On Tuesday, March 9, 2020 we were able to hear a fascinating presentation entitled “From the Red Pill to ‘White Genocide’: An Ethnography of the Alt-Right in Montreal.” by Jay Marquis Manicom. Jay placed himself in an environment where he was surrounded with a group of male supremacists. He wanted to observe and interview these dangerous men to analyze the connections between the online male supremacism and the alt-right. In doing so Jay Marquis Manicom brought up some interesting points which all correlate in one way or another.

He brought up the fact that hierarchy plays an immense role in male supremacists. With hierarchy comes power and dominance. Male supremacists believe they can apply assertion to all women. Jay brought up that in the eyes of these males, women are inferior, worthless and that they are there to only serve them. These males filed with fascist ideas believe that going on sites such as “The Red Pill” to diminish and talk very poorly about women online and have others share and comment even worse things about women is their way of expressing how they are feeling in this society. Male supremacists believe that everything in this society is owed to them and that everyone should look up to them and this is certainly why Jay Marquis Manicom also brought up Donald Trump. Donald Trump can be seen as a dictator who he himself does not see women as equal to men but rather below men. Trump just like male supremacists are both very dangerous in having each their own very strong ideas about what they want our society to become which is not beneficial to women in anyway.

Kilmartin has written many stories which help combine what Jay Marquis Manicom has presented. For example in Kilmartins’ story entitled Men In Relationships he talks about how status in men is very important. On page 162, Kilmartin explains the definition of status and how it “refers to an individual’s position within the social hierarchy.” Males are born with the idea that the more they achieve the more advanced they are on the hierarchy. Just like male supremacists who believe that the more power they gain from climbing up the chain of hierarchy, the better they are in the eyes of everyone else. All males want to be seen as role models, even male supremacists. Kimmel has also written many stories that can further explore what Jay Marquis Manicom has presented. For example in Kimmels’ story entitled Masculinity Kimmel states on page 2, “What it means to be a man varies in different institutional contexts, and those different institutional contexts demand and produce different forms of masculinity.” This relates to male supremacists because in their group they see themselves as better than women and as having more power than women whereas in other groups of men this may not be the case at all. There are many males that see themselves as equal to women. There are various definitions of what a man is and in the context of a male supremacist it involves hating on women.

I would personally never want to live in a world where I, as a girl am scared of men and have to obey by there rules. I hope male supremacists stay online and do not act upon what they say.

By: Alexandra Rose Morgan Arseneau

The ethnography “From the Red Pill to White Genocide” by Jay Marquis-Manicom was presented on march 3, 2020. Jay is an anthropologist, who did his field work on a group called the red pill. The study of these men is very dangerous as the only believe in fascist ideas, a hierarchy and male supremacy. This study was challenging as a lot of participants use publishers to help spread their views and ideas but this was not the point of the study. The point of the study was to educate others on White Male Supremacy but not have a biased opinion. This study was conducted to understand how these men viewed society and how these men wanted political control

One thing that stood out to me is when he went over how these men are not the stereotypical weirdos/drug addicts but instead are people who are all around us. In the text Masculinity by kimmel he states ” Gender is thus not only a property of individuals, some “thing” one has, but a specific set of behaviors that are produced in specific social situations. Thus gender changes as the situation changes.” This quote explains how a group of men influence one another. In this case the red pill are a group of men who believe in far right ideas and believe in male supremacy and believe in dominance.

The red pill is a online organization that was created for men who value Masculinity and believe that women are less superior. A lot of the topics Jay Mentioned were covered/talked about in our humanities course. Example the men in this organization believed that they were far more superior in society because they were “men”. Because men don’t show their emotions. A male’s name was brought up during the presentation and it someone who we are all familiar with. Donald Trump, The president of the united states. Jay said Trump is the perfect example of what male supremacy looks like and how trump believes in men running politics.

On Tuesday March 3, a presenter named Jay Marquis-Manicom spoke about online male supremacism and the alt-right. Jay is an anthropologist who stated a lot of interesting things which stood out in his presentation. He said the alt-right and far-right are not unified. The far-right have a lot of arguments but are very educated. The left values equality where as the right values hierarchy. He also stated that the alt-right won’t have a racist constitution take over Canada.

