Thinking about apes and the alpha [male], since when are baser instincts something to ape and be proud of?
10
Since when is Donald Trump a "manly man"? An alpha-male? Give me a break. He's a puffed up phony who blurts out infantile, taunting nick names for his rivals that are unworthy of a middle schooler.
Why won't Donald Trump show his tax returns? He lied about the money he has and the deals he's made like he lies about everything. He's a coward who can't form lasting human relationships and who trades in his wife for a newer model every few years. He's a serial adulterer and a bully and he was a joke until the Russians and Comey handed him the election.
No one in the world thinks he's an actual leader, a role model, or anyone's idea of who they would like to be. If the author's definition of "alpha male" is a train wreck or a dumpster fire ... well, I guess we've all lowered our standards lately.
28
It seems the only way to understand men is to see them as animals or chimps. Why have only the women evolved?
11
Americans are generally short-sighted and vote on narrow self interest. This administration is a wake-up call to the Democrats to start focusing on the issues which are important to working and lower middle class men and women. That demographic has been convinced by years of Republican propaganda that the Democrats despise them and don't represent their interests. It's actually the opposite, it's the Republican plutocratic agenda that is hostile to the working and middle class.
Democrats need to reframe the entire political debate towards the economic self-interest and survival of working and middle class people irregardless of gender and race, and take away the Republican party's ammunition. It won't be easy, Democrats have focused on appealing to so many narrow minority interests for so long that they've neglected to tie it all together with any unifying platform with broad appeal. The perception that they are the party only of minority rights is now deeply engrained, and reinforced by powerful messaging paid for by billions in right wing advertising dollars each election cycle. It won't be easy to win back those voters back and de-condition their brainwashed minds. I fear it will take another major recession to get them to start listening again.
12
Trump is literally repulsive to me. He is the personification of every bad guy I ever got stuck in the room with and couldn't get away from fast enough. I cannot watch him on TV without an urge to destroy the TV.
The notion that anybody could find him "alpha" or in any way like a leader makes me ill, and it makes me suspect their sanity. He's a stupid, mean and needy spoiled brat--in what world is that alpha? Who in the world would want their sons to act like Donald Trump?
The worst thing about the last 2 years is that I question the sanity of some fellow Americans and I'm stunned at the cynicism of others. i live in a state where a majority who voted chose Trump--and I say it that way because voter turnout in our state is low, always. In my state, many claim to be "Christians" and yet the masks have been ripped off of that claim.
Not sure what the male/female thing is about--is it possible that women are more willing to face the dark truths and admit they were wrong?
21
There is a quote that something like this:
The best indicator of a real man is the size of the genuine smile on the face of the woman sitting next to him.
Has anybody seen Melania smile a big true spontaneous grin lately--or ever--when she is sitting or standing next to Mr. Trump??
15
Gender Grand Canyon, and deservedly so. Seriously.
8
Democrats' question: how do you get all college educated women to vote?
5
I have come to regard Republicans in general and old, white, male Republicans in particular, as an existential threat to women of all ages.
Who are the white men who are front and center of people's minds? Republican politicians. We see them every day in the news. For thirty+ years they have gleefully supported policy positions that are overtly hostile to the well-being of women, children and minorities. When that is the white man one sees on a daily basis, it can certainly taint one's perception of white men in general.
White men, sadly, have made themselves suspect by voting record. The white male vote keeps these guys in office. White men have the power to burnish their collective image by voting the men who tarnish their image on a daily basis out of office.
19
Women have to be "determined to fight tooth and nail?" Why not call on men to get over their bruised feelings at losing status and start fighting for the integrity of the planet and the perpetuation of the human race? Do men hate clean air and water? Do men despise children so much that they're willing to risk their lives (not to mention their mothers') by cutting prenatal care? Are theyeager to see the aged denied Medicare and the Social Security they've paid for all their working lives? Etc. If not, why are we seeing petulant comments here about "getting blamed for everything" and demanding to be won over? An article like this (and such comments) implies that men are spoiled toddlers who must be coddled and made to feel important rather than responsible citizens of the world. I don't believe that that's true but this author and his sources, not to Trump's daily punctures in our social fabric, seem to think that men are too emotional to think straight.
25
Lets never forget that the day prior to the election in 2016, polling data had Clinton way ahead of Trump and the exit polls showed that 53% of WHITE WOMEN had voted for Trump.
7
Associating white males with Trump is the same thing minorities and women have been complaining about for decades. People voted for Trump for all sorts of strange reasons, including their belief that the Democrats had sold them out to their corporate sponsors. Apparently many women and minorities voted for him as well; does that make them misogynistic racists too?
What's a Democrat to do? Turn on your sponsors and trust the people to vote you in? How did that work for Bernie?
Unwinding this state of affairs is going to take a lot more than simply getting rid of Trump, even if we can. If Hillary and the Democratic machine had been man enough to accept the inevitable, Bernie would be the VP now.
5
Speaking as a Trump supporter, I think leftists are feeding themselves a sweet falsehood by trying to brush off Trump as an atavistic freak.
Trump’s been Trump for decades, but gained no traction in the presidential primaries until he explicitly stated what most knew but were too scared to admit; illegal immigrants were mostly low skilled peasants who would bring the average down, and in large enough numbers, turn the USA into Mexico.
Moreover he did not shrink from confronting the orthodoxy and despite his often boorish behavior he was a breath of fresh air after the stultifying political correctness of the last 50 years. This explains his rise.
tarkmarg.blogspot.com.
4
Perhaps, after the unpleasantness with Roseanne, we ought to take a hiatus from comparing public figures to apes?
7
Thomas Edsall seem to think that white men grew up admiring high school bullies. A lot of us hated those bullies.
Donald Trump reminds me of bullies I hated.
Bullies are cowards. They like to hurt and humiliate people. They avoid fair fights.
33
There are lots of good men and lots of good women.
Unfortunately, the wrong men and women appear to be in charge of politics and too many large and powerful organizations that control our lives and future.
The politicians people are looking for don't make their careers out of dividing Americans into warring camps--both the Republicans and Democratic Parties do little but play the big donor game and the demographic game by ginning up self-pity, grievances, and negativity.
It is a zero-sum game, where their party can "win" only if the other party loses big time. 42% of voters now consider themselves Independents, which indicates a lot about our 2-party system the way it is currently operating.
Somewhere out there are politicians who are authentic individuals with decent values, whose goal is to get to work together to solve our growing problems, rather than make a lucrative and power-oriented career for themselves by selling their souls and political party to the biggest donors.
