`Who’s the Alpha Male Now Bitches’: Masculinity Narratives in Mass Murder Manifestos

`Who’s the Alpha Male Now Bitches’: Masculinity Narratives in Mass Murder Manifestos

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Broscoe, Molly
Language:English
Published: University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK 2021
Subjects:
Sociology
Mass Murder
Masculinity
Identity Construction
Hetero-masculinity
Violence
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1626357258853525
id ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin1626357258853525
record_format oai_dc
spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin16263572588535252021-08-03T07:17:44Z `Who’s the Alpha Male Now Bitches’: Masculinity Narratives in Mass Murder Manifestos Broscoe, Molly Sociology Mass Murder Masculinity Identity Construction Hetero-masculinity Violence In the United States, mass murder is disproportionately committed by white men, but many explanations for this phenomenon still rely on individual or psychological explanations for the violence committed. Instead of focusing on individual trajectories, I turn to self- narrative to analyze how these men position themselves and their violent actions in relation to society. I use dialogic narrative analysis to examine five documents written by white male mass murderers in the time leading up to their crimes. By analyzing five of these men’s identity-construction through documentation, I seek to answer the following questions: 2) Who do they construct their identities in comparison to? and, 3) How does their masculinity interplay with other aspects of their identities?. I identify four tools used across cases to distance the narrator from those in the world they desire to harm: masculinity, race, sexuality, and class. The men use these narrative resources to position themselves in a power paradox, where they are powerless in society, but powerful in their ability to enact violence. Through engaging in this power paradox the men draw on a trope of an underdog in a world which is changing to be less hospitable to straight white men, which in turn makes it simpler to justify their need to commit mass harm (Presser 2018). Through the narrative construction of their proposed crimes they also create assertions about their own masculinities, their beliefs in patriarchal power structures, and the worth of others. 2021-07-15 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1626357258853525 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1626357258853525 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Sociology
Mass Murder
Masculinity
Identity Construction
Hetero-masculinity
Violence
spellingShingle Sociology
Mass Murder
Masculinity
Identity Construction
Hetero-masculinity
Violence
Broscoe, Molly
`Who’s the Alpha Male Now Bitches’: Masculinity Narratives in Mass Murder Manifestos
author Broscoe, Molly
author_facet Broscoe, Molly
author_sort Broscoe, Molly
title `Who’s the Alpha Male Now Bitches’: Masculinity Narratives in Mass Murder Manifestos
title_short `Who’s the Alpha Male Now Bitches’: Masculinity Narratives in Mass Murder Manifestos
title_full `Who’s the Alpha Male Now Bitches’: Masculinity Narratives in Mass Murder Manifestos
title_fullStr `Who’s the Alpha Male Now Bitches’: Masculinity Narratives in Mass Murder Manifestos
title_full_unstemmed `Who’s the Alpha Male Now Bitches’: Masculinity Narratives in Mass Murder Manifestos
title_sort `who’s the alpha male now bitches’: masculinity narratives in mass murder manifestos
publisher University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
publishDate 2021
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1626357258853525
work_keys_str_mv AT broscoemolly whosthealphamalenowbitchesmasculinitynarrativesinmassmurdermanifestos
_version_ 1719458592110673920

Similar Items