Whisky Pete Hegseth and toxic masculinity

My dad was an officer in the US Naval reserve. He served in the Panama Canal Zone for two years in the late 50’s, when I was a toddler. He always spoke highly of the US Navy, although he admitted he was almost kicked out of OCS for infractions due to his inattention to petty rules.

He eventually earned a PhD in chemical engineering and retired with four US patents, one of which he spun off into a company that supported him for several years after he retired from Martin-Marietta in Oak Ridge TN. This is all by way of saying that (a) he was no dummy and (b) he was supportive of the US military. He was also an early opponent of the Vietnam war in particular and US military adventurism in general.

Pete Hegseth is a Princeton alum (which he chose over West Point) and former Army National Guard officer who served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Gitmo. Far from being sobered by those experiences, he seems to have become intoxicated.

“Once the Global War on Terror became politically untenable to defend, he cast about for excuses that wouldn’t implicate his own career in the military. Rather than zero in on tactical or intelligence failures, his rhetoric took a dark turn, increasingly inflected by Islamophobia, misogyny, and a distinctly toxic version of masculinity.”

He wasn’t raised in toxic masculinity:

“As a boy growing up in Minnesota, Hegseth appeared to be a perfect version of the American male. He was religious, athletic, well-spoken, and remarkably handsome. He was ashamed, however, of his self-perceived softness. “I didn’t get in fights as a kid and shied from confrontation because, frankly, I was scared of it,” he wrote in his 2016 book In the Arena, Good Citizens, a Great Republic, and How One Speech Can Reinvigorate America . In it, he went on to hail his father, Brian, for his “integrity” and “Scandinavian work ethic,” before evincing thinly veiled resentment for not having been reared effectively in the masculine art of aggression. “My father was — and is — an incredible man,” he reflected, “but confrontation isn’t necessarily his forte.”

*snip*

“One of his former professors has pointed out that Hegseth’s current persona and his Princeton one “don’t fit.” Part of the disconnect stems from the fact that his puffed-up, bellicose military posturing in the Trump era doesn’t match either his Ivy League education or his actual service record. Hegseth came away from the war in Iraq with a Bronze Star that, it’s worth noting, was issued “without valor.” (It was, in short, a lesser version of the medal that, according to the Washington Post, was “issued somewhat liberally” during the War on Terror years. Some enlisted personnel joked that such a decoration was little more than a “participation trophy” for needy officers.)”

It’s always seemed to me that Hegseth’s bellicosity, misogyny and substance dependency is really just compensating for a deep sense of personal inadequacy. Trump elevated him to Defense Secretary not because of his military accomplishments or expertise, but because he looked good on TV as a Fox News media personality. Trump, who evaded military service with a faked medical exemption, is compensating with Hegseth, and I’m sure Hegseth knows this.

This is a disaster for the American military and American military policy.

“As Hegseth has made clear in his words and deeds, the latest American war is largely animated by emotional factors, plus (as reporting has shown) intense pressure from Israel. Now being in charge of the Pentagon, and with a renewed opportunity to pummel the Middle East, he has dropped all institutional pretense to compassion or caution. “We are punching them while they’re down,” he recently told reporters, “which is exactly how it should be.” In practice, this has meant a brutal bombing campaign in conjunction with Israel that targeted, among many other things, a girl’s primary school and oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, acts that respectively killed children and polluted the region. Hegseth also pledged not to offer quarter to enemy combatants in violation of international law.

 

“He certainly hopes that faith and masculine posturing alone can secure success.”

I’ve long observed that the traits of high intelligence and good judgement are unlinked, and Pete Hegseth is Exhibit A. Toxic masculinity is toxic not only for the person suffering with it, but for everyone. It is especially toxic in someone who fronts the world’s most powerful military. Hegseth and his sort need therapy, not encouragement.

 

https://www.juancole.com/2026/05/hegseths-desperate-masculinity.html