Bernie Sanders funded his own presidential campaign. How many aspiring politicians could actually do that--for the good of the country?
8
I always read Thomas Edsall's work when I see it.
He produces real analysis based on real and carefully collected data, and asks important questions. This is what I am always looking for in my information sources, and so rarely finding.
I'd say I'm an out-and-out liberal, and the NY Times and Washington Post are essential sources, but the quality of reporting and analysis seems to me to be on a long slow decline. The overtly pro-left media has occasional good material but mostly not. The Guardian and Business Insider are pretty good sources I think.
So mostly I'm in an information and analysis desert, waiting for more work of Mr. Edsall's standards. (sigh.)
13
Unfortunately, women are their own worst enemies so they will continue to support was is clearly against their self-interest. Go figure.
11
When the patriarchy was strong, the ideal man was "father knows best," the father who was a provider for women and children under his paternalistic care. Today we see the fall of the patriarchy where men are not caring for the children in the present nor caring for their children's future. They are deadbeat dads, raiding the children's college fund to buy sports cars for themselves.
All women, even women who support the old patriarchal model of men as providers, see this and are reaching the tipping point. It is becoming obvious that the future of civilization is going to depend on women taking the wheel before the men drunk on power and pure self-interest drive us over a cliff.
18
Will non-white men - and women - turn out and vote?
All good to note the shift to the right of white men, and their influence on past elections, but to then conclude that they may be the decisive factor again ignores the potential of more people of color voting, and its effect on the election. The Republican Party and right wing groups are well aware of this potential, as they work so diligently to rig elections by disenfranchising voters and redistricting.
13
Because standing up for yourself is now called bullying.
10
I don't know why any rational woman would vote Republican. We have had to fight them every step of the way on equal pay, on workplace sexual harassment and discrimination, on access to male-dominated professions and military combat roles, on health insurance and contraception, on maternity leave, on the definition of rape and sexual assault (remember when they said it wasn't a crime to rape your wife?) -- even on stupid things like equal funding for women's athletics.
31
According to "radical anthropologist" Christ Knight, humans actually evolved out of the primate species, alpha-male system via a revolution by women in solidarity with each other and their beta brothers. In their own interests and those of children, they banned together to demand that rape-prone alphas stand down. Egalitarian society with mutually beneficial social contracts ensued and was the reality for most of human history.
See Knight's summary here:
http://www.chrisknight.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/the-human-revolu...
We veered off the tracks only a few thousand years ago with patriarchy, but women, especially mothers, and beta men are clearly rising in solidarity again. They can see that alpha-male ways - of war, ecological/climate ravage, sexual violence, AR-15s, stupid competition over resources that are plentiful (for education, healthcare...) when not syphoned up to the 1% - are going to get us all killed.
Shared decency and collaboration are the only ways to survival, meaning that upcoming elections have downright evolutionary consequences!
15
I’m all for shared decency and collaboration.
As for the notion of alpha and beta males, consider the possibility that things are a little more complicated than analyses that use those terms are likely to explain.
I’d give Dwight Eisenhower highest marks for shared decency and collaboration. But not exactly a beta male I understand.
Then there’s the line featured in some of the promos for True Detective Season 1, when Matthew McConaughey’s character says to Woody Harrelson’s character something like “The world needs bad men like us. We keep the other bad men from the door.” Again, I’m not sure the whole alpha beta thing buys us a whole lot of explanatory power here.
There’s the fact that talking tough, acting tough, and being tough don’t necessarily correlate. And LBJ was braver on civil rights than on the war I think.
5
I don't think this is supported by much evidence...
1
Though no longer Republican, I consider myself center right politically. IMHO, Trump reeks of insecurity and incompetence. As a woman, I hardly think these are desirable male traits and certainly not what I want to see in a US President. Any man (or woman) who thinks Trump is an Alpha Male leader needs to have their head examined.
22
Castellanos’ comments are fascinating. We do seem to be in a gender war.
But I don’t think it’s that men want to drag women back into the kitchen. It’s more complicated than that. Women don’t need men right now, both because many women aren’t marrying and because many women are having children without a partner (using the government for support instead). Men are thus often shut out of the family — exiles so to speak. We see them suffering in the opioid crisis and resorting to suicide.
Women, on the other hand, are spending a far smaller proportion of our lives having children (if we have children at all). The home was a traditional source of female power and pride, but now that many women are competing with men (in workplaces) almost our entire lives, we find things we otherwise might have tolerated untenable.
The old pact between the sexes has been violated. Both sexes are deeply unhappy — women medicating with anti-anxiety and anti-depressants. We can’t go back either — the planet is too crowded for women to have five kids each, and it’s a good thing we have some social supports.
I think, though, women have to stop attacking men and accept certain parts of reality (I’m a woman, btw). For example: men can usually out compete women with kids — at everything. Also, women are vulnerable sexually and a promiscuous, rule free environment disadvantages us.
The old order had some failings but it had some good points, like monogamy and family cohesion.
11
The problem with women is that they like men. Who knows why?
2
There is something a trifle lunatic about this Op-Ed. Is this the program of the Democratic Party - open warfare between men and women? Fighting tooth and nail? High noon on the sexualized battlefield? I don't know how to further parody this; it is already self-parody. Does the Democratic Party expect to 'win' this titanic struggle? And if the Democratic Party does win this war (women win! - men surrender everywhere!) [(Years ago, cartoonist James Thurber did a series of wry cartoons about the 'war between men and women' which were published in the New Yorker, I believe.)] - does it expect to then successfully pass a series of legislative acts? Rather than analyzing the behavior of primates, and throwing around terms like "alpha dogs," wouldn't it make more sense to try to understand why men are abandoning the Democratic party by asking them? Perhaps I am an alpha dog, best analyzed by considering the chimpanzee, but you could always try an adult conversation first - if for no other reason, to check it off your list.
15
What happens if the gender gap becomes a gender chasm?
I don't really care
Do U?
7
But “the left” is NOT attacking you. You are attacking yourself, and revealing yourself to be exactly the kind of man who holds women back in corporate America.
Is there resentment? Sure there is. When you, as I once was, are told you can’t be promoted (but can be rewarded in backdoor ways that no one sees) because it will “hold back all the smart young guys we just hired” you become resentful.
White men--and men in general--have had the upper hand for far too long. It’s time for a little reversal, don’t you think, before the pendulum comes to rest in the center?
