Photo Essay:"Real" Men Can Fuck Right Off

“Real” men are going to kill us all.

Mona Eltahawy @monaeltahawy

“Don’t let it dominate you!” #Trump talks about #COVID19 as if it were a terrorist attack or an invading army and not a pandemic. He talks about it as if it were a war and not a virus. This is toxic masculinity at its worse. h/t @rerutled

“Real” men behave as if COVID19 were a terrorist attack, not a pandemic, and that changing our behaviour means the terrorists have won. Donald Trump is bullying his doctors into letting him die from a pandemic that he once said was a hoax.

“Real” men endanger the lives of others in order to prove masculinity. You know that Trump bullies Mike Pence, who he appointed to head the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

Tom Scocca @tomscocca

It's bonkers that they're even wrangling about plexiglas shields, Mike Pence was right in the middle of a superspreader event and he shouldn't be allowed to leave his house

slate.comMike Pence and Kamala Harris Should Not Debate in PersonPlease just Zoom.

“Real” men recruit “real” women - Footsoldiers of the Patriarchy - who insult other men by calling them women for not being “man enough” - selfish - and not giving a fuck about anyone else.

Mona Eltahawy @monaeltahawy

Don’t you just love it when a woman insults a man by calling him a woman?

“Real” men think that protecting their masculinity is more important than any kind of protection

“Real” men don’t give a fuck about their loved ones: "He wasn't thinking that he was putting me and our son at a higher risk."

Getty images via BBC

“Real” men give utterly shit advice - and insist they’re not joking.

Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte/EPA via BBC

“Real” men’s dismissal of real danger endangers entire countries.

“Real” men wear a full-body hazmat suit to visit a coronavirus ward and then

shake hands with the head doctor, who later tested positive for the virus. 

“Real” white men get away with a whole lot of fuckery that would be life-threatening for Black men.

“Real” white men must be coaxed into wearing masks by appealing to their sense of God and country because appealing to their sense of concern for their loved ones is “uncool.”

“An American flag mask such as the one worn by Jayse Garcia at a recent demonstration in Hollywood might sway a patriotic but otherwise mask-averse man to wear one.” (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

“Real” white men search for “manly” masks online, here’s an Etsy search:

Black men must wear pastel colours so that the “real” men don’t get scared.

“Real” men are the human equivalent of a superspreader for a pandemic they have long maintained was a hoax

Aaron Rupar @atrupar

Dr Jonathan Reiner: "I think POTUS was infected with coronavirus for at least a week before he was admitted to the hospital...I think he's the superspreader. And I think the reason the WH will not have the CDC do a formal check...is they're concerned patient zero might be POTUS."

“Real” men can fuck right off.

Mona Eltahawy is a feminist author, commentator and disruptor of patriarchy. Her first book Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution (2015) targeted patriarchy in the Middle East and North Africa and her second The Seven Necessary Sins For Women and Girls (2019) took her disruption worldwide. Her commentary has appeared in media around the world and she makes video essays and writes a newsletter as FEMINIST GIANT.  

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