Jay spoke about liberalism and how he was not for it, he stated liberalism is “the established political order that we live in.”Jay built on ethnographic data to theorize about masculinities within the movement with a particular focus on gendered hierarchy. He concluded that “ male supremacism constitutes one path into the alt-right.” He also stated how the alt-right gives people a right to be who they are. Also anti feminism brought up and how it is the online male-supremacism. “Feminism is seen as a catastrophic ill.”-Jay He kept repeating the word “red-pill” and said it acts as a filler and recruiting ground.

In the men’s right activism movement and it’s sub-movement “the red-pill has expanded and bloomed online, offering support and advice to men who feel their masculinity is being challenged by societal shifts.” Jay mentioned how he had a friend named Felix who also took part in the alt-right group.

I can connect this presentation to the reading covered so far in the course. Both (the readings and the presentation) deal with the concept and idea of “Masculinity” and it’s power and rights. What it is to be a man in the workplace, or in society in general. “Males hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority and societal privilege.”

For this blog, I interviewed one of my close friends who has a very good relationship. I don’t have many close friends, no more than five, and he is the best among them. We met him six years ago. He He is also a man full of wisdom and reason. Although we are not in the same country now, I still interview him using chat software.

My first interview question with him was “why you close with your friend?”, And his answer was: “Because I am a human and human beings are social animals, they need to communicate and support each other, although some of them People do n’t like that, but I ’m not. I ’m part of the mainstream. We need friends to support and help each other. This is an instinctive action that is engraved on our genes and the body and brain will take. ”

My second interview question with him was: “What kinds of things do you like to do together?”, And his answer was: “Usually we go out to eat together because eating together is a way for humans to socialize It is also an essential part of promoting feelings and communication. At other times I will sit down and smoke and chat together, and sometimes play games together. “

My third interview question with him was: “Have you ever told your friend how much he means to you? If so, what did you say and how did he react? If you have never told him how much he means to you, why not? ”His answer was:“ Of course, for close friends, revealing your true heart is the best communication, showing your true emotions, and expressing it in words.

My interview with my guy friend aka my boyfriend went as expected. His answers were very basic. His answer to the first question was that he was close with his best friend because they grew up together and his friend has been there most of the time he’s down. What they mostly do together is just play video games, go to the gym and when they were younger, they would ride bikes, steal fruits and get in trouble together. In the text” Men in Relationships” it’s said that ” The term friend is typically used to demote some level of emotional support. This quote goes on to explain that my guy friend and his ” best friend” how much he means to him because his best friend will say that that’s gay. So they’re just friends and not best friends, thus the description of best friend ” designating friends who are emotionally intimate.”

The person I interviewed for this blog post doesn’t actually have one singular best friend, but a group of around 8-9 nine individuals. Although Based on the assigned reading it seems that the interactions between the group members doesn’t whole heartedly fit into the “Man Box” my interviewee did say that they almost never hang out one on one with each other and that when they all get together its generally around 4 individuals at least. This one aspect can be seen to fit the stereotype to a certain degree.

The person I chose to interview for this blog post claims to be close with his current friend group for multiple reasons. They all share a similar type of humour and have been able to forge many inside jokes and relate them back to memories because of it, which has helped to strengthen the bond between them all. The group of them have known each other for many years and being young adults now, they’ve basically grown up together. They’ve all gone through some kind of hardship while knowing one another and have all been able to “band together as bros” and help each other out. The bond between them seems more than solid.

Contrary to what the text suggests the group of guys don’t actually have specific activities they do together. Generally they’re more than content to drive around town listening to music or hang out at each others houses. As the kids say these days the boys do #turnup however in comparison to most stereotypes they are generally a very laid back group.

Their relationships in regard to (verbal) affection are rather interesting though. For example they show no fear posting a snapchat story for each other birthdays with a heart emoji and saying “I love you man, I hope you have a blessed day”. But my interviewee seemed a little weirded out when I asked him if things like that were ever said face to face, “um well sometimes I guess, thats not stuff we really say though. Even though we feel it, we all just kinda know we do.” Was what he awkwardly stammered.

For this blog I interviewed a close buddy of mine whom I’ve known for 18 years. He has most masculine stereotypes which is why I thought he would be and appropriate interviewee.

The first question I asked was “why are you close with your friend?” to which he replied;”Because we have a lot in common, we trust one another, we got each others backs and we do a lot of fun stuff together.”

