20210116

Sat Jan 16 06:00:01 EST 2021 ======================================== Slept from twelve-thirty to eight-thirty without waking. Mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of snow in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 30s. West winds up to 10 mph. - Wish Renny a happy birthday Done. - 6 PM D&D with Ed, Scott, and Steve (tentative) Done. https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/01/what-motivates-the-motivated-reasoning-of-pro-trump-conspiracists/ > Motivated reasoning is the idea that our mental processes often cause us to filter the evidence we accept based on whether it's consistent with what we want to believe. > If the evidence for motivated reasoning is obvious, however, it's a lot harder to figure out what's providing the motivation. It's not simply Republican identity, given that Trump adopted many policies that went against previous Republican orthodoxy. The frequent appearance of Confederate flags confirms some racism is involved, but that doesn't seem to explain it all. There's a long enough list of potential motivations to raise doubts as to whether a single one could possibly suffice. > A recent paper in PNAS, however, provides a single explanation that incorporates a lot of the potential motivations. Called "hegemonic masculinity," it involves a world view that places males from the dominant cultural group as the focus of societal power. > So, what exactly is hegemonic masculinity? The researchers behind the new work, Theresa Vescio and Nathaniel Schermerhorn at Penn State, consider two ways of viewing masculinity. One, termed precarious masculine identity, is largely about personal perceptions of one's own masculinity. From this perspective, masculinity isn't a permanent state; it's one that's constantly re-evaluated, and those who want to maintain a masculine identity have to reinforce it regularly. "Masculinity is earned and maintained through continual behavioral displays of manhood," is how the authors put it. > This can, however, drive societal-level behaviors. People can perceive those who don't conform to traditional gender roles as a threat to masculinity and treat them with hostility. It can influence policy to the extent that support for policies like war and lax gun regulations help enable displays of masculinity. > Hegemonic masculinity, in contrast, is based on a societal-level perception of the appropriate role of males. Specifically, it views the traditional role of males—namely that they're the dominant focus of society—as how it society should be ordered. It "justifies and legitimizes the power of dominant men (i.e., White, straight, upwardly mobile, and > This view allows for a large number of threats beyond people who don't conform to gender norms, including the prosperity of any group like minorities or immigrants that might weaken the dominance of the current hegemonic group of males. Scott's in North Macedonia now. Fifth edition was pretty fun. Servings: grains 3/6, fruit 1/4, vegetables 2/4, dairy 3/2, meat 2/3, nuts 0/0.5 Brunch: macaroni and cheese with broccoli and sausage Lunch: coffee Afternoon snack: banana Dinner: cucumber, egg

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