The Bro Code: The Fallout of Raising Boys to Objectify and Subordinate Women

275 Pages·2020·4.44 MB·English

by  Thomas Keith

The Bro Code
Extending from the belief that masculinities are multiple, consisting of com-
plexities and constructions that make up the traits associated with each, this
book explores the various ways in which boys and men are conditioned to
view women as inferior to themselves and predominantly sexual objects—and
the deleterious effects this has on both women and men, society, and culture
at large.
Beginning in childhood, the book provides a critical framework to
understand one form of masculinity referred to as “bro culture,” and how it
is reproduced and reinforced through popular culture, social institutions, and
patriarchal forms of religion and politics. Weaving together current research
with illuminating historical and contemporary examples, Thomas Keith
unpacks the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that constitute this subculture
and reveals the ways in which traditional and outdated codes of manhood,
power, and gender relations have evolved into problematic forms of sexism,
misogyny, and abuse. For as much as popular culture is revealed to be a con-
tributing factor in the passage of bro codes, the book also includes examples
of cultural forces that are challenging and seeking to overthrow the core tenets
in powerful and lasting ways.
Timely and thought-provoking, The Bro Code addresses the implications
of an enduring social problem and moves us to reflect on ways to empower
men away from this toxic form of masculinity.
Thomas Keith teaches philosophy and gender studies at Claremont Gradu-
ate University and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He has
wrote, directed, and produced the bestselling Media Education Foundation
films Generation M: Misogyny in Media and Culture and The Bro Code: How Con-
temporary Culture Creates Sexist Men, which are used in classrooms around the
world. His latest film, The Empathy Gap: Masculinity and the Courage to Change,
was released in 2015 and has been met with sensational reviews. He recently
published Masculinities in Contemporary American Culture (Routledge 2017).
“Thomas Keith possesses keen insight and a precise and illuminating lens
when examining men and masculinities in the 21st century. He helps readers
understand how antiquated codes and tropes of masculinity have grown old
and even toxic to men’s humanity and that of others. The radiant illumination
provides an opportunity for individual men and the culture of masculinity to
change, evolve and become better versions of themselves.”
Randy Flood, Director, Men’s
Resource Center of West Michigan
“The Bro Code is an incredibly comprehensive and informed analysis of the
many ways that our culture continues to indoctrinate young men with a set of
misleading and misogynous ideas about manhood, gender and power. It’s a
must-read for anyone who wants to help these young men develop healthier,
more inclusive, and more adaptive identities and behaviors for their lives in
the 21st century.”
Jackson Katz, author of The Macho Paradox:
Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help
The Bro Code
THE FALLOUT OF RAISING BOYS TO OBJECTIFY AND
SUBORDINATE WOMEN
Thomas Keith
First published 2021
by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Taylor & Francis
The right of Thomas Keith to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Keith, Thomas, 1958- author.
Title: The bro code: the fallout of raising boys to objectify and
subordinate women / Thomas Keith.
Description: New York, NY: Routledge, 2020. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020034328 (print) | LCCN 2020034329 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781138624740 (hardback) | ISBN 9781138624757 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780429460524 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Masculinity. | Men—Identity. |
Sex discrimination against women. | Misogyny.
Classification: LCC HQ1090 .K445 2020 (print) |
LCC HQ1090 (ebook) | DDC 155.3/32—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020034328
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020034329
ISBN: 978-1-138-62474-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-62475-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-46052-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Palatino
by codeMantra
CONTENTS
Preface vi
Chapter 1 Raising Boys on Sexism 1
Chapter 2 Bro Culture in the Age of #metoo 29
Chapter 3 Frat Life: A Continuum from Honor Societies to
Toxic Bro-hood 54
Chapter 4 The Bro Code-of-Silence: How Men’s Silence
Harms Women and Men 85
Chapter 5 Advertising’s Sexist Call to Men 104
Chapter 6 A Bro Manual to Movies, TV, and Games 124
Chapter 7 Musical Misogynists: The Beat of Bro Culture 151
Chapter 8 Pornography: Sex-Ed for Bros 178
Chapter 9 Trump and the Bro World of Political Sexism 206
Chapter 10 Religious Bros 233
Index 258
v
PREFACE
The first thing to note is that this book is not a traditional textbook nor is it a
traditional nonfiction narrative. It is more of a hybrid that provides informa-
tion that can be used for didactic purposes, but that also includes argument
of the kind often found in books that are nonfiction narrative in nature. The
idea is to provide readers with information and thought-provoking challenges
that can translate into class discussion, class projects, presentations, or simply
individual self-reflection. Points will be made that will create disagreement
and debate, which is often crucial for learning and growth.
The bro is a social construction. The training to become a bro begins in
childhood and is reinforced throughout a young man’s life by a culture that
socializes boys to adopt sexist and even misogynistic tropes, the most common
being that women and all things feminine are inferior to men and all things
masculine. By the time boys reach adolescence, many have been groomed to
believe that the value found in girls and women is mainly aesthetic and sex-
ual. Much of popular culture reinforces this lesson.
However, The Bro Code, as a code of attitudes and behaviors that train
many boys to view women in one-dimensional and often demeaning ways
is not restricted to the bro as a stereotypical white, middle-class, college-aged
man to the exclusion of all other demographics. In fact, many men avoid bro
culture altogether, while others adopt milder versions of the bro persona.
But for others, being a full-fledged bro becomes a way of life, and is not con-
strained by age, race, ethnicity, culture, economic class, or sexual orientation.
As we will see, the beliefs and behaviors common to bro culture are found
throughout a variety of groups, and in some cases, can even extend to women.
For educators, you may want to couple this book with an anthology or
other materials that are more comprehensive in nature. Since this book weaves
through intersectional identities within the context of what we will be calling
bro culture, it should work nicely with anthologies that investigate the experi-
ences of boys and men from very different backgrounds.
The chapters follow a path that begins in boyhood and takes us through
the many influences in men’s lives that include for some fraternities, advertis-
ing, movies, TV, games and gamer culture, music, pornography, politics, and
religion. Even physical and mental health are covered, since many men noto-
riously avoid seeking help when help is needed. This is part of what I term
the bro code of silence, which can be found in sports culture, the military, and
throughout the day-to-day lives of millions of men.
What is hopefully obvious to readers is that the bro code is not just detri-
mental to women; it is detrimental to men, to LGBTQ individuals, to relation-
ships, to families, and to culture at large. There are forces in popular culture
today that threaten bro culture such as the #metoo movement and the slow,
but increasing power of women in academics, business, politics, and many
other areas of life. As women gain power, bro culture will recede or, like the
vi
Preface vii
Make America Great Again platform, attempt to rebel against the progressive
changes of the 21st century. We have seen this sort of rebellion from men’s
rights activists, the so-called incel rebellion, white supremacists, and other
reactionary groups that are petrified by the notion that women, and partic-
ularly feminists, LGBTQ people, and people of color are slowly beginning to
increase social, political, and economic power.
Bro culture, therefore, can be viewed as a Trumpian call for a return to
a mythical utopian America of the past when white, heterosexual men had a
stranglehold on the power of the nation. It is a regressive form of masculinity
that seeks to return to the days when men could sexually harass women with
impunity, or were able to produce jokes at the expense of LGBTQ people and
others without pushback. Today, the blanket bro-Trumpian rejection to criti-
cisms of bigotry is to state that all criticism of bigotry is simply an appeal to
political correctness. This is a strategy taken straight from the bro code, which
mocks and bullies any form of critical assessment. Simply put, The Bro Code
is based on sexist, but also racist, homophobic, and xenophobic bigotries that
have been socialized into many, many boys and men throughout their lives.

