Taylor Swift Is a Threat to the Right—and So Is Travis Kelce

The right is worried about Taylor Swift—and they are right to be. Her influence on millions of young women is legendary, and the way she chooses to wield this influence could make a difference in a close presidential election this November, not to mention electoral battles in years to come.

But there’s another reason MAGA should fear Swift’s cultural power in this volatile political moment. It has to do with Kelce, and the impact he could possibly have on young men.

Travis Kelce, especially if he votes Democratic, profoundly disrupts the right-wing appeal to (white) male identity.

What Boys and Men Can Learn from Ken

The Barbie movie reveals one of the patriarchy’s dirty little secrets: Not only does the patriarchy exclude and punish women; but it also harms men who don’t meet the very narrow definitions of ‘manhood’ that are most favored.

Millions of men have already seen the movie and enjoyed it immensely. This success is a testament to our ability to laugh at ourselves and some of the less attractive features of male-dominated cultures, without crying foul and embracing an unearned victim status.

Football Legend Jim Brown’s Legacy Includes Serial Abuse of Women

When football legend and civil rights icon Jim Brown died at 87 years old on May 18, commentary about his life and legacy downplayed his long history of violence against women.

One of the extraordinary ironies of Brown’s life is that he was a Black man who, in the face of stinging racism, demanded to be treated as a full human being who was “not going to be pushed around or disrespected.” But he allegedly did just that, and worse, to many Black women.

The Proud Boys Have Only Just Begun to Fight

Guilty verdicts for seditious conspiracy were handed down to key members of the Proud Boys on May 4 for actions related to the Capitol insurrection—marking a significant milestone in the 21st-century struggle in democratic societies against far-right extremism and political violence.

But the group is still mobilizing at a rapid pace across the country. And they’ve adjusted their strategy, turning toward anti-LGBTQ activism and expanding the group’s mission beyond Trumpian “stop the steal” efforts to focus its violent tactics on policing the borders of traditional masculinity. So what can be done about the disturbing emergence of the Proud Boys as a reactionary force determined to block social progress?

Violence Against Jacinda Ardern and Other Women Political Leaders Is an Attack on Democracy Itself

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern faced online vitriol at a rate between 50 and 90 times higher than any other high-profile figure.

Because men commit the vast majority of violence directed at women in politics, men who reject misogyny and violence have a special responsibility to call it out. What can men who believe in elementary fairness and other basic democratic values do? They can start by pushing back against the idea that violent rhetoric in politics is normal.

How We Avoid the Rise of Another ‘Andrew Tate’

Most of Andrew Tate’s alleged criminal conduct took place in private. But his rise to fame—or infamy—took place in full public view. It is important to understand how and why all of this happened. Here are four “teachable moment” topics raised by the Andrew Tate saga:

1. Tate’s normalization of misogyny harms girls and young women.
2. The ideal of “manhood” Tate promotes harms boys and young men.
3. 3. For many uninformed young men, feminism is a hostile philosophy and feminists are caricatured villains.
4. There is a strong connection between misogyny and right-wing politics.

Andrew Tate as a Teachable Moment

Andrew Tate has been called “The King of Toxic Masculinity.” TikTok videos that feature him or his ideas have received an estimated 11.6 billion views. But many of his most controversial—and widely shared—pronouncements are those about women.

He says he dates women aged 18–19 because he can “make an imprint” on them. He said women in heterosexual relationships “belong to the man.” He once lectured a group of young women that their career aspirations don’t matter and that the “happiest women” have children and a man who is paying their bills. Tate has helped to normalize expressions of overt misogyny.

Media Coverage Misses the Gender Issues at the Heart of Mass Shootings

People think it’s so obvious the shooters are young men that there’s literally no point in saying so. In that sense, ‘gunman’ is internally redundant; everyone knows that ‘man’ follows ‘gun.’ 

As long as men, young and old, have easy access to high-capacity killing machines at the same time their society furnishes them with endless heroic masculine narratives about redemptive violence, the next tragedy is always going to be just around the corner.