default human
part of my Thing is treating manhood as simply another identity rather than the default that its assumed to be. that involves sometimes the appearance of empathy for misogyny, but i think understanding manhood and how it operates matters in how we view these dynamics. disciplines like evolutionary psychology and even anthropology have a role in keeping this dynamic of the 'default' vs 'different' invisible and natural. all human behavior is compared to the 'default' of a 'normal' person, and that 'normal' persons experiences becomes the expected behavior for billions of people.
a good way to understand my point is to ask someone if they have an accent. white americans will overwhelmingly say no, but almost everyone else will. is it easier to believe that white americans no matter the background and region are all using the same accent, or is the concept of an 'accent' commonly understood as being something Someone Else has? at some point the very language we use to address social concerns needs to be examined.
there is an understandable reluctance to study these dominate 'default' identities but i dont see why men or white people get to escape the anthropology treatment. in fact, nazis absolutely understand this dynamic, which is why they love dogwhistles like 'identity politics.' everyone else has an Identity and if you talk about anyone other than the Default youre being divisive or trying to spread your ideology. existing as a marginalized person is inherently ideological, but the same also applies to the so-called 'default' ones as well. we can learn a lot about power under capitalism by studying the ideology of the ruling class and how it disseminates through all classes of society (see: althusser). ‪ nazis use the language of identity politics about themselves because theyre well aware of racial dynamics. on top of that, deception is a fundamental feature of all fascist ideologies. therefore theyll whine about idpol but join nazi groups with 'identity' in the name. this isnt a gotcha but simply what happens when you regard one way of being as the default. you necessarily create tensions and contradictions that seem entirely reasonable if you dont have the whole picture. cishet men were promised a female specimen. if they dont get one, they lash out. they hear the messaging that we all pretend to ignore. if we draw attention to it, we can see it makes no sense. thats why we will often say that power is invisible; normalizing the untouchable status of whiteness or manhood means we only ever see half the picture. ‪ a nazi/incel no longer accepts the mere psychological wages of whiteness/manhood in lieu of actual capital/power/status. therefore he deduces that the exploitation of his 'inferiors' is the only thing that will grant him what he was promised--and hes not fucking wrong. theres a reason already privileged people become more radicalized during times of economic/social uncertainty. they are losing capital/power/status, and oftentimes simply the PERCEPTION of loss can trigger this radicalization. we know that members of dominate groups perceive equality as a LOSS.
much has been written about 'economic insecurity' and the 'male loneliness epidemic' but i have not seen anyone explicitly claim that these 'phenomenons' only exist because we all treat men and white people as the default. theyre not supposed to be poor--in fact this is why the insult 'white trash' exists at all. you are literally not living up to your racial superiority, and who do we blame for this?
i think its worth pointing out that this is bourgeois ideology at play. what i mean by bourgeois ideology is not who proliferates it but the substance of the belief and who/what it upholds. working class white people and men are far from bourgeois, yet they do benefit materially from aspects of that ideology that dictates how society function. no matter what group is scapegoated, the goal is to provide a scapegoat, preferably one that is already maligned, in order to protect capitalism itself. this is not a 'distraction', simply because the marginalization and oppression of real human beings is not a sidequest deviating from the 'real' problem. the 'real' problem causes marginalization and is a symptom. just as with a disease, treating the symptoms wont cure the disease, whereas ignoring the symptoms can often lead to misunderstanding the root cause. capitalism is in crisis and it will consolidate power in order to preserve itself. hence, we are seeing the most reactionary aspects of life under capitalism become more and more extreme; barry goldwater is quaint compared to the average GOP politician today.
EVERY man and EVERY white person carries the potential for this radicalization process in a white supremacist, patriarchal society. the focus on minorities means we often overlook these processes, giving nazis/incels time to better refine the radicalization process. BY NO MEANS is this about pandering to or protecting men/white people. if anything even people on the left get incredibly pissy about this (im sure about half of you bristle when you see the name 'j sakai'). you are not immune to propaganda!
none of these observations are possible without observing the so-called default in the same way they observe us. its worth repeating a fundamental truth of marxist ideology: there are more of us than there are of them.