The Body in Extremist White Supremacy
The Body in Extremist White Supremacy[1]
Sociology has not taken bodies seriously. This is well documented.[2] But it’s especially so in scholarship of the far right – and that’s even more glaring given that bodies are implicated in the gruesome actions of its adherents.[3] There are two embodied practices that featured prominently in the narratives of the 47 former members of white supremacy groups whom we interviewed: violence and sexual practice. The focus on violence is key given that it is a core practice among a wide range of white supremacy groups in the United States, which comprised our research sample. Sexual practice was not something that we asked people about explicitly, but it evolved naturally over the course of the interview process and led to important insights about how gender influences embodied practices. Our focus on these two embodied practices reveals new dimensions and makes legible nuances of radicalization pathways.
An embodied lens highlights how individuals aligned themselves with the world of white supremacy, even before certain ideas had traction for them. One individual in our sample started dressing to fit in with his friends; he did this before realizing what it meant to be a Skinhead. “Some guy runs up to me and I had no idea who this guy was… [He asked,] ‘Are you a skinhead?’ That was the first time I ever heard the word. I remember this very vividly. I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I had no idea.” In some instances, managing their bodies not only gave white supremacists a first taste of the movement; it also tested whether they belonged.
Not surprisingly, women and men fashioned their bodies in distinct ways. Women played up more to an internal audience to get respect in a male dominated movement. One woman highlighted how growing out her hair after first shaving it signaled commitment: “Oh, well, her shit’s super-super long, she’s been in this for a long time,’ and it was kind of like a respect symbol, you know.” Whereas, men’s fashion and posturing was focused outward. “Someone that was my size walking around with 1,000-yard stare, a big swastika in the middle of his shirt, you’re not going to particularly look at that guy and think ‘Oh I’m going to start something with him’ unless you really have something to prove.”
In the virulent world of white supremacy, being able to take and deliver violence helped men and women root themselves. Violence was key to building a sense of camaraderie—in part because it was fun but also because people felt that someone had their back. “He went out to a party here and he got jumped by a lot of people. Well, fuck them, we’re going to go destroy their party,“ one former member told us. It also gave people a high, a thrill, that people craved, paving the way for repeat violence. As one fighter emphasized: “It was intoxicating.” To that point, while a lot of violence was racist-driven, a lot of it was also spontaneous. It became for some a rite of passage, a means to prove themselves, or even to rise amongst the ranks. On the other hand, there were limits to how much violence fighters could take. As one Skinhead exclaimed: “I didn’t want to take one of those hits…. I ain’t made of glass, I ain’t made of steel.”
In the majority of instances, sexual appeal was highly racialized but it also revealed the highly complicated ways in which racial identity is encoded. Some people were quick to admit they only found members of their race attractive. However, others had a more complicated relationship with sex. For instance, some women emphasized a sense of agency by claiming that sexual attraction based on physical attributes rather than race determined their relationship choices. In this way, people deluded themselves about their own racist preferences, which helped them persist. Some men described conflicting sexual desires for nonwhite women, which they managed through avoidance or creating relationship boundaries. One man insisted that his relationship with a Black woman “[ ] was all about sex, that’s about it.”
Sex was an effective recruitment tool for both men and women. Men used movement women as bait to lure in new recruits, while women described entering into the movement through sexual relationships. One woman recalled that following the relationship, ideology that had previously been boring became much more enticing.
The focus on bodies and embodied practices reveals new aspects of people’s trajectories into and out of white supremacy. Embodied practices, such as how bodies are fashioned, are displays that work to gain entry into a group, instill fear in outsiders, but also reveal how people start seeing themselves. Bodies are transactional, the currency that fuels interactions in the world of white supremacy.
[1] Based on Latif, Mehr, Kathleen Blee, Matthew DeMichele, and Pete Simi. 2025. “The Body in Extremist White Supremacism.” British Journal of Sociology.”
[2] Ammerman, N. T. 2020. “Rethinking Religion: Toward a Practice Approach.” American Journal of Sociology 126, no. 1: 6–51. https://doi.org/10.1086/709779. Crossley, N. 2007. “Researching Embodiment by Way of ‘Body Techniques’.” Sociological Review 55, no. 1: 80–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954x.2007.00694.x.
[3] For exception see: Simi, P., K. Blee, M. DeMichele, and S. Windisch. 2017. “Addicted to Hate: Identity Residual Among Former White Supremacists.” American Sociological Review 82, no. 6: 1167–1187. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122417728719.