20
Some people might think I am adding to the problem, but seriously, I want examples of the sexism and racism these Trump supporting males have endured. Were you asked to leave a restaurant because you’re a heterosexual white male? When was the last time a landlord refused to rent to you because you were white or male? When your boss patted your butt were you told that you really shouldn’t have been wearing those tight chinos because that was really asking for it? Is it considered your responsibility to keep women from making unwanted sexual innuendos? Was there a decade when no one would let you sign up to run a marathon because you were considered physically too weak to run one? Were you told as a child that the only thing you could do for a profession was be a nurse or a teacher? Was it legal for your wife to beat you up for hundreds of years? Were you only allowed a bank account if you were married? Did you find that the area you lived in was provided too few places to vote because it happened to be inhabited predominantly by white heterosexual males? Do you have some instances of police pulling you over just because you’re a white male? I want examples. Specific ones.
There are groups that have fought for hundreds of years, been imprisoned, and died sometimes just to be treated like they had some value and to have some of the same rights. I want to see evidence of the social inequalities white heterosexual males have suffered. We can fix that too, but we need evidence.
47
The graph showing spikes in the rate at which American men voted R seem to correlate with the following periods.
(1) The late Vietnam War era, at which time men but not women were subject to the draft, a D was President, the Guard and Reserves were not mobilized as they should have been, and many well-connected men avoided being drafted into combat.
(2) The late 80s and early to mid 90s, during which time I recall male bashing as out of hand. People will have to verify that for themselves. I’d suggest looking at popular articles and books of the period and the structure of TV shows and especially TV commercials of the time.
(3) Obama’s second term (btw looks like a surge in men voting D in 2008), when the Title IX Dear Colleague letter was issued (without notice and comment I think), identity politics and PC seemed out of hand. The academic left seemed to embody a postmodernist view of defining the terms of debate to advantage one’s own group rather than an ethic based on our common humanity, ascertainable fact, and the dignity of all.
Working class young white guys who look a little rough get threatened with prison and rousted by cops. Black and Hispanic guys have it a lot worse. Not to downplay the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, working class guys have faced a heightened risk of industrial accident and disease.
2
Married women vote a lot more Republican than do single women. They rely on husbands rather than the government.
6
I agree that we cannot count on white women to vote Democratic in sufficient numbers to flip the House in 2018. To do that, non-white people need to vote in high numbers. So far they have not turned out for the mid-terms at nearly the rate of whites. Non-white people need to vote in every election, every time.
5
Doug Jones is now a senator because of the votes and turn-out of black women.
6
Apparently, unless I agree that white men are being demonized and Trump is great, my comment will be flagged and removed. I guess I'm just being overly sensitive, huh?
3
Consider the fact that so many of these aggrieved white males worship at the church of Limbaugh who has for years, referred to independent, strong women as "feminazis", it comes as no surprise that they've come to view the female gender as a threat to their status.
The republican m.o. has always been to divide and conquer by creating enmity between races, religions, etc. That women should now be perceived as an enemy to these men's fragile egos is not a surprise and dovetails nicely with the evangelical's belief that females are to be subservient to men.
As for trump and his alpha male instincts, baloney. He's nothing more than a bad tempered, spoiled rotten, selfish, mean little undisciplined five yr. old in a 72 yr. old man's body.
33
I am getting tired of all these opinions that tell us why the right and t rump are so ascendant but leave out the most salient fact: F(alse)ox TV and hate radio. Oh, and 50 years of a concentrated attack on democracy by the machines that have been set up by Sinclair, the koch bothers, Adelson and the rest.
To leave out of these equations the lies and misinformation that have spread because of these propaganda networks, I think, leaves out at least half of the question.
I am an old white guy who still believes in the promise of America. Sort of. I know a lot of other old white guys. None of them support t rump and the current republican party, even though about half of them used to be republicans. And none of us watch fox or listen to limbaugh.
So are men becoming more brutish since the 60's or have they just been lied to enough that they are certain they are the designated losers in modern America?
If the facts could get through to t rump's base about the reality of immigration, Islamic unrest, the real costs of global weirding, the real reasons they face economic uncertainty, and the real costs of war (and the fact the U.S. hasn't successfully prosecuted a war in 80 years) they might not be so inclined to vote against their own interests.
A survey was done some years ago: People who get all their news from fox knew less that people who didn't watch news at all.
38
concerned reader writes, "Trump is needy and paper thin his sensitivity to criticism. He has no empathy for anyone but himself. That is not an adult male that many women can admire. We cringe."
Umm, maybe you do not admire Trump, but a majority of white women voted for Trump. I'll bet some of those women would not want to admit their vote now, but many are fine with it. They love bullies. At their core, they admire bullies. They will accept all the cruelty if they can join in the domination.
As Henry Kissinger said, "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac." Many, many women are drawn to powerful men...and if the men happen to be bullies with paper thin skins, what else is new?!? Women are used to dealing with these men to get what they want. If others get hurt, sucks to be them. Yeah, it's not a pretty picture of women, either.
I'm sure there is plenty of research on this. Show women images of apparently powerful men...and thoughtful, sensitive men...and see which they are drawn to. I'm betting on the alpha chimps. Evolution is often a slow process.
VOTE OUT ALL REPUBLICANS
13
And women too often hate other women. I doubt white women would have voted for Trump over Biden.
8
Freya,
Obviously, the article is a simplification. Everyone has multiple reasons for their vote, but many don't recognize or want to admit some of the reasons. The Trump vs Biden debates would have been interesting...particularly when it came to Trump strutting around like the alpha male ape. How would Biden have responded?!?
I'm sure there are plenty of women who voted for Trump because their pastor told them to for religious reasons. I'm sure there are plenty of women as racist and homophobic and xenophobic as Trump.
Biden might well have won the election, but only if he was seen as standing up to Trump forcefully. And again...people would be voting for the perceived alpha male. Sad.
VOTE OUT ALL REPUBLICANS
2
I think of it more as a gap between the stupid and the smart. I can't respect anyone of either gender who thinks that Trump cares about America and Americans. How stupid do you have to be to continue believing a serial liar?
29
Unsaid in the article and so far not seen in the comments (I’ve only read about 40) is that since the invention and distribution of “the pill” we’re been, more and more, living a world – when it comes to “women and girls” - based on chemical, not biological, reality. It is VERY easy to make the case that “women” “nowadays” are “fake” women. It’s almost a schoolyard taunt, “Yeah, but without the drugs you’re back to being “biological,” not logical.” You want to talk about primal thinking and behavior… Sigh. Let’s give credit to the men who are decent, respectful, and helpful to the women in their lives – civilized gentlemen – who value wives, daughters, sisters… women… thinking not to put them in “their place” but respecting and valuing their presence in their lives, in everybody’s lives. The “trumphies” can make a case about “fakery” and support it with makeup, foundation underwear, tiny shoes, etc. – making much of the tools used to make men fools… Hope that they don’t… But, they can and might. It’s worth a few million more “solid” votes.
