Donald Trump, Access Hollywood, and the Rhetorical Performance of Aggrieved White Masculinity

Abstract

This essay examines Trump’s 2016 Greensboro rally performance of aggrieved white masculinity to shed light on the Access Hollywood scandal specifically and his appeal for supporters generally. Trump projected a persona of primitive, white, working-class masculinity; feminized the establishment through populist conspiracy; used psychological iconicity and inference to equate Clinton’s assertions with what he depicted as his accusers’ false claims of sexual assault; and dispelled their credibility through reenactment and partition. His sexism, conjoined with anger, also did displaced racist work by depicting his hypermasculine, authoritarian leadership as essential for restoring white men and the nation to their rightful places.

Keywords:

• 2016 Election
• Anger
• Donald Trump
• Hillary Clinton
• White Masculinity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. See, for example, on C-Span in 2016: Ambridge, PA, Oct. 10, https://www.c-span.org/video/?416683-1/donald-trump-campaigns-ambridge-pennsylvania; Lakeland, FL, Oct. 12, https://www.c-span.org/video/?416827-1/donald-trump-campaigns-lakeland-florida; West Palm Beach, FL, Oct. 13, https://www.c-span.org/video/?416882-1/donald-trump-calls-allegations-absolutely-false; Charlotte, NC, Oct. 14, https://www.c-span.org/video/?416932-1/donald-trump-campaigns-charlotte-north-carolina; Portsmouth, NH, Oct. 15, https://www.c-span.org/video/?417017-1/donald-trump-rally-portsmouth-hampshire; Green Bay, WI, Oct. 17, https://www.c-span.org/video/?417019-1/donald-trump-campaigns-green-bay-wisconsin; and Delaware, OH, Oct. 20, https://www.c-span.org/video/?417225-1/donald-trump-tells-ohio-voters-accept-election-results-wins.

2. Quotations and paraphrases come from transcript authentication based on C-Span’s video of the address: Trump Campaign Rally, Greensboro, NC, C-Span, 14 Oct. 2016, https://www.c-span.org/video/?416977-1/donald-trump-pushes-back-latest-sexual-assault-allegations.

3. Johnson also notes that Trump depicts institutions as feminized (230).

4. Rick Lazio ran against Clinton for the Senate and, during a debate, stuck a campaign pledge form in her face, which was widely seen as sexist bullying (Newfield).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Denise M. Bostdorff

Denise M. Bostdorff is Professor and Chair of Communication Studies at The College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. She wishes to acknowledge Marissa Hamm, Class of 2018, for her research assistace on this project; Tyler Schuch, Class of 2017, for our weekly discussions as he completed his Senior Independent Study thesis on Donald Trump’s tweets during the 2016 campaign; Professor David Zarefsky of Northwestern University for his helpful comments on an early version of this essay presented at the 2017 National Communication Association conference in Dallas; and the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful feedback.