Nostalgia, Hypermasculinity, and the American Far Right: What Ever Happened to Being Proud of Your Boy?

Abstract

Abstract How should we understand the rise of white nationalism in the United States in the last decade? I analyze the language and behavior of the Proud Boys to understand what drives their politicized street violence as well as their aggressive and hateful rhetoric. In so doing, I highlight the interplay between nostalgia, mythology, and conspiratorial thinking to show how Proud Boys operate against a sense of loss—specifically, the loss of pride in their identities as white men—brought upon them by evil enemies. I argue that we can best understand the appeal of the Proud Boys’ chauvinist white nationalism by paying close attention to their anti-feminism, hypermasculinity, outspoken “Western-ness,” and nationalist nostalgia.