Not All Dead White Men by Donna Zuckerberg

This work may be of more interest to those concerned about the manosphere than those seeking feminist readings of classical texts. She finds, mixed in with weightlifting tips and misogynistic vitriol, the words of the Stoics deployed to support an ideal vision of masculine life. Donna Zuckerberg dives deep to take a look at this unexpected reanimation of the Classical tradition. Ultimately, though Zuckerberg’s profile of the red pill community is uncomplimentary and potentially alarmist, her detailed analysis and reasoned tone inadvertently give some credence to the red pillers’ textual analyses, being thoughtful and balanced (including in an admission that “Misogyny appears early in Greek literature”) where her opponents are facile and extreme. Donna Zuckerberg dives deep into the virtual communities of the far right, where men lament their loss of power and privilege and strategize about how to reclaim them. According to political science professor and author Francis Dupuis-Déri, every time women have fought for and gained rights, there has been a move to repress them. Some of the most controversial and consequential debates about the legacy of the ancients are raging not in universities but online, where Alt-Right men's groups deploy ancient sources to justify misogyny and a return of antifeminist masculinity. Contradicting these readings, she gives nuanced context about the texts in their own times. weaponize Greece and Rome in the service of their agenda.” Hoping to promote broader understanding of the classics, Zuckerberg analyzes the subdivisions of the online “manosphere” or “red pill” community, identifying three main factions-men’s rights activists (MRAs), members of the pick-up artist community (PUAs), and “men going their own way” (MGTOW)-and looking at their claims that classical texts affirm a long, idealized tradition for their “reactionary gender politics.” For example, she writes, some assert that Ovid’s Ars Amatoria is a straightforward model for PUA techniques, and some MGTOW look to Stoic philosophy to justify a belief that women are unreliable because they are supposedly more emotional than men. Classicist Zuckerberg, the editor-in-chief of Eidolon, aims to take back the writings of the ancients from misogynist online communities where men claiming to be the “defenders of the cultural legacy of Western Civilization.

Not All Dead White Men by Donna Zuckerberg