4
It is too early to make predictions about how people will vote in November. It was the predictions about the last Presidential election that might have helped DT. The best course at this point is to urge people who are not registered to vote to get registered and then to vote.
10
"Men of all races say they intend to vote for Republican House candidates 50-42"
I assume that, had the sentence been copy-edited, it would have said something about percentages.
3
Even before women got the right to vote, both the suffragists and anti-suffragists made dramatic claims about how women's active participation in the political sphere would greatly affect our nation's path. We now know that such claims were overblown. Since the 1920s, women's votes never deviated far from their male counterparts, after accounting for other demographic factors like class, region, education, or religion. I would say that almost all Americans want the same thing: the right to self-determination, agency, equal status under the law, and freedom to pursue our constitutionally-endowed rights. What accounts for the gender gap is the awareness that these rights are "self-evident" for some, and a result of protracted historical and political struggle for others.
13
Democrats are going to run the U.S.S. Identity Politics Cruiser right into the iceberg of unwanted white men, and they are going to lose, again. How could that happen? Because white men vote.
If all of the people on the left who hate Trump and everything he stands for so much, they should have voted in 2016. Instead, they complained. Republicans are going to run the table, because Democrats don't know how to run a campaign on anything other than character assassination.
For everyone on the coasts reading this: Everyone in Fly Over Country is sick and tired of being told that they are misogynistic, racist, relics. And just to spite you, they will vote in every nut job who may actually be a misogynistic racist relic.
12
NOW is the time for Socially Conscious Women to withhold sex, household duties, "support" work like secretaries, nannies, etc.
Apparently men need a wake-up call. NOW is the time to give it to them. If they question a woman she can simply say, "Do you really think that you have the right - because you have a penis - to tell me what I can and can't do with my life and body?" "Do you really think you are "better" than me?"
Most men will answer no and may finally understand what all the "fuss" is about. There is no hope for those that don't and they will simply be left inconsequentially splashing around in HIStory.
Socially Conscious Women of all colors and Socially Conscious men will move on and write OUR story of equality and inclusion.
NOW is the time. Now may be the only time for centuries if the International Mafia and their "christian" brethren aren't stopped now.
8
Unfortunately, I think the criticism people have brought up in regards to the Trump-chimpanzee comparison are lacking nuance. It is not Trump himself who is compared to the animal, but rather the scientist noting behavioral similarities. It is an important distinction, as the former debases someone's humanity while the latter compares a person's actions. Although Trump and his cronies may be fine using dehumanizing rhetoric, I think most people understand that all people deserve their humanity acknowledged.
2
.
Once feminists and the left began to attack masculinity as "toxic" and the history of the USA as founded on the twin evils of African slavery and Indian genocide ... they took a sharp turn to the irrational and the self-destructive. They went too far.
In attacking patriarchy, they attack the foundations of our nation and all of western civilization. Review human history and find a paucity of matriarchal societies -- few, obscure and short-lived. In its current form matriarchy cannot build, but it can destroy.
#Long live the patriarchy.
9
I have been preaching the thesis that the most consequential development in the past 100 years is the change in the balance of influence between men and women for many years. I would criticize the author for hewing to the liberal dogma that Trump is bad and infantile. I would also suggest that men are moving politically to the right less because their values are changing and more because the society has moved too far to the left. They've remained right where they've always been and are troubled by the changes in our society that politicians were afraid to discuss, until Trump.
6
Some men are bullies.
Not all men are bullies.
It is not the case that only men are bullies.
Very probably, I think, in order to achieve or maintain a just, harmonious, prosperous, and defensible society it is necessary that a sufficient number of people who are not inclined to bully are ready, willing, and able to effectively check people who are inclined to bully others in physical, emotional, or intellectual ways.
We’re human beings, primates, mammals. Achieving justice and harmony without sacrificing prosperity or the common defense doesn’t seem to be an easy thing to do. But the mid 20th Century Americans did generally prevail in a world gone mad. They told themselves stories in the form of movie and TV “Westerns” and, when they got on the other side of McCarthyism, their opinion leaders and millions of others turned their attention to civil rights and gender equality.
How will history judge us if we turn our backs on those accomplishments and go back to following or cowering before a bunch of bullies?
8
I think the Brits have got a better take in this -- the great man-baby full of hot air that is floating above the city of London today.
Monkeys are monkeys and humans are humans. Surely our brain size advantages us and we can think our way into a different future instead of falling for the same old displays of chest thumping, red-tie-waving and big hair that have made us, in the short term, a more ugly, less compassionate society.
The past is over, and we only have the present and the future. I say: look at the women's march, look at the Parkland kids, look at Moms Demand Action. They will outthink and out-love the snarling monkeys.
7
I’m going to guess that a lot of Trump supporters who long for the Good Old Days, back before the civil-rights battles of the 1960s, don’t just want to see women returned to the kitchen and outfitted with brooms, babies, and copies of Betty Crocker. They’d also like gays to be shoved back into the closet and blacks sent to the back of the bus.
And when women, gays, or African-Americans demand their own civil rights and status, white men denounce “identity politics.” This has been going on for decades.
The hateful resentments that Trump arouses day by day, as a favorite strategy, distract his own supporters and prepare them to vote against their interests.
Hatred is intoxicating.
27
It is astonishing that half of white men with college degrees voted for Trump. What exactly did they learn in college to earn those degrees, and what should we think about the system that issued them these credentials?
16
You know, you were fine until you got to here:
"Men’s commitment to protecting their status — their dominant position in the social order — cannot be counted out in 2018 or 2020. Elections have become a sexualized battlefield, and men have repeatedly demonstrated their determination to win no matter the social cost."
That kind of crazy, bigoted belief is why we got stuck with Trump in the first place.
13
Message to Castellano--I don't want to be a "beta male". I'm happy being me--competent, strong, self assured, intelligent and hard working. Why do you assume I want to be a male????
22
Castellano makes hateful, base attack ads and is a bully like Trump. I guess that's why they called on his "expertise" for this article.
4
I ask that women,in their quest for gender justice, please note how counterproductive to their success it will be if tarring all males with the same brush is deemed acceptable collateral damage. Some feminists will hurt all females if that trap is not scrupulously and clearly renounced.
13
It's funny how men want to be treated as individuals but have no compunction in treating women collectively.
