emmanuel reynaud holy virility the social construction of masculinity

the planet― has lost in lyricisrn what it has gained in candour.
Henry Kissinger, who was personally responsible for some of
the bombings of North Victnam, stated plainly and complacently
what is behind the perpetual struggle between men: 'Power is
the ultimate aphrodisiac.'
[Between men / 103]
Man invariably seeks his pleasure between the bars of the
hierarchy principle. He locks up his own life in it and makes the
world little short of unbearable, but, in most cases, he has no
doubts: it does not occur to him that fulfilment is possible
outside the struggle for power. This obsession is not restricted
to a chosen powerful few. It can he found at the bottom of the
hierarchical ladder as well as at the top, and is expressed by the
loss of the self in identification with the leader who himself
identifies with either the cause, the people, the nation, or, more
modestly, with the party, the team or the common good. The
mechanism works quite simply: the leader thrives on the life
and blood of his men, who in return receive crumbs of his
power and glory; obviously, these diminish as the pyramid gets
wider, but, nevertheless, at all levels, each one gets his share.
Napoleon, who in his time could boast of some authentic
massacres, is a good illustration of this process. The day after
the Battle of Rivoli, he addressed a good number of future
corpses thus:
«Soldiers, you rushed like a torrent from the heights
of the Appenines . . . You won battles without
cannons, crossed rivers without bridges, went on
forced marches without boots, bivouacked without
brandy and often without bread . . . And when, after a
glorious victory, you return home, your fellow-citizens
will point you out saying: 'They were of the Italian
campaign.'»
A man's problem is to choose the right cause and put himself in
the hands of the right leader; then all he has to do is to throw
himself headlong into the fray, until he ends up either dead or
covered in glory. But he must he prudent and perceptive, for an
error of judgement can be costly: apart from the notoriety and
the defeat, it can lead the survivor into the war criminal's dock
or a forced labour camp. But man generally jibs at nothing in the
hope of reaping the laurels of victory: he sets off in 1914 for
Berlin, flower in his gun and smile on his lips, and even if he
comes back in 1918 with his face smashed up in battle, he has
fine tales to tell and lovely war memorials to adorn. This race for
power and glory in which very few refuse to participate, is
exacerbated in an obvious way in military activities. When the
existing hierarchies are out of reach, man undertakes to create a
new one ―within a local gang, a left-wing organisation, or some
'alternative' project.
[104 / Holy virility]