermasculine opposition to serious restrictions for public health resonated with many men — who are already less likely to comply with health restrictions — since he portrayed these restrictions as demasculinizing.
Putin has also used demonstrative masculinity to his advantage, but he has comparatively been much less likely to equate protective measures with feminization than Trump. Unlike Trump, Putin has shown on multiple occasions how seriously he takes protective measures by wearing a hazmat suit when visiting an infectious disease hospital ward treating COVID-19 patients.
Although they had different approaches to personal protective equipment, both Trump and Putin prioritized the development of a vaccine. As Wood noted, one of the virtues of an autocratic regime is that Putin was able to say, “we’re throwing all our state resources at this issue, and we’re going to get a vaccine.” Trump had a similar approach, repeatedly stating the fundamental importance of getting a vaccine over any other public health measures. The “vaccine race,” a 21st-century version of the Cold War space race, gave the two leaders an excuse to publicly display their toughness and resilience as well as their nations’ statuses as technological leaders.
In the United States, President Trump deliberately and evidently embraced performative masculinity, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, due to Chancellor Merkel’s efficient leadership, German protesters have failed to associate public health regulations with an attack against masculine political identity. On the other hand, instead of promoting resistance to public health measures, Putin used the Sputnik-V vaccine to prove his personal victory in the vaccine race — a contest he and Trump construed as determining “the real man.” The pandemic generated a new dynamic in gendered politics, serving as the perfect opportunity for politicians to perform hypermasculinity.
Image Credit: No New Normal by GoToVan is licensed under CC BY 2.0