29
Yes. All men do that.
As a white straight male, I enthusiastically supported Clinton, loathed Trump, and generally lean Democrat.
But there is a cultural trend I find disturbing: a knee jerk reaction to belittle men (the premise of every sitcom and commercial), to blame men for society’s ills, and to question men’s achievements.
I even had a female colleague tell me, ‘You got your promotion only because you have a penis.’ My response, ‘Right! It couldn’t possibly be because I have a college degree, TWO post-graduate degrees, and am respected by all the departments reporting to me.’
Could those attitudes turn me into a Republican? Yeah, they might,
21
To my mind, women have discovered a magical "seeing stone" in the #MeToo movement. With academics cheering them on, progressive women now seek to apply this shiny new toy to see oppression in every encounter with every man and in every institution, no matter how reductive or self-parodic the analysis, and it's inherently Maoist. In fact many of the academics who espouse and developed this vision for general consumption are explicitly Maoist theorists.
It's an Orwellian replay of Animal Farm: "Have Vagina Good, Have Penis Bad!" But then, Orwell is a dead white male; what could he ever contribute?
9
Right on and the same is true for minorities.
2
Maoist academic theorists are driving the #metoo movement? Wow, it's so absurd all I can say is - thanks for the laugh!
4
The gender gap will continue until someone resolves the cognitive dissonance. Women might oppose the so-called alpha male behavior when they vote, but many still favor it in the personal world. To put it differently, you could say that men have done a poor job of designing the world, but we did it to please the women, and it worked. Quit favoring that type of male and in a generation or two, things will sort themselves out, if we don't wreck the place beyond repair first.
5
If, as the author argues, Trump is the emblem of ideal masculinity, then it's obviously the author doesn't comprehend that Trump's definition and enacting of masculinity is very different from how many women and men define masculinity. Instead of demonstrating his supposed strength, Trump is all talk with nothing of substance. His twitter posts alone clearly show how insecure he is, and do not demonstrate strength in any manner. He's the school yard bully, not the hero who musters up courage to stop the bully. People with sufficient intellect do not, and have never, bought Trump's superficial, clownish, and disgusting masculinity act, in fact, such people find him to be the least respectable/masculine of men. Many people overlook the complex nature of gender dynamics involved in the election, which are much more complicated than just whether women and men are more likely to vote D or R. These dynamics influenced 2016 voting such that many voters (unfortunately) felt that a vote for Trump was a vote against HRC. On another point, what many people fail to consider are the votes of so many people who did not vote at all in 2016 because Bernie wasn't elected the Democratic candidate. Imagine how many of them must rue that decision now that they have experienced a Trump presidency. Trump will not have their support in 2020.
15
Even cowboys have a joke about people like Trump. He's "all hat and no cattle."
13
OK, he got stuff done, often by cheating his partners, suppliers, and lenders. And 50 mil plus family connections definitely qualifies as "some capital".
So I'll take it back. He's got some cattle, but he rustled most of them. And he's still a loudmouthed braggart.
6
@ Joseph Puentes You had to entirely ignore a huge amount of negatives to make such ridiculous claims. He has bilked many people out of money, that makes him a cheater. He went bankrupt on a casino--which people lose millions, perhaps billions to depending on the time frame considered. A fairer tax law? lololol, sure if you are a corporation or wealthy. The 99% got a temporary tax break because he wanted to buy approval, even if only for the short term. He's damaging our relations internationally, and he's working on ruining our economy with an unnecessary trade war. He lies continuously, and he's racist and xenophobic--none of these actions or qualities have ever been accepted as stereotypical or traditional masculinity. True he is a "man of ideas" but those ideas all revolve around how to enrich himself further and how to get his ego stroked. Trump's base has been conned, pure and simple. Liberals aren't lead about by the "liberal press" as they are capable of critical thought. It is Trump's base who don't or possibly can't critically examine the reality of Trump (perhaps they are just too busy watching Fox/Faux news) but when they all start losing jobs due to Trump's trade war maybe then they'll start thinking how they were suckered by this malevolent fool of a president.
5
Thinking it through , women could lose the right to vote , dress in contemporary fashion and be made to walk in the street behind the men . What’s the matter with men ? How can men , especially white older men , be so insecure ?
9
Job? I don’t want a job or any benefits. I want to be left alone to earn my living owning my own tools and labor, with no master, neither employer or union boss to kiss up to. THAT is and always was the REAL American Dream for REAL men.
4
It's depressing that so many people think that the complexities of human relationships can be anything analogous to that of a chimpanzee.
10
"In order to impress rivals, males seeking to rise in the dominance hierarchy perform spectacular displays: stamping, slapping the ground, dragging branches, throwing rocks."
As much as I deeply respect Jane Goodall, Trump hasn't actually done any of those things. I suppose she means metaphorically, but then it becomes a pretty vague assessment that could apply to lots of politicians. It's more subtle than a straight chimp analogy. Trump isn't really that intimidating, certainly not like an angry chimpanzee is, and much of his ranting, raving and tweeting is lighthearted and comical. He's more Mad King Ludwig than Macchiavelli.
4
Trump who doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't gamble, but does wolf down fine food such as Big Macs. Hardly reminds you of alpha male James Bond types.
After the 2016 election, citing polls regarding Trump hardly seems like a good idea. Wasn't good in 2016, why would it change in 2018?
Clinton won only 34% of white working class women. She won only about 1 in 2 (51%) of white university woman while Trump won only 6% less -- 46% of white university educated women.
Some people may not like Trump but at least he gets things done that other President could not do: he moved the embassy to Jerusalem, he passed a corporate tax cut from 35% to 20% which will encourage investment and jobs growth.
Trump emphasized and still emphasizes "bread and butter issues" such as jobs, trade, and immigration and does his best to ensure that America's children will be fed, clothed, and housed by parents who have jobs that pay a working wage. This sounds very much like a Democratic platform, and was the platform of FDR, Truman, JFK, and LBJ, but the Democrats except Sanders abandoned that platform.
Women who have children to feed vote Trump because of his emphasis on "bread and butter" issues compared with the Democrats who seemed concerned with about everything but.
I suggest that Mr. Edsall take a road trip into the Midwest and South this summer and speak with working class white women with children to feed to gain perspective.
4
"he passed a corporate tax cut from 35% to 20% which will encourage investment and jobs growth."
In my experience, corporate tax cuts rarely stimulate job growth; the benefits go into the pockets of senior management. They do not create jobs, they outsource them.
