Rituals of Fascism

Men themselves were now split into a (female) interior and a (male) exterior – the body armor. And as we know, the interior and exterior were mortal enemies. What we see being portrayed in the rituals are the armor’s separation from, and superiority over the interior: the interior was allowed to flow, but only within the masculine boundaries of the mass formations. Before any of this could happen, the body had to be split apart thoroughly enough to create an interior and exterior that could be opposed to each other as enemies. Only then could the two parts re-form “in peace” in the ritual. What fascism promised men was the reintegration of their hostile components under tolerable conditions, dominance of the hostile “female” element within themselves. (((Klaus Theweleit, Male Fantasies: Women, Floods, Bodies, History, p. 434, pub. A.D. 1987))