Not All Dead White Men
A virulent strain of antifeminism is thriving online that treats women’s empowerment as a mortal threat to men and to the integrity of Western civilization. Its proponents cite ancient Greek and Latin texts to support their claims—arguing that they articulate a model of masculinity that sustained generations but is now under siege.
Donna Zuckerberg dives deep into the virtual communities of the far right, where men lament their loss of power and privilege and strategize about how to reclaim them. She finds, mixed in with weightlifting tips and misogynistic vitriol, the words of the Stoics deployed to support an ideal vision of masculine life. On other sites, pickup artists quote Ovid’s Ars Amatoria to justify ignoring women’s boundaries. By appropriating the Classics, these men lend a veneer of intellectual authority and ancient wisdom to their project of patriarchal white supremacy. In defense or retaliation, feminists have also taken up the Classics online, to counter the sanctioning of violence against women.
Not All Dead White Men reveals that some of the most controversial and consequential debates about the legacy of the ancients are raging not in universities but online.
Praise
“A chilling account of trolling, misogyny, racism, and bad history proliferated online by the Alt-Right, bolstered by the apparent authority of Greek and Latin Classics. Zuckerberg makes a persuasive case for why we need a new, more critical, and less comfortable relationship between the ancient and modern worlds in this important and very timely book.”– Emily Wilson, translator of The Odyssey
“The book is an achievement… An admirable foray into the difficult and often distressing terrain of far-right politics, and an important contribution to the growing collection of essays, archives and discussions centered on the place of classics in today’s thorny political landscape.” – Times Literary Supplement
“Not just an incredibly important book that teaches readers about the tactics of a far-right, antifeminist online community, the ‘manosphere,’ but also demonstrates ways in which experts can use their knowledge to deconstruct the use and abuse of history.” – EuropeNow
“A fearless online pioneer in her role as the editor of Eidolon, Zuckerberg is perfectly placed to guide us through the radicalized virtual territory of the Alt-Right. Not only does she force us to face the worst of what Classical authors say about male superiority and sexual privilege, weaponized in the roiling echo chambers of reddit, she also compels us to reflect on why we nonetheless teach and take pleasure in Greek and Roman texts.” – Joy Connolly, author of The Life of Roman Republicanism
“If there was ever a time to dispel myths of racial and gender superiority, it is now. Donna Zuckerberg has written an important book to help us understand how the Western classical canon is weaponized to diminish the humanity of women by anti-feminist online communities. This is a must-read.” – Safiya Umoja Noble, author of Algorithms of Oppression
“A clear-eyed look at the dangers of misogyny and racism underlying the reception of Classics. Zuckerberg strikes an admirable balance between defending the study of ancient Greek and Roman authors―those all too familiar ‘dead white men’―and rejecting the insidious assertions of patriarchy and white supremacy that the Alt-Right claims to derive from antiquity. This remarkable book never loses sight of what the Classics can mean to the next generation.” – Gregory Nagy, author of The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours
“Required reading for classicists who want to understand how the works we study resonate in contemporary politics.” – Ellen Muehlberger, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
“With the proliferation of anti-feminist rhetoric online, the extreme right is using ancient philosophy to boost its credibility. As Stoic ethics moves from lecture halls to Reddit, classicist Donna Zuckerberg exposes this misappropriation, meant to enforce the concept of male superiority.” – Nature
Awards
2019 PROSE Finalist in Classics, Association of American Publishers
Emily Toth Best Single Work in Women's Studies, Popular Culture Association