I've been "rif"fed seven times during my working years, and without exception, the money saved went to senior management in the form of bonuses as a reward for cutting costs. It made no change in the bottom line.
18
The idea that this is all about supporting or rejecting "the patriarchy" is a bit simple minded. Consider the migrant crisis or the Trump travel ban. In both cases, the question at hand is whether or not to welcome certain groups of people. However, the people in question come from incredibly patriarchal societies. In short traditional Liberal policies on Muslims and Hispanic migrants will bring more people into the country who hold an 18th century perspective on the role and rights of women. Clearly then, this isn't solely about dismantling the patriarchy.
I'd argue that there are two key factors at play here. One is self interest, and the other is a referendum on ends vs means. Women have a vested self interested in preserving access to abortion and birth control (straight men should share this concern as well, but don't seem to as of yet). That makes Trump threatening to many aspects of their everyday lives. However for white men, there's little in Trump's current actions that's directly threatening, whereas the identity politics of the new left seem in many cases to be about extracting a pound of flesh to compensate for past wrongs.
Second, women seem more concerned with means and less so with ends. Many of Trumps means seem frankly mean such as family separation. Yet many of his ends are not inherently unreasonable to centrist voters - such as the ends of trying to finally gain control of our borders or moving to a merit-based system like every other Western nation.
4
The last time I saw a Latino woman wearing a hijab and walking many steps behind her husband or boyfriend was ... never.
6
I get it but also have to shake my head. Women already do so much uncompensated labor, and now we also have to labor more to make men feel included--men who are already getting the fruits of our other uncompensated labor. Oy.
26
Another reason to be so grateful for the many men who have evolved beyond their "inner ape".
6
This is a very enlightening piece. As a 73 year old woman, I have seen the "woman's movement" develop from ground zero to the present. Jobs and opportunities completely closed to my mother were open to me. While I appreciate and approve of it all, I have often wondered why men didn't fight more to keep their unearned advantages. Now I see that they have been fighting... at the ballot box. And, they won, in this case. They elected an alpha male chimp.
11
The experts here misunderstand human alpha males. You can't simply be the biggest baddest jerk to succeed as the "experts" here seem to imply. You need to bring along a pack with you that sees you as their champion paving their path to success and this is how it works in business and this is what Trump does. it's never I will make America great again. It's always "we". Always a sparkle in his eye and if you're on his side then he's winning for you, not for himself.
7
The Democratic party has made it very clear that your vote is not welcomed if you are male (except if you changed sex) or white. The worst human beings are white males! Yes, the only folks that invented the scientific revolution, industrial revolution, universal suffrage and abolished slavery world wide are suddenly the bad guys.
10
Universal suffrage, except for women.
7
And were responsible for nearly abolishing slavery throughout the world. It wasn't Africans or Asians who did that, but white European males.
7
Dear "e": you might want to consider the fact that women received the right to vote because men voted for it. Only men.
Or you could stick with your "alternative facts" in which women who didn't have the right to vote voted to give themselves the right to vote.
4
No accident that the #metoo movement has coincided with the candidacy and Presidency of Trump. He has made himself a global brand standing for the worst in male dominance behavior.
Now some go for that kind of thing, especially guys who have male inadequacy issues and engage in all kinds of compensatory behaviors, like all of the barechested Putin stuff and the Trump orange bouffant thing.
Obama is a genuine male role model but evidently threatened a lot of those guys with the red hats.
The Trump male dominance model rarely ends well.
17
And to think women did not have the right to vote just a hundred years ago. I think a lot of men, like Trump and many of those who support him, would like it better if women still couldn't vote. I, an older, white male, wonder what it would be like if only women were allowed to vote. I think I would like the results.
23
Mr. Trump's an "alpha male" President?
Naw ... He dresses up and plays one on TV.
By this point the stress test of actually being the President has revealed how truly short Mr. Trump's shortcomings truly are: very short indeed!
He's simply not equipped to penetrate the complexities of the Presidential role. Not intellectually. Not temperamentally. Not socially.
Not even physically.
Seems very fragile, very brittle. Needs to be coddled with a special diet of children's food. Needs the constant assurance he really is a big man doing a big job in a big way.
An "alpha male"? While it is true that alpha males either dispatch their rivals or maintain dominance over them, they do this for one reason: to breed (which, of course, is the big perk).
But alpha males also have a responsibility. Protect the pack ... pride ... herd ... tribe ... harem ... whatever. They don't protect and they don't stay. The females wise up.
I hope the females of our country do finally wise up. Seems like Mr. Trump's "alpha male" bluster has functionally neutered the majority of the males.
Seems like it is going to take the females. They'll need to go into the privacy of a voting booth and, upon evaluating Mr. Trump, say with a disdainful chuckle, "If that's all there is, then it's not enough."
16
Your comment applies as well to right-wing criticism of "liberal" identity politics. The Democrats have been a dismal failure in demonstrating how their policies benefit white males of every persuasion, education, religion ...
5
Once again, evidence that,
Testosterone is a good idea (in early evolution)
gone bad! (now that "survival of the fittest" no longer applies)
When will men learn to stop being ruled by their hormones! (I'm a male)
4
I fail to see this as a gender issue, no one in the US male or female can escape their share of responsibility for abandoning the Democratic Party and letting Trump get elected. We were too divided and shortsighted to come together against a common danger which we should have known would overwhelm us unless we united. Too many on the left were committed to the silly idea of destroying Hillary Clinton and anyone right of Bernie Sanders. Based on the dubious theory that they were not true progressives, or not liberal enough or were privileged and therefore no different than Trump.
I despise Sanders people more than Trump people by light years.
5
What has gone wrong with the USA? My husband is a straight white male. But he is from Sweden. He does not see Trump as an alpha male, and neither do I. Trump is a wimp. My husband does not feel threatened by gay men, women having equal rights, or people with different skin colors being treated equally. In fact, all the men I met in Sweden were the same way. They don’t feel that they are being unfairly treated when society decides that everyone should be treated with equal dignity and respect. They are confident and comfortable.
The only thing that is starting to be different in this country now is that we are trying harder to give everyone equal respect. No country ever completely gets it right, but it is what we should strive for.
Recognizing that there are inequality problems in our society that need to be corrected is not a burden or an insult to heterosexual white men. Why would anyone think that? Why does there seem to be a need in the USA to put others down in order to feel good? Because that seems to be the real problem here.
And why is supporting a wimpy deranged clown like Trump going to solve anyone’s problems? There are no such voting gender gaps in Sweden. Men there fully support women and what is good for women. Why do our men dislike us so much?
