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#macho — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #macho, aggregated by home.social.

  1. Hmmmm... Why am I having #DejaVu?

    From 2022: "Vladimir #Putin has mentioned 'gender freedoms' more than once to justify #Russia’s war against #Ukraine and simultaneously crack down on its own citizens.

    "Most directly, he alleged that Russian citizens who seek '#GenderFreedoms' (alongside foie gras and oysters) are part of the anti-Russian 'fifth column.'

    "Gender and sexuality freedoms — or rights, as they are more typically called — are about #BodilyAutonomy, #diversity and #inclusivity. #Feminist and #LGBTQ+ activists assert that every human being deserves respect, recognition and equal rights regardless of their gender or sexuality.

    "What’s the connection between Putin’s animosity toward Ukraine and toward #gender and #sexuality rights in Russia and around the world?

    Gender and Putin’s regime

    "Putin’s regime has increasingly relied on very conventional gender and sexual norms.

    "When he first ascended to the presidency, image-makers used Putin’s #KGB background and penchant for physical fitness to frame him as a #macho #strongman who could reverse Russia’s waning power and 'remasculinize' the country after a decade of supposed geopolitical flaccidity in the wake of the #Soviet collapse.

    "In other words, an inflexible and clearly #patriarchal notion of masculinity has been central to the Putin regime’s legitimacy.

    "Russia’s foreign policy has relied on rigid gender norms as well. When Ukraine underwent its first pro-democracy revolution in 2004, Russian media questioned its leaders’ masculinity.

    "Putin likewise used homophobic terms to dismiss #Georgia’s #RoseRevolution in 2003, responding to a reporter’s question by saying: 'A rose revolution — next they’ll come up with a light blue one.' In Russian, 'light blue' or goluboi is slang for “gay male.”

    Gender and appealing to constituencies

    "Putin has often been represented as the unquestioned leader of the pack ruling Russia — a masculinity-driven image.

    "However, even as the leader of a personalist #dictatorship — a regime in which there are few institutional limits on the leader’s power — Putin must balance competing interests among significant elites and maintain at least the appearance of public support in order to be considered a legitimate ruler.

    "Until 2020, Putin was using gendered language in his speeches to signal his alignment with a variety of elites and public constituencies that supported him. He was sending mixed signals to both relatively progressive Russians who value women’s roles in the workplace and to #conservatives wishing for a return to '#TraditionalFamilyValues,' in order to keep everyone in his camp.

    "But after July 2021, when he published an essay contending Ukrainians and Russians are a single people, Putin no longer shied away from making sexist and LGBTQ+-phobic comments in prominent settings.

    "At an October 2021 meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club — a Moscow-based think tank and discussion forum that Putin is closely associated with — he said teaching children about #GenderFluidity was 'truly monstrous' and 'verging on a crime against humanity.'"

    Read more:
    theconversation.com/vladimir-p
    #USPol #TrumpIsPutinsPuppet #GBLTQRights #HumanRights #WomensRights #ToxicMasculinity #GenderFascists

  2. The GOP, already the party of sexism, is getting more gratuitous with its toxic masculinity.
    Everywhere one looked at the convention, Republicans were exalting maleness
    with an ardor that reads as "defensive" to outsiders but appears to be a convincing display to those inside the MAGA cult.
    The overcompensation led to a grand finale featuring both pro wrestler #Hulk #Hogan and Ultimate Fighting Championship president #Dana #White,
    rather than the traditional activists and politicians one hears at a convention.
    Hogan declared Trump a "#gladiator,"
    which should be funny applied to a doughy senior citizen caked in make-up, -- but appears to have been taken at face value by the RNC crowd.
    Along with the James Brown song, Trump used "#Macho #Man" by the Village People as intro music, still indifferent to the irony of the song. 

    The boys club vibe spread throughout the convention.
    Women were welcome, but only as support staff.
    A few years ago, female provocateurs like #Greene were riding high, feeling like they could troll their way into MAGA stardom like their male counterparts.
    The message being sent at the GOP's 2024 convention:
    It's time for the gals to take a back seat.  
    #Kari #Lake, the current GOP senate candidate for Arizona and failed gubernatorial candidate, did not have a good convention.
    Her speech was early in the evening on Tuesday, and poorly attended.
    Lake, a former newscaster, is not getting the juice she seemed to think would be hers if she rebranded as a MAGA loudmouth.
    She did her best, dropping the #Sarah #Palin-associated phrase
    "mama bear" liberally throughout her speech.
    She even tried to rile up the crowd by yelling "fake news" at the media section.
    The two-minute hate fell flat.
    There were only a handful of reporters even sitting in the press section. Even Fox News declined to air her speech. 
    salon.com/2024/07/20/the-clear