White Male Rage – The Syncretism of The Misogynist Far-Right

The ‘Alt-Right’ is not only predominantly male, as well as virulently misogynist; it is also crucially motivated by male entitlement and its aggrievement. Bharath Ganesh theorizes a weaponized White Thymos as a key motivator of the ‘Alt-Right’. Thymos, besides Logos and Eros, is the third Platonian motivator of human actions. In racist online movement, that transcends into “the cultivation of ensembles of users that are connected in their rage against the purported marginalization and oppression of white people.” (Ganesh 2020, 3). Drawing on this conception, this paper sets out to theorize and add the component of a male Thymos – or male rage. It is induced by a perceived marginalization of men throughout society and perpetuated by feminism - often framed as a large-scale feminist conspiracy. This perception lays the ground for a victimhood narrative of the oppressed (white) man. I set out to analyze the syncretic ideology building of the misogynist far-right that became known as the Alt-Right: the intertwining of male-supremacist, white-supremacist and anti-Semitic stands of various ideologies. To answer the question ‘How do male-supremacist and far-right ideologies cross-fertilize, and how do they intertwine to a coherent world-view?’ I analyze far-right and misogynist websites, as well as the relevant online forums, such as Subreddits. This includes newer online-only far-right configurations as well as the ‘manosphere’. I find that the narrative that brings the two online movements together, is that of the ‘Red-Pill’. I understand Red-Pill narratives as a form of ideological learning, in which the ‘Red-pilled’ person is revealed a seemingly previously hidden truth. This ‘truth-finding’ then brings about (several) shared bogeymen and opponents, mainly feminism and multiculturalism. It gives rise to a shared victimhood-narrative. Another connecting component is a proneness to authoritarian aggression.