The second question was “What kinds of things do you like to do together?”; “We often smoke together, workout, go partying, play sports, play video games, hangout wherever we may be, go out to eat and chill at each others crib.”

Lastly I asked my friend “Have you ever told your friend how much he means to you? If so, what did you say and how did he react? If you have never told him how much he means to you, why not?” and he said “Yes of course. I just told him how important he was to me and that he helps me better myself and that I’m very grateful to have known him. He just said thanks man I feel that same about you.”

For this blog, I interviewed one of my best friends. I asked this best friend 3 questions, which are “Why are you close to me (his best friend)?”, “What kinds of things do you like to do together?” and for the last question ” Have you ever told your friend how much he means to you?”, I already know the answer for that.

When I asked the first question, he told me that he was very close to me because he felt comfortable being himself around me and that he never felt judged. He also said that he is very close to me because he could talk to me about anything, and would always come to me when he needed someone to talk to.

When I asked the second question, he said “everything, like our depression sessions late night in the car, our hangouts and literally all the time because we’re always joking around and having fun.”

And for the last question, yes, my best friend has repeatedly expressed to me how grateful he is to have me in his life and how much I mean to him, and I express that to him too.

For this blog, I interviewed a male whom I’m very close with. I chose this specific male because I’ve seen how tight his relationship with his best friend is and it appears different than others I’ve seen. The first question I asked was, why are you close to your best friend? He explained followed the question by explaining that his best friend is a very close family friend, therefore they’ve known each other since birth practically. He explained how his friendship with him grew on a more emotional level as they grew older because when they started having girlfriends, they used each other’s advice on how to proceed at times. They also explained to each other how much their girlfriends mean to them, why it is that they love them (not for sexual reasons) and their fears of loosing their girlfriends as well. He explained to me that they’re close because they connect so well with each other when it comes to communicating about other relationships and they offer each other support.

The second question, what do you enjoy doing together? He said that they enjoy going out together and each other’s presence. For example during a hard day or tough time he enjoys his presence. Things they enjoy doing are partying, sports, school work and also “picking up girls”. They enjoy some activities together but they also enjoy things together on an emotional level.

Lastly, have you ever expressed how much he means to you? He explained that he has. During a tough day and when he felt like he had no one on his side, he realized that he was always there. That’s when he expressed how much he means to him. His reaction was that he reciprocated the same emotions as him.

To conclude, we both thought that this saying is true, “tough times, reveal true friends”. Whether it’s with a male or female, this always applies.

By analyzing my results based on the ideas and theories presented in “No Man Is an Island: Men in Relationships” by Christopher Kilmartin and Andrew P. Smiler, I notice that the person I interviewed has a special relationship with his best friend. When I asked him why he was close to his best friend, he wasn’t very specific, but he simply replied that they “understood each other”. According to him, the fact that they come from the same country makes things much easier since they have a lot in common. Then, when I asked what kinds of things he like to do together, he literally told me “nothing”. He is the kind of person who doesn’t like go out. They only stay home, watching TV, talking to each other and eat. I was kind of surprised when he said that. Usually, guys play video games, go out and talk about sports, but my friend and his best friend just sit on the sofa doing nothing.

One of the researchers in the study described friendships as “part of a performance of masculinity” (Migliaccio, 2009, p. 227). However, if we take the person I interviewed as an example, he and his best friend don’t express any kind of “performance of masculinity”. I only know that they are not really emotional, but competition is not part of their daily.

Lately, when I asked my friend if he has ever told his best friend how much he means to him, he said sans “never” without hesitation. When asked why, he frankly explained to me that “they didn’t have to talk to know that they mean a lot to each other.” I felt like it was obvious to him. He didn’t necessarily have to use words to express his feelings and as long as they could trust each other and have a good time together, that’s all that matters, according to my friend.

This fits perfectly with the qualities one bestows on a best friend according to what is said on page 163 of chapter 8 of the text “No Man Is an Island: Men in Relationships”. In fact, “the quality of a best friend is determined by his ability to be trustworthiness, determined by his ability to respect and keep secrets. I can infer that their relationship mainly provides an emotional intimacy. I doubt that they talk about their feelings, but we can see that they have a connection between them and that they surely share a lot of personal information.