SOWING THE WIND, REAPING THE WHIRLWIND: IDENTITY POLITICS, IDEOLOGY AND THE CONTAGION OF HATRED

Paul Nathanson (wordwatcher@videotron.ca)

Abstract

Although the mass murder at a Pittsburgh synagogue was quickly overtaken in the news by midterm elections, early journalistic responses to it suggest that many pundits see some events (such as hostility toward Jews) as evidence of hatred (along with other forms of racism, for instance, and misogyny). But the pundits say little or nothing about the link between those phenomena and others (such as misandry) that are more common among themselves and, presumably, their viewers. This essay is an attempt to classify all forms of hostility between groups—including those that characterize identity politics—as forms of hatred. It does so by proposing a working definition of “hatred,” distinguishing that collective and cultural phenomenon from private and personal phenomena (such as anger).

Keywords: Anger, hatred, misandry, misogyny, identity politics, American Psychological Association , anti-Semitism 

Author Biography

Paul Nathanson has a BA (art history), a BTh (Christian theology), an MLS (library service), an MA (religious studies) and a PhD (religious studies). Of particular interest to him is the surprisingly blurry relation between religion and secularity: how religion underlies seemingly secular phenomena such as popular movies and political ideologies. With Katherine Young, he is writing a series on the problem of masculine identity in an age of identity politics and sexual polarization. Four volumes are already in print: Spreading Misandry: The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture; Legalizing Misandry: From Public Shame to Systemic Discrimination against Men; Sanctifying Misandry: Goddess Ideology and the Fall of Man; and Replacing Misandry: A Revolutionary History of the Male Body.

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