It’s an established fact that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign exposed some of the worst parts of the American electorate. But beyond the overt racism of Trump supporters like Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, the president-elect has provided a central figure for different brands of bigotry and misogyny to rally around. This loose group is known as the "alt-right." In the vernacular of the alt-right, there is no greater insult than being labeled a "cuck," so understanding the etymology and current iterations of the word is now a must for anyone who wants to understand today's political moment. kind of privilege.
So what is a "cuck"? The dictionary doesn't have a definition because "cuck" is short for "cuckold," which you may remember from high school Shakespeare. Merriam-Webster defines a cuckold as “a man whose wife has sexual intercourse with another person.” It has been around since the 13th century, but has taken on new meaning in the 21st century as a form of pornography, typically showing a white woman having sex with a black man while her "castrated" white husband Watch from the sidelines. The implicit racism—being cheated on is bad enough, but being cheated on by a black man is especially horrific—demonstrates the typical blend of hypermasculinity and white nationalism that is so hallmark of the alt-right.
The 2016 presidential election mainstreamed "cuck" in a number of ways. Anyone familiar with the alt-right Twitter trolls will know that “conservative” has become a favorite insult for any Republican who doesn’t support Trump. It’s a portmanteau that combines “cuck” with “conservative,” and has been cheerfully called “cuckservative” by everyone from right-wing blogger Erik Erickson to presidential candidate Jeb Bush . Clearly, these "weak" men lack the necessary masculine strength to do the difficult work of "real leadership." It’s easy to see that when it comes to the alt-right’s take on the presidency, women don’t need to apply.
But perhaps no entity has done more to bring “cuck” to America than the media mouthpiece of the alt-right, Breitbart. When Steve Bannon took over Breitbart in 2012, it transformed itself from an edgy outlet aligned with conservative ideas to a site deliberately dropping bombs and creating controversial headline bait, and ultimately became Trump's personal cheerleader. Readers may recognize Bannon's name as he was later named Trump's "chief strategist," a move that was praised by the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party.
A search for the word "cuck" on the Breitbart website yields approximately 1,200 results. Alt-right darling and Breitbart News contributor Milo Yiannopoulos defended the term, titled " 'Cuckservative' is a very valid insult and should not be vilified, destroyed, or laugh at". He claims that his identity as a gay man who prefers black partners gives him the exclusive right to claim that "cuckling" is a perfectly acceptable form of humiliation. It should be easy for thoughtful people to find reasons to disagree. For example, Yiannopoulos claimed that "cuck" has become "synonymous with testing masculinity or being a coward." It's as if the two traits are synonymous, not to mention that he explicitly associates strength and courage with men and men.
Yiannopoulos ("Milo" for short) has long defended this implicit male supremacy, as has Breitbart News. Other headlines include Hillary Clinton tweeting the following during the election:
While many may find the mainstreaming of “cuck” frustrating, there is reason to be heartened. Shakespeare used the word "cuckold" loosely, implying that the entire culture did the same thing, and 16th century England survived. I'm not saying this is a great time for gender and racial equality, but society has been through times like this before. With any luck, 2020 will be a repudiation of the toxic masculinity so openly celebrated by the alt-right Trump camp.
