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Down the Rabbit Hole is our miniseries dedicated to the deep dives, side trails, and themes that don’t quite fit into our normal episodes.
In this minisode, we explore the term “petro-masculinity” and how it helps us to understand the deep connection between the fossil fuel economy and white patriarchal rule.
We talk about the role of fossil fuels in identity creation, gender as a system, and why confidence is a key factor in determining whether conservative white men will become climate denialists.
Related episodes include:
Episode 44 – Cheaty Cheaty Bang Bang and Cars 2
Down the Rabbit Hole 5: Fossil Fuels 101

Sources:
The Fossil Fuel Debate’s Most Bizarre Byproduct: “Petro-Masculinity” Mother Jones
Petro-masculinity: Fossil Fuels and Authoritarian Desire, Cara Daggett, Sage Journals, June 2018
Proud Boys and petro-masculinity, Emily Atkin, HEATED, October 1 2020
Cara Daggett: “The Birth of Energy,” ASPECT Book Events at Virginia Tech, October 2019
Threatened masculinity as an obstacle to sustainable change by Kathrin Meyer. EnergyTransition.org, 29 June 2021
Anthro Talks: Petro-masculinity by Keira Myles, Tufts Daily, April 23 2021
The accelerationist noise of petro-masculinity, CCCBLab, December 1 2020
Cool dudes: The denial of climate change among conservative white males in the United States, Aaron McCright and Riley Dunlap, Global Environmental Change
How can a man be too straight to recycle? Owen Jones opinion article for The Guardian, August 8 2019
Toward feminist energy systems: Why adding women and solar panels is not enough, Bell et al
This segment was super dismissive of the term and the comments make me want to die but I did watch it: Words matter: The origins of ‘petro-masculinity,’ Sky News Australia, January 27 2021
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