The journalist’s God Forgives, Brothers Don’t spotlights troubling ways that military schools have shaped American masculinity.
You paint military schools as having been very successful at convincing Americans that men are naturally unemotional, violent creatures.
When America was founded, there was a lot of skepticism toward the military, but eventually the practical work of building an empire and securing new territories came up, and America had to abandon that skepticism—abandon those dark memories of living under British occupation. We can see that a lot of Revolutionary-era figures who were open to gentler interpretations of what manhood was abandoned them pretty quickly.
A lot of what you describe happening at military schools is hazing of the in-group—white male cadets, usually—and then some of it is exclusionary: violence and harassment against women and Black cadets.
Black and women cadets understand that they are outsiders. They know they are going to face roadblocks. However, I found that what Black and women cadets have ended up experiencing is far more intensely negative than many of us have imagined. I mean just really deep, sustained abuse and domination.
When we talk about American masculinity, we often talk about “rugged individualism.” So it’s interesting that you write about how American masculinity, as defined by these military schools, is characterized by hierarchy and obedience.
The American masculine ideal contains many contradictions. At military schools, rugged individualism is channeled for state aims—for conquest, expansion. Plus, there’s also long been a promise at the heart of military education that if you make it through this gauntlet of abuse, you will be set up for success outside the military. And in some ways, individualism is winning out. Early in the 20th century, the military’s individualism and its collectivism were playing off each other, but after Vietnam and the profound loss of trust in the government, the noble ideal of collectivism was brushed off for a harder-edged, soldier-of-fortune mentality. It’s almost a mercenary mindset, seen especially in today’s special ops forces, who do one-off missions and don’t have to conform to uniform regulations and so on.
Do you think military schools can be reformed?
There was a brief period during the Biden administration when it seemed like there was going to be a meaningful grappling with these issues. But now, of course, the top man installed at the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, embraces a very aggressive, violent mentality. He’s purged the military of Black and female leaders. So it’s hard to see any hope for a reckoning.