25
Maybe you should read up on Denmark's recent efforts to assimilate Muslims. It demonstrates that women and northern Europeans act just like they perceive white males act when they're faced with a diverse society.
8
Strange that liberals who understand the validity of evolution seem to be shocked when our species exhibits higher primate behavior, but the right which does not accept the validity of evolution, seems to expect it.
7
The core assumption of the cognitive bias of loss aversion is that a loss has a bigger influence over our choices than a gain.Those who stand to lose the most, in this case women, will be more motivated to go to the polls than men in 2018. At the very least, I hope we won't have another election where 68 million people didn't bother to vote at all.
10
I mostly agree with this. Trump certainly has conned millions of working class men into (falsely) believing that he is looking out for them. However, what this fails to take into account is the fact that the Democratic Party has not done much for working class Americans for the past couple of decades (exception: the ACA, which was good but not as good as single payer would have been). Other than the ACA, the Democratic Party is no longer the party of FDR and the working class, but is more a second party of Wall Street. This has allowed Republicans, including demagogues like Trump, to capture much of the (white) working class vote.
If the Democrats moved left on economic policy, and adopted a bold, progressive, pro-working class agenda, then Republican demagoguery on gender and race would be far less effective, and the Dems would rebuild the stable working class majority that they had from the 1930s through 1980.
13
One encouraging fact is that the younger generation is moving strongly away from Trump and the Republican Party, so the gender gap closes when you consider younger men and women. There is a 27% partisan gap in Millennials in favor of Democratic or leaning Democratic. Combine this with the strengthening ties between minority voters and Democrats and educated voters, and the white uneducated men become less of a factor.
Even that group's loyalty to Trump will dissipate next year as people lose their ACA by the millions when it no longer covers those with preexisting conditions and people are priced out of the market. By next year also, the enormous tax cuts for the rich that added $1.8 trillion to the deficit will begin to hit the economy as will the damage from the growing trade wars. Conditions have been compared to those before the Great Depression.
Trump's Gilded Age of oligarchs is about to come into focus more strongly than his Aggrieved Age, and those who will suffer the most are the great majority of Trump voters. Trump regretters will hurt the GOP which has basically rolled over and played dead while Trump inflicts terrible damage on the country.
5
There is no such thing as monolithic women, or men. There are many millions of men who are nothing like who is described here. The anti Trump men probably outnumber the Trumpsters.
7
Very interesting article. I'm a little confused by the identity of the "beta males," however. The implication is that they are liberal and moderate men who still vote for Democrats. It seems to me that the beta males are the men who completely subordinate themselves to the alpha male and recognize his supremacy: Trump supporters. The Republican, Democratic, and Independent men I know who refuse to support Trump basically laugh at his antics. They do not revere him as the alpha male, but mock him as "a clown" (to quote my conservative brother).
9
The NYT has a Gender Newsletter, which not surprisingly, is geared toward what has become — to me — the demographic of the left: women, non-white straight men, LGBT, and whatever other identity classifications validated by the left.
This op-ed and the Gender Newsletter represent the reasons I, a left-leaner, feel left out of both sides. There seems to be no center in the public face of politics, yet I believe the majority of the public still clusters around the center. It seems to me, the minority of both ends is dictating the rules and the rest of us are left to feel marginalized. Ironic, really.
13
Exactly.
3
Hillary Clinton voted to authorize not just the war in Afghanistan but the war in Iraq as well (unlike Ted Kennedy, Paul Wellstone, Jim Jeffords, Bernie Sanders, etc.) Who was more thoughtful & measured?
A few years passed & Hillary Clinton claimed to learn from what she said was her Iraq War "mistake" (after majority public opinion caught up to the millions who were already opposed to it from the get-go). So she then doubled down on the neo-con, intervention-first regime change in Libya and Syria. Hillary "We Came, We Saw, He Died," Clinton.
Finally, instead of disavowing their support, Hillary happily embraced the 2016 presidential endorsements of many neo-con Republicans who had strongly supported and, in some cases, been the architects of the Iraq War.
This notion that we can & should categorize people based on gender instead of judging them as individuals based on their actual actions and the actual policies they have supported seems quite off-base.
6
It is ironic. A "Gender" newsletter that solely addresses one gender. Generally authored solely by one gender, and edited solely by one gender. There has been nothing from the likes of a modern day Robert Bly; Sam Keen; or Anthony Rotundo, to examine American manhood.
6
"Men of all races say they intend to vote for Republican House candidates 50-42,"
Looking at the Quinnipiac poll's grouped data (following the supplied link to https://poll.qu.edu/images/polling/us/us07022018_uixs04.pdf, page 3), the 50-40 percent breakdown is because the majority of men voters are Republican and white.
Put it in perspective: It's about race and women. It's white men who are afraid of people of different skin color/accent, and of women. Racially-driven assaults of all kinds are increasing. The 2018 elections will also be about race. Perhaps a couple more election cycles.
(Of course racial attitudes are not generally overt, not based on biological pseudoscience any more. Rather, they depend on mechanisms that preferentially target and de-humanize/disenfranchise specific populations: "I am not a racist but I am tough on crime - most blacks are 'criminals'" ; "I am not anti-immigration, but against 'illegals;").
I am a man, and "white", but I am voting for, and will continue to be voting for, capable people of non-white groups and preferably women for every elected office. We need their voices like yesterday.
18
Women can fight tooth and nail against the chimpanzee way of mind, but men could help with this, too. It's a bit much to say that women alone must rid the country of this backwards perspective.
9
Under state fascism such as Mussolini's or Hitler's, women were strongly urged to remain at home making the innumerable babies needed to maintain hegemony and wage wars. The Germans even suspended their cultural and legal disapproval of babies born out of wedlock since each child would be instrumental in the thousand-year war necessary to secure the fortunes of the Reich. Then once the war actually began, women were suddenly indispensable in the factories while the menfolk were sent to several fronts. Their labor was supplemented, in Germany at least, by the unwilling inputs of captive Poles and other Slavs, French and Dutch "volunteers" and most notoriously slave labor taken from the concentration and death camp network. How sinister to see a parallel in our contemporary labor configuration in America anno 2018...
7
This "Trump-as-baboon" narrative is fun, but quickly spins out of control. I loath him, but comparing him to a baboon gets us into Godwin territory and we have bigger fish to fry, but I digress. There's been a growing bandwagon for socio-biologists, professional and amateur, to jump on to attempt to make sense of the nonsensical by making glib parallels to our genetic past. Ok, so let's go there for a minute: reading a little about chimp social behavior has revealed that an alpha male's reign usually ends with him bleeding to death from a face being mutilated and genitals being torn off by a raging coalition of rival males. If this is our present and future, we all have a lot bigger problems than a lying and ridiculous president; is that really what's being suggested here?
