Dear Editor:

If pearls were part of white male couture, there would be a lot of clutching going on right now. Girls and women are increasingly successful, LBGTQ people are gaining acceptance … and our young men whine about being an oppressed minority.

Queue ‘the Manosphere,’ with loud rap hits and images of sexual abuse: It’s the safe space for guys who pout about being “disrespected” and “marginalized” — and it’s all the fault of uppity women and lunatic leftists.

Our Rambo-wannabe president; his macho “Department of War” generalissimo; and his crop-bearded, hard-drinking FBI director are role models for this new generation of misogynistic he-men who want women to submit to them politically, professionally, sexually and domestically.

Citing Biblical passages and channeling pre-1960 cultural history, they try to justify their regression and call on their brothers to reclaim the patriarchy. (No wonder most of them are ‘incels.’) They valorize traditionally “male” traits: strength, courage, aggression, competitiveness and dominance. They inveigh against DEI policies which (they believe) grant women unfair advantages. But all of this begs the question: If men are innately superior, why are women, despite millennia of discrimination, outperforming men in higher education, published writing, labor-force participation, political leadership, home ownership and heading households?

Rather than up their games to compete with women through diligence, determination, self-discipline and personal responsibility, hypermasculine influencers and online followers amplify their worst impulses by attacking those who threaten their self-image as alpha males. Racism, misogyny, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia; slandering and publicly humiliating women, journalists, liberal politicians, feminists, environmentalists and peace activists: these are their weapons in a culture war to protect their fragile egos. Deriding women is a textbook case of psychological projection; they look into a mirror and see only snowflakes.

The apex predators in this toxic environment are Andrew and Tristan Tate, wanted in two countries for rape, human trafficking, and tax evasion. Law enforcement agencies are working with counter-terrorism teams to stop these brothers from radicalizing their more than 10 million followers on X.

One avid follower is Barron Trump, the self-proclaimed “third Tate brother.”

Bill Hammond

Boothbay