Terrorism is Rooted in Masculinity and Aggressive Competion Among Men.

The bombing in London has again added embers to the incessant discourse on the causes and consequences of terrorism in the global arena. What many of us fail to ask ourselves is; who is a terrorist? Who is most likely to be the target of terrorist attack? Who responds to terrorism? Who decides what qualifies as a terrorist attack? Mostly, the answer to all these questions is: men. Just as men have the most to gain by using terror for the acquisition of political power and control, it is men who define terrorism. Yet most important, why are most terrorists men? Have we ever thought through the image of the terrorist portrayed in the media? Terrorist manifestos, media representations of terrorists and current policy debates over the causes and consequences of terrorism all typically de-gender terrorism. So nearly exclusive is the connection between gender and terrorism that it goes unmentioned except when terrorists are women, who are then explicitly named, as in ‘female suicide bomber’.

Shocking and titillating, these accounts channel an analysis of gender away from the centre of the story — men and masculinity. Much as scholars argue that all terrorist acts should be seen as connected, understood in a global context of shrinking economies, increased militarisation and expansive media, anthropologists posit that we may have to look at the masculine connection. From the Southern ape of Transvaal that produced the Homo sapiens through medieval times to the present, war has traditionally been a male initiation rite and proving ground where men battle with one another over the ideals of masculinity like courage and strength. Yet, unlike traditional wars over national borders or natural resources, terrorism may be a war over the symbolic meanings of who men are, how they should behave and what they think they deserve.

At the same time, masculinity is bolstered by media images that pit the presumably savage and primitive manliness of terrorists against that of the clean-cut and civilised elected leaders charged with stopping them. The good masculinity of Western men is hailed over the bad masculinity of terrorists — non-Western men of colour from developing nations, religious zealots, fanatic ideologues and oppressors of women. Even when the man labelled as terrorist is a Caucasian man such as Timothy McVeigh, the image is always of lone wolf psychopaths or pathetic chaps with low-self esteem. This simple segregation of ‘good guys’ from ‘evil doers’ render other forms of masculinity invisible. This is precisely why it is too simplistic, essentialist and stereotypical to argue that men are driven ‘naturally’ to war and violence due to aggression-inducing testosterone or because they have ‘always been the hunters’. Instead, analysis is necessary of terrorists’ own masculine identity and experiences of manhood, on the one hand, and of the power imbalances and inequities between the world’s men, on the other.

Terrorism is a new occupation that calls men forth to define themselves as manly. Militarised masculinity, then, is a cultural, political and industrial enterprise that contributes to terrorism. And, as more young boys are taught that the way to be a real man is to prepare to die for one’s cause, terrorism cyclically continues to exploit men’s fears and anxieties about masculinity. Thus terrorism may be a form of global backlash. Terrorists perceive themselves to be struggling and are striving to achieve dominance as men. Thus, personal feelings of loss, desperation and disenfranchisement at a time of material, moral and political uncertainty may conduce to terrorism. In addition to stringent ideals of masculinity, terrorist men are compellingly aware of relationships of power and domination. That is why terrorism should be viewed as a showdown between dominant men with economic, educational and other institutional advantages, and subordinated men of minoritised masculinities where each ‘side’ depicts the other as the wrong

