Wronged and Dangerous: Viral Masculinity and the Populist Pandemic

Is populism fueled by a feeling of manhood under attack? If gender is its driving force, are there better ways to respond? COVID-19 delivers a stark warning: the global surge of populism endangers public health. Wronged and Dangerous introduces "viral masculinity" as a novel way to meet that threat by tackling the deep connection of our social and physical worlds. It calls us to ask not what populism says, but how it spreads. Leading with gender without leaving socioeconomic forces behind, it upends prevailing wisdom about populist politics today. You do not need to know or care about gender to get invested. You only need to be concerned with our future.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Part 1: Gender as an Acquired Taste 1. Reality in Hard and Soft 2. Strongmen versus Sober Women 3. From Binary to Biodiversity 4. Of Masks and Men 5. Gender as a Matter of Life and Death Part 2: The Feel of New Populisms 6. This Is Populism 7. Crash Course 8. New Populism 9. Anger, Downrising 10. The Problem with Anger Management Part 3: Probable Cause 11. Class and Culture, of Course 12. Aggrieved Masculinity as Animation 13. Perish the Thought of Gender 14. Identity Politics for the Universal Human 15. Not Another Masculinity Crisis Part 4: Virality and Virility 16. Culture Wars Can Kill 17. Dear Manosphere 18. Metaphor Matters: Poison or Pandemic? 19. Identity Politics 2.0 20. We the Sleepwalkers

About the Author :
Karen Lee Ashcraft is Professor of Communication at the University of Colorado Boulder. She grew up in the lap of white evangelical populism and her research examines how gender interacts with race, class, sexuality, and more to shape organizational and cultural politics.

Review :
“Connecting the pandemic-like spread of right-wing populism with aggrieved masculinity (i.e. “a seething sense of rightful virility wrongly denied”), Ashcraft’s Wronged and Dangerous makes a convincing argument for shifting studies of populism away from only considering issues of class.” Love Reading "But for Karen Ashcraft, the writing was on the wall. In fact, the writing was from a book she published two years ago, which warned that “viral masculinity” was a growing threat to young men and boys not just in the United States but worldwide." CU Boulder Today “A unique, passionate reading of the entanglement of gender and New Populism, explaining how the infectious passion of aggrieved masculinity goes viral because it runs on a gender binary code.” Silvia Gherardi, University of Trento “Ashcraft's examination of the relationship of gender and class in our political moment is both urgent and brilliant. It is easily one of the best books on populism in recent years.” Joseph Lowndes, University of Oregon “Toxic masculinity is pervasive in contemporary politics and Ashcraft offers the best analysis to date. Wronged and Dangerous is also a sensitive engagement in the troubled politics of belonging, resentment, and anger.” Craig Calhoun, Arizona State University “At once personal, searching, and accessible, and often funny, Ashcraft’s gender analysis charts a humane path forward through the political storms of wounded masculinity.” John Durham Peters, Yale University "Ashcraft’s persuasive account of how unhappy masculinities form the bedrock of right-wing populism provides cause for concern: misogynistic dragons we thought had been slain are now rousing. Aimed at an intelligent, general readership, it is a manifesto and call to action; intellectually rigorous, compassionate, thought-provoking and an excellent read. Its ideas should become part of our everyday conversations." Nancy Harding, University of Bath