The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars, and the Politics of Anxious Masculinity (Paperback)

~ Stephen J. Ducat (Author) "There are many questions that bedevil those who contemplate men's ceaseless and anxious efforts to prove and defend their manhood, especially when those efforts are..." (more)
Key Phrases: phallic status, primitive masculinity, wimp factor, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, White House (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Just as George Herbert Walker Bush announced his candidacy for president in October 1987, the cover of Newsweek pegged him with the emasculating headline "Fighting the Wimp Factor"-a line that clinical psychologist Ducat (Taken In) says put the candidate, his handlers and eventually his son, George W., on the defensive for the next decade and a half. Bush's patrician habits-from asking for a "splash more coffee" at a New Hampshire truck stop to using effete expressions like "dippity do," "darn" and "heck"-would soon be replaced with a (strained) Real Man From Texas image. But if the senior Bush never quite convinced the public, or his own party, that he was anything more than a Connecticut WASP who used "summer" as a verb, Ducat argues that the Republicans had their revenge when the younger Bush won the presidency largely because he was able to convince voters that he was a regular guy, a true Texan. In this insightful analysis of the role male fear plays in politics, Ducat provides in-depth examples of the emotions that may have fueled the Right's attacks on Hillary Rodham Clinton and its animosity towards Bill Clinton. He stumbles a little when he uses his own minimal research to analyze men's psychological reactions to the Persian Gulf War but, overall, Ducat lays out a cogent theory for the motivations behind the good ole boy defense mechanisms. Though this book does preach to the converted, its fresh and complex insights may reach a new generation of swing voters.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

In this eye-opening book on how male anxiety has come to shape political thinking and behavior, Dr. Stephen Ducat argues that there is a direct association between the magnitude of a man’s femiphobia and his tendency to embrace right-wing political opinions.

Ducat shows how anxious masculinity has been a discernible subtext in politics throughout the history of Western culture—from the political campaigns of ancient Greece to the contest for the presidency. He also explores why and how political issues—such as environmental protection, support for war, welfare reform, and crime and punishment—get gendered.

Analyzing various aspects of popular culture, such as editorial cartoons, political advertisements, and Freudian slips made by politicians—and drawing on his own pioneering research on the gender gap—Ducat illustrates how men’s fear of the feminine has been a powerful, if subterranean, force.

“A deeply important insight in the hands of a gifted writer.” —Arlie Russell Hochschild, author of The Commercialization of Intimate Life

“[Ducat’s] fresh and complex insights may reach a new generation of swing voters.” —Publishers Weekly

“Even those who disagree with Ducat’s values can appreciate his skillful deployment of anecdotes, media, and wordplay.” —Psychology Today

Stephen J. Ducat is professor of psychology at the School of Humanities at New College of California, a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice, and a candidate at the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California. He lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 294 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (September 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807043451
• ISBN-13: 978-0807043455
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #584,079 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Must Read for anyone interested in politics and gender, January 22, 2005

By	Dandylioness (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars, and the Politics of Anxious Masculinity (Hardcover)

When watching staged newscasts of politicians strutting around in military regalia and lugging carcasses through the woods, do you ever get the feeling that there's some, well, compensation going on? In _The Wimp Factor_, Ducat analyzes how our culture's interpretation of gender interacts with politics and political discourse from a psychological perspective. Ducat hypothesizes that since men must continuously prove themselves masculine to be accepted as such, they develop an unconcious fear of feminine "contamination," femiphobia, which spills over into the political arena. Each chapter looks at a different example of the gendering of politics, such as how Bill and Hillary Clinton's images changed before and after the Lewinsky scandal and how gendered language shapes voter perceptions of issue politics. The result is a very interesting and accessible book that contains scathing analysis with a witty sense of humor. Ducat focuses on men and masculinity, which leaves short shift for some other aspects of the topic and can leave the impression that he is being oversimplistic. For example, the section on the psychology of right-wing women was disappointingly brief. However, despite some out of context quotes lifted by other reviewers, Ducat does not essentialize all women as good and all men as evil, nor does he pretend that gender is the only factor at work in politics. He simply stays within the bounds of his topic. The biggest criticism I have is that the Freud-speak does become tiresome after a while (unless you happen to be a die-hard Freudian, I guess).

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars it seems to have pushed some buttons, January 18, 2005

By	sharpie_revolution - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars, and the Politics of Anxious Masculinity (Hardcover)

This was a good book, interesting theories, definitely of the psychoanalytical
school of thought. More interesting however, how any critisim of Bush illicits
such rabid and fanatical shrieks of defensive denial and "liberal", which has
some how been corrupted into the equivalent of "communist". Claiming to be dis-
crediting his analysis without providing sources is essentially meaningless as
Mr. Ducat DOES have sources to back up his claims. Screaming the loudest does not
make it so!

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The evening news will never look the same..., January 18, 2005

By	roadtripper8 (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars, and the Politics of Anxious Masculinity (Hardcover)

The recent election left me with an uncomfortable feeling. Many people that I know supported Kerry but didn't vote for him. Most cited reasons such as "He is kind of wimpy" or "I don't think he is strong enough to lead us right now." When I stumbled across Ducat's book, I found a spring board for exploring people's uneasiness with "less than manly" politicians".
Some of Ducat's theories aren't supported with enough evidence, but overall it is an interesting and slightly alternative view of politics and gender. Definately worth a read.