KTN News KTN Home Radio Maisha SDE Evewoman The Nairobian uReport EPaper Corporate Home Kenya World Business Opinion Health Sports Entertainment Education Lifestyle Kenya Elections You are here » Home » Commentary Terrorism is rooted in masculinity and aggressive competition among men By | Updated Sun, May 8th 2011 at 00:00 GMT +3 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share on Facebook Share on Twitter By Khamati Shilabukha The death of Osama bin Laden has added embers to the incessant discourse on the causes and consequences of terrorism in the global arena. What many of us fail to ask ourselves is; who is a terrorist? Who is most likely to be the target of terrorist attack? Who responds to terrorism? Who decides what qualifies as a terrorist attack? Mostly, the answer to all these questions is: men. Just as men have the most to gain by using terror for the acquisition of political power and control, it is men who define terrorism. Yet most important, why are most terrorists men? Have we ever thought through the image of the terrorist portrayed in the media? Terrorist manifestos, media representations of terrorists and current policy debates over the causes and consequences of terrorism all typically de-gender terrorism. So nearly exclusive is the connection between gender and terrorism that it goes unmentioned except when terrorists are women, who are then explicitly named, as in ‘female suicide bomber’. Shocking and titillating, these accounts channel an analysis of gender away from the centre of the story — men and masculinity. Much as scholars argue that all terrorist acts should be seen as connected, understood in a global context of shrinking economies, increased militarisation and expansive media, anthropologists posit that we may have to look at the masculine connection. From the Southern ape of Transvaal that produced the Homo sapiens through medieval times to the present, war has traditionally been a male initiation rite and proving ground where men battle with one another over the ideals of masculinity like courage and strength. Yet, unlike traditional wars over national borders or natural resources, terrorism may be a war over the symbolic meanings of who men are, how they should behave and what they think they deserve. At the same time, masculinity is bolstered by media images that pit the presumably savage and primitive manliness of terrorists against that of the clean-cut and civilised elected leaders charged with stopping them. The good masculinity of Western men is hailed over the bad masculinity of terrorists — non-Western men of colour from developing nations, religious zealots, fanatic ideologues and oppressors of women. Even when the man labelled as terrorist is a Caucasian man such as Timothy McVeigh, the image is always of lone wolf psychopaths or pathetic chaps with low-self esteem. This simple segregation of ‘good guys’ from ‘evil doers’ render other forms of masculinity invisible. This is precisely why it is too simplistic, essentialist and stereotypical to argue that men are driven ‘naturally’ to war and violence due to aggression-inducing testosterone or because they have ‘always been the hunters’. Instead, analysis is necessary of terrorists’ own masculine identity and experiences of manhood, on the one hand, and of the power imbalances and inequities between the world’s men, on the other. Terrorism is a new occupation that calls men forth to define themselves as manly. Militarised masculinity, then, is a cultural, political and industrial enterprise that contributes to terrorism. And, as more young boys are taught that the way to be a real man is to prepare to die for one’s cause, terrorism cyclically continues to exploit men’s fears and anxieties about masculinity. Thus terrorism may be a form of global backlash. Terrorists perceive themselves to be struggling and are striving to achieve dominance as men. Thus, personal feelings of loss, desperation and disenfranchisement at a time of material, moral and political uncertainty may conduce to terrorism. In addition to stringent ideals of masculinity, terrorist men are compellingly aware of relationships of power and domination. That is why terrorism should be viewed as a showdown between dominant men with economic, educational and other institutional advantages, and subordinated men of minoritised masculinities where each ‘side’ depicts the other as the wrong kind of man. —The writer is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Anthropology, Gender and African Studies, University of Nairobi. 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Read more at: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000034679/terrorism-is-rooted-in-masculinity-and-aggressive-competition-among-men

Terrorism is rooted in masculinity and aggressive competition among men By | Updated Sun, May 8th 2011 at 00:00 GMT +3 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share on Facebook Share on Twitter By Khamati Shilabukha The death of Osama bin Laden has added embers to the incessant discourse on the causes and consequences of terrorism in the global arena. What many of us fail to ask ourselves is; who is a terrorist? Who is most likely to be the target of terrorist attack? Who responds to terrorism? Who decides what qualifies as a terrorist attack? Mostly, the answer to all these questions is: men. Just as men have the most to gain by using terror for the acquisition of political power and control, it is men who define terrorism. Yet most important, why are most terrorists men? Have we ever thought through the image of the terrorist portrayed in the media? Terrorist manifestos, media representations of terrorists and current policy debates over the causes and consequences of terrorism all typically de-gender terrorism. So nearly exclusive is the connection between gender and terrorism that it goes unmentioned except when terrorists are women, who are then explicitly named, as in ‘female suicide bomber’. Shocking and titillating, these accounts channel an analysis of gender away from the centre of the story — men and masculinity. Much as scholars argue that all terrorist acts should be seen as connected, understood in a global context of shrinking economies, increased militarisation and expansive media, anthropologists posit that we may have to look at the masculine connection. From the Southern ape of Transvaal that produced the Homo sapiens through medieval times to the present, war has traditionally been a male initiation rite and proving ground where men battle with one another over the ideals of masculinity like courage and strength. Yet, unlike traditional wars over national borders or natural resources, terrorism may be a war over the symbolic meanings of who men are, how they should behave and what they think they deserve. At the same time, masculinity is bolstered by media images that pit the presumably savage and primitive manliness of terrorists against that of the clean-cut and civilised elected leaders charged with stopping them. The good masculinity of Western men is hailed over the bad masculinity of terrorists — non-Western men of colour from developing nations, religious zealots, fanatic ideologues and oppressors of women. Even when the man labelled as terrorist is a Caucasian man such as Timothy McVeigh, the image is always of lone wolf psychopaths or pathetic chaps with low-self esteem. This simple segregation of ‘good guys’ from ‘evil doers’ render other forms of masculinity invisible. This is precisely why it is too simplistic, essentialist and stereotypical to argue that men are driven ‘naturally’ to war and violence due to aggression-inducing testosterone or because they have ‘always been the hunters’. Instead, analysis is necessary of terrorists’ own masculine identity and experiences of manhood, on the one hand, and of the power imbalances and inequities between the world’s men, on the other. Terrorism is a new occupation that calls men forth to define themselves as manly. Militarised masculinity, then, is a cultural, political and industrial enterprise that contributes to terrorism. And, as more young boys are taught that the way to be a real man is to prepare to die for one’s cause, terrorism cyclically continues to exploit men’s fears and anxieties about masculinity. Thus terrorism may be a form of global backlash. Terrorists perceive themselves to be struggling and are striving to achieve dominance as men. Thus, personal feelings of loss, desperation and disenfranchisement at a time of material, moral and political uncertainty may conduce to terrorism. In addition to stringent ideals of masculinity, terrorist men are compellingly aware of relationships of power and domination. That is why terrorism should be viewed as a showdown between dominant men with economic, educational and other institutional advantages, and subordinated men of minoritised masculinities where each ‘side’ depicts the other as the wrong kind of man
Read more at: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000034679/terrorism-is-rooted-in-masculinity-and-aggressive-competition-among-men

