The Pussification of Man: Evangelical Pastor Mark Driscoll and The Construction of an Ideal Masculinity

The Pussification of Man: Evangelical Pastor Mark Driscoll and The Construction of an Ideal Masculinity

Presenter(s)

Phillip E. Cicero

Comments

Presentation: 2:00-2:20, Kennedy Union 222

Description

Scandals involving evangelical church leaders seem to appear daily. One might imagine that people would flee the churches where these leaders have served or continue to serve. But, in general, they do not. A good question to ask is why. Why do people continue to worship God in a church led by someone who has been proven through their words and deeds that they are aggressive, sexist, and violent? This project focuses on the rhetoric of Mark Driscoll that appeared in a series of blog posts published on the Mars Hill Church website in late 2001 to early 2002. In these posts, Driscoll exhibits an aggressive and misogynist rhetoric that goes against conventional neo-evangelical arguments for complementarianism to an intensely misogynistic and homophobic rhetoric. Drawing on the theoretical insights of Barbara Biesecker – that, in turn, draw on the theoretical insights of Judith Butler and Slavoj Zizek’—this paper argues that Driscoll’s rhetoric constructs a masculine Christian identity that appeals to a group of straight, white men who have felt marginalized by the dominant discourses of American culture for the past 100 years. More specifically, this paper argues that Driscoll gives these men an opportunity to reclaim the power and belonging that they feel they have lost. The paper also makes use of Stuart Hall’s concept of the floating signifier to explain how Driscoll’s rhetoric shapes a certain kind of toxic masculinity with his definition of “pussification”, which is, in simple terms, about the threat to men of a discourse that feminizes men. Driscoll seeks to draw these men into his vision of what it means to be a real man by presenting them with two simple options: adopt Driscoll’s’ brand of homophobia and misogyny and be a real man or admit that they have been “pussified” – that is, completely emasculated.

Publication Date

4-17-2024

Project Designation

Honors Thesis

Primary Advisor

Susan L. Trollinger

Primary Advisor's Department

English

Keywords

Stander Symposium, College of Arts and Sciences

Institutional Learning Goals

Critical Evaluation of Our Times; Faith; Scholarship

The Pussification of Man: Evangelical Pastor Mark Driscoll and The Construction of an Ideal Masculinity

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