The Frontiersman and the Intellectual: Christian Reconstructionism and Performing Masculinities through Instagram

This paper highlights how two Christian Reconstructionists, Joel Webbon and Eric Conn, use Instagram to mainstream their extremist ideology by embedding it within widely recognizable and aspirational masculine aesthetics and making their radical vision appear palatable and even desirable to mainstream conservative evangelicals. Rather than presenting themselves as fringe extremists, Conn and Webbon leverage masculine archetypes—the rugged frontiersman and intellectual patriarch—to attract followers, establish credibility, and reinforce patriarchal authority. In doing so, they demonstrate how militant masculinities are not monolithic but instead draw from multiple scripts to reach different audiences. This paper contributes to scholarship on evangelical masculinity, social media, and far-right digital culture by showing how ideological movements thrive and attract new followers in the digital age, not merely through explicit political messaging but through aesthetic and performative strategies that shape how power and authority are understood.