Terrorism is rooted in masculinity and aggressive competition among men By | Updated Sun, May 8th 2011 at 00:00 GMT +3 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share on Facebook Share on Twitter By Khamati Shilabukha The death of Osama bin Laden has added embers to the incessant discourse on the causes and consequences of terrorism in the global arena. What many of us fail to ask ourselves is; who is a terrorist? Who is most likely to be the target of terrorist attack? Who responds to terrorism? Who decides what qualifies as a terrorist attack? Mostly, the answer to all these questions is: men. Just as men have the most to gain by using terror for the acquisition of political power and control, it is men who define terrorism. Yet most important, why are most terrorists men? Have we ever thought through the image of the terrorist portrayed in the media? Terrorist manifestos, media representations of terrorists and current policy debates over the causes and consequences of terrorism all typically de-gender terrorism. So nearly exclusive is the connection between gender and terrorism that it goes unmentioned except when terrorists are women, who are then explicitly named, as in ‘female suicide bomber’. Shocking and titillating, these accounts channel an analysis of gender away from the centre of the story — men and masculinity. Much as scholars argue that all terrorist acts should be seen as connected, understood in a global context of shrinking economies, increased militarisation and expansive media, anthropologists posit that we may have to look at the masculine connection. From the Southern ape of Transvaal that produced the Homo sapiens through medieval times to the present, war has traditionally been a male initiation rite and proving ground where men battle with one another over the ideals of masculinity like courage and strength. Yet, unlike traditional wars over national borders or natural resources, terrorism may be a war over the symbolic meanings of who men are, how they should behave and what they think they deserve. At the same time, masculinity is bolstered by media images that pit the presumably savage and primitive manliness of terrorists against that of the clean-cut and civilised elected leaders charged with stopping them. The good masculinity of Western men is hailed over the bad masculinity of terrorists — non-Western men of colour from developing nations, religious zealots, fanatic ideologues and oppressors of women. Even when the man labelled as terrorist is a Caucasian man such as Timothy McVeigh, the image is always of lone wolf psychopaths or pathetic chaps with low-self esteem. This simple segregation of ‘good guys’ from ‘evil doers’ render other forms of masculinity invisible. This is precisely why it is too simplistic, essentialist and stereotypical to argue that men are driven ‘naturally’ to war and violence due to aggression-inducing testosterone or because they have ‘always been the hunters’. Instead, analysis is necessary of terrorists’ own masculine identity and experiences of manhood, on the one hand, and of the power imbalances and inequities between the world’s men, on the other. Terrorism is a new occupation that calls men forth to define themselves as manly. Militarised masculinity, then, is a cultural, political and industrial enterprise that contributes to terrorism. And, as more young boys are taught that the way to be a real man is to prepare to die for one’s cause, terrorism cyclically continues to exploit men’s fears and anxieties about masculinity. Thus terrorism may be a form of global backlash. Terrorists perceive themselves to be struggling and are striving to achieve dominance as men. Thus, personal feelings of loss, desperation and disenfranchisement at a time of material, moral and political uncertainty may conduce to terrorism. In addition to stringent ideals of masculinity, terrorist men are compellingly aware of relationships of power and domination. That is why terrorism should be viewed as a showdown between dominant men with economic, educational and other institutional advantages, and subordinated men of minoritised masculinities where each ‘side’ depicts the other as the wrong kind of man
Read more at: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000034679/terrorism-is-rooted-in-masculinity-and-aggressive-competition-among-men