The Role of Hegemonic Masculinity in the Presidential Campaign of Donald Trump

M. FAIQ ADI PRATOMO, Drs. Nur Rachmat Yuliantoro, S.I.P., M.A.(IR)

2017 | Skripsi | S1 ILMU HUBUNGAN INTERNASIONAL

Kemenangan Donald Trump atas Hillary Clinton pada 9 November 2016 dipandang luas sebagai anomali. Kampanye Donald Trump dinodai oleh berbagai skandal, terutama yang melibatkan perlakuan Donald Trump kepada minoritas maupun perempuan; terlebih, kampanye Trump dilihat oleh media sebagai kampanye yang asusila dan melanggar etika. Untuk menganalisa kemenangan tersebut, thesis ini akan menggunakan riset berbasis media untuk memastikan ketertarikan pemilih pada Donald Trump. Tesis ini berargumen bahwa kampanye Donald Trump menyokong nilai-nilai maskulinitas hegemonik, terutama perasaan 'merasa berhak' (aggrieved entitlement). Tesis ini meletakkan kampanye Trump pada konteks sejarah politik Amerika Serikat yang cenderung menjadikan perempuan dan minoritas sebagai liyan, yang kemudian berlanjut dalam tren modern yang mengusung nilai misoginis. Tesis ini berkesimpulan bahwa kampanye Donald Trump tidak berdeviasi dari kecenderungan politik Amerika Serikat untuk mengusung nilai maskulinitas hegemonik.

Donald Trump's triumph over Hillary Clinton on 9th November 2016 was widely seen as an anomaly. Donald Trump's campaign was marred by various scandals, mostly involving his treatment of women and minorities; furthermore, his campaign was seen by the media as excessively boorish and lacking in decency. To analyze the problem, this thesis will conduct a media-based research to ascertain the appeal of Donald Trump's campaign. This thesis argues that Donald Trump's campaign had a firm basis in hegemonic masculinity. Donald Trump's campaign appealed to hegemonic masculine values, most importantly the sense of aggrieved entitlement present among white male voters, the sense that their deserved privileges are being taken away from them by minority groups and women. This thesis also locates Donald Trump's campaign within the historical trend of hegemonic masculinity in U.S. politics, present since the nation's inception in the hierarchial exclusion of women from political agency due to essentialist, sexist reasons. Finally, the thesis locates Donald Trump's campaign within the backlash culture of New Tens America, with the mainstreaming of men's rights movement (MRM) values and other post-feminist. In conclusion, Donald Trump's campaign was not deviant, rather it overconformed to hegemonic masculine norms present in U.S. politics.

Kata Kunci : hegemonic masculinity, Donald Trump, sexism, aggrieved entitlement, U.S. presidential campaigns