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Start Date
25-6-2022 12:00 AM
End Date
25-6-2022 12:00 AM
Abstract
An important contemporary cultural narrative that holds much sway is the idea of wounded white masculinity, which suggests that white men in our culture are currently injured by corporate culture, third wave feminism, the advancements of people of color, and domestic losses among other things. This vision of wounded or victimized white masculinity is an old tale full of sound and fury against feminists and racial minorities who have eroded the traditional power bases and “natural” authority of white men. But the new cultural narrative that we see in contemporary media draws on these traditional complaints to create a vision that I term “ethical manhood.” Ethical manhood arises in these texts as a means of recovering a traditional white masculinity reformulated to enhance community, to reduce the conflicts that defined white manhood in the past, and to reclaim authority, power, and manhood within a social milieu that remains constant even as the actors in it choose to act differently, for the common good. It offers a kinder, gentler version of patriarchal masculinity that places white men back into the center of power while at the same time suggesting that these men will use such power ethically. Ted Lasso, however, represents a critical re-evaluation of this narrative, however, through its plot and characters. Ted Lasso is, on one hand, the ultimate “good guy” who is wounded and needs healing, but the power structures that the show offers suggest the show tries to challenge traditional white masculine ideals through recourse to a communally based, multiracial masculinity.
Ted Lasso and the Politics of Ethical Manhood
An important contemporary cultural narrative that holds much sway is the idea of wounded white masculinity, which suggests that white men in our culture are currently injured by corporate culture, third wave feminism, the advancements of people of color, and domestic losses among other things. This vision of wounded or victimized white masculinity is an old tale full of sound and fury against feminists and racial minorities who have eroded the traditional power bases and “natural” authority of white men. But the new cultural narrative that we see in contemporary media draws on these traditional complaints to create a vision that I term “ethical manhood.” Ethical manhood arises in these texts as a means of recovering a traditional white masculinity reformulated to enhance community, to reduce the conflicts that defined white manhood in the past, and to reclaim authority, power, and manhood within a social milieu that remains constant even as the actors in it choose to act differently, for the common good. It offers a kinder, gentler version of patriarchal masculinity that places white men back into the center of power while at the same time suggesting that these men will use such power ethically. Ted Lasso, however, represents a critical re-evaluation of this narrative, however, through its plot and characters. Ted Lasso is, on one hand, the ultimate “good guy” who is wounded and needs healing, but the power structures that the show offers suggest the show tries to challenge traditional white masculine ideals through recourse to a communally based, multiracial masculinity.
Bio
Dr. David Magill is Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English and Modern Languages at Longwood University, where he teaches courses on American Literature, African American literature, and Masculinity studies. He has published and presented on race and masculinity in American literature and culture at several venues, and is currently working on a manuscript entitled A Few Good Men: Ethical Manhood in 21st Century American Culture.