Clown World: Shame, masculinity, Trump and Andrew Tate
For Glasgow Review of Books, I write about 'Clown World' by Jamie Tahsin and Matt Shea, and 'Shame! And Masculinity', edited by Ernst van Alphen
This week I reviewed two fascinating titles for Glasgow Review of Books. Head over there to read my extended, essay-length review of Shame! And Masculinity — an academic art journal edited by Ernst Van Alphen, from Plural / Valiz — and the exposé of Andrew Tate’s ‘War Room’ by journalists Matt Shea and Jamie Tahsin, Clown World: Four Years Inside Andrew Tate’s Manosphere, inspired by their documentaries for Vice and the BBC.
I use the review to explore the present discourse on ‘toxic masculinity’ — its parallels with pre-war Fascism, and the new authoritarianism embodied by figures like Donald Trump — and to examine how feminist writers like bell hooks can help us, should we choose to try and build ‘positive’ masculine identities.
From the essay's opening paragraphs:
The recent reprint of Dutch press Plural’s collected journal on the topic of male shame comes at a vital time. The male ego and the destruction it trails in its wake drives instability and chaos wherever it reigns – whether in the personal or the political sphere.
From the tech broligarchy’s support of the Trump renaissance to the increasing and worrying reach and relevance of ‘manosphere’ influencers like Andrew Tate, it can be tempting to enter the territory of this discourse about male identity through the gates of ’toxic masculinity’.
The term, coined in the 1980s by psychologist Shepherd Bliss, has been thoroughly co-opted, expanded and stretched since then. It’s now a catch-all for everything from relatively minor sexist microaggressions to the horrors of rape culture.
Instead, Ernst van Alphen’s thoughtful collection of essays, art reproductions and confessional autofiction engages with the root of such toxic behaviours – shame, how it is inculcated into men, and what that means for society…
It’s been a while since I reviewed anything, let alone books, so big thanks to Chris D. Boyland of GRB for taking a chance on this one. I hope you enjoy the essay — please share it, if you do. I’ll have more reviews of nonfiction titles soon in GRB, so if you’d like to suggest a title or request a review, please get in touch.
-Bram, Glasgow, January 2025
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