Image by Gayatri Malhotra.
As the recent Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade so poignantly illustrates, the clash over love and sex is one of the most fundamental cleavages in modern American politics. Although it was written back in 1956, Erich Fromm’s book The Art of Loving offers observations that are strikingly relevant today. Fromm’s insights shed new light on old problems. They help us understand how insecurities related to love, sex, and gender underpin our most vexing societal conflicts, specifically malaise under neoliberalism, incel culture and gun violence, and authoritarian movements. Thinking about the psychology of sexuality and gender better equips us on the Left to formulate programs that tackle the roots of these explosive social problems.