1
RAISING BOYS ON
SEXISM
Key Points
• Male Privilege and Entitlement
• The Asshole Effect
• The Gendered Clark Experiment
• Gender Essentialism and “ Mansplaining”
• The Boy Code
• Cultivation Theory and Mainstreaming
• The Maisy Test
• Blurred Lines: Misogyny in Music
• Digital Heroin: The Sexist Instruction of Gamer Culture
• Pornography: Sex Ed for Bros
• Proud Boys
• The Incel Rebellion
• Gay Bros and the Non- Binary Challenge
INTRODUCTION TO BRO CULTURE1
Before diving into a book that takes up bro culture, as it will be defined
throughout, it is important to note the goal of this book, which is to expose
problems within a segment of larger male culture that create harms to both
women and men. Sometimes books about men and masculinities can appear
to be engaged in male- b ashing when those books expose detriments in the
ways that boys and men behave without also exposing favorable qualities in
men. But by exposing longstanding problems in the ways that many boys and
men are trained to think about manhood, the goal is to reveal how this train-
ing often comes at the expense of boys and men, as well as at the expense of
women and healthy, more fulfilling relationships. Ultimately, the goal of this
book is to expose some of the more toxic elements of bro culture that trap men
into very limiting and even tragic lives, with the further ambition of helping
boys and men recognize and hence avoid these pitfalls.
Like racism, sexism is taught. Sexism is sold to boys across lines of race,
ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic class, age, and even sexual orientation. From
media indoctrination to the many who continue to preach gender essentialism
1