Of course not. Trying to set up a scenario of most men on one side and many women on the other in order to draw a straight line to the latter's defeat and subjugation with the final conclusion "History is not encouraging on that score". may sound solid, but isn't.
History indeed. History was not encouraging to: American Independence, the election of a Black American president, the defeat of the Kaiser and then the Nazi war machine by a bunch of farm boys (the phrase used at the time), the end of Apartheid, the end of American slavery, the Civil Rights Act, Roe, man (yeah, men so far) on the moon, the EU, Japan's Meiji Restoration... my fingers are tired. Please.
6
It is so easy to fall prey to our personal narrative of victimization. Trump's appeal has largely taken advantage of this.
The Democratic Party needs to put forth candidates who recognize that most men become dedicated husbands and loving fathers. Many have sacrificed for this country. Harvey Weinstein is an aberration not a reflection of modern manhood. Otherwise, eliminating the scourge that is Donald Trump will be jeopardized.
4
It’s interesting that men’s support for the Democratic Party declined at exactly the same time that Lyndon Johnson started sending them off to die pointlessly in Vietnam.
The statistics show a gender gap, true. But there’s also been a lived experience gap, and if you’re from the class that gets sent to war (or from the factory floor to the WalMart door), the fine words of the Democrats are particularly nauseating.
There is a lingering suspicion of the Democrats among men of a certain age, and this has been handed down to their sons.
3
Men have not been moving right, they have been moving left, only more slowly than large parts of the culture. There was a time when feminism was frowned upon. Now many men declare themselves to be feminists.
Saying "Men too have rights" instead of being an obvious truth, has become proof that you are a right winger who does not belong in polite society.
True, there are men who succeed and succeed big. But it is also true that men are now a minority in our universities and an overwhelming majority in our prisons.
Are men complaining about this? Are men marching?
Of course not. American men are cowed.
10
But I personally would not like men to "win" the battle of sexes. Love and "winning" are incompatible. And there are lots and lots of women who do love men, and even take care of them. The tragedy is that women who love men have taken a back seat to those women who take a more militant and aggressive attitude. Were you raped? The NYT will give you a front page article. Did a man carry your suitcases or give you a dozen roses? The NYT could not care less.
When a man like Cosby or Weinstein misbehaves lots of men hang their heads in shame even though they themselves have done nothing worse than give red roses to a woman when what she wanted was yellow ones. (smile).
I hope that love between men and women and cooperation will return. Or rather not "return" since it has always been there. What I WOULD like is for the NYT to put all conflicts between men and women on the back page and put all examples of love and caring on the front page.
NYT, can you do THAT? Please allow love to return!
4
I seem to remember reading somewhere that women outnumber men. Assuming this is true, I suggest that men get used to living in a matriarchy.
3
All except two women in my immediate family voted Democrat.
And one of the most macho men in the family despises Trump and votes Democrat. Plus another who has always voted Republican voted Democrat became he believes that Trump is a crook.
I'm hoping that by 2020, both the women and their husbands grow some sense and see the damage that Trump has done to our country.
7
From this old, white, former infantryman, to my sisters: Kick some you-know-what this November. Give the boot to whinny alpha dogs and their fake macho selves. Show them the power. You can do it!
13
I’m also of the male persuasion and couldn’t agree with you more. Trump and the Republican Party embody the worst instincts in all of us. Why men gravitate to them is beyond me. Intelligent, empathic, strong women are this nation’s saving grace.
6
Jane Goodall's depiction of the alpha male among chimpanzees, putting on a show by thrashing about, throwing rocks, etc., strikes me as a perfect description of Trump. She implies, but does not say, that such behavior displays the very opposite of true leadership qualities. In humans, we associate such pyrotechnics with juveniles, not mature adults.
As president, Trump has put on a mind-numbing show, but he has accomplished very little that would benefit the men who voted for him. His substantive policies have profited mainly the economic and corporate elite, while his cartoonish strutting about may have made insecure men feel they are still in charge.
Trump's followers fail to grasp that mature individuals, whether male or female, don't lead by lording it over others. In the military, officers are taught to lead from the front, which means they model the behavior they expect from their troops. Trump seeks to dominate through intimidation and fear, but a democratic leader cultivates respect from others by treating them with respect.
The failure of Trump's male supporters to evaluate him correctly suggests that the women who oppose him have a better understanding of human psychology. In "My Fair Lady," Professor Higgins asks, "why can't a woman be more like a man?" A better question might be, "why can't a man be more like a woman?"
7
Regardless of one's politics, I would be at least a little skeptical of polls by now. I would also watch out for confirmation bias when reading anything in the NYT echo chamber. I would also note that the social pressure and even occasional violence against open Trump supporters is going to affect how people report their intentions.
Finally, I would suggest that such phenomena as open hate pieces against men at major news sites and the numbers on what has happened to boys and young men in education and employment, not to mention drugs and crime and male suicide, are going to eventually cause a backlash. Remember, too, that there are mothers for each of those boys and young men.
Many people who voted for Trump did not vote for Trump because they favored his policies or approved of him as a person. They voted for him defensively and emotionally. The Democrats and the Republicans both are exploiting the divisions in society rather than uniting us. It can backfire in either direction.
3
Men, you can't live without them...you know the rest.
Thankfully, we White Males are aging out and dying off the vine at a rapid rate. I say thankfully because for the life of me I am surprised our power has lasted this long.
From our Founders, who were brilliant, but no more brilliant than anyone else inhabiting the Colonies, to the election of Barack Obama, the United States mushroomed into the most powerful nation in the World due to our military might (might makes right). Throughout WW II we escaped attack (Hawaii was not a state, kids). We were on a two centuries plus lucky streak, peaking high over Hiroshima, courtesy of White men hold up in the New Mexican desert. We split the atom, and showed the World we had the power to destroy humankind. Nagasaki was just icing on the mushroom cake.
With the rigged election of Trump (millions more voted for Hillary), we White male elephants have expended our last gasps of power. Without our White Founders inventing the Electoral College loophole, Hillary cleaned Trump's clock. Again, put that down to that lucky streak.
But the jig is finally up. We White guys are entering vary stages of dementia (who in their right mind would vote Trump?), living out our twilight years in assisted-living facilities, rotting away in our homes, or deciding this is the end, my friend, thank you NRA, blowing our brains out.
The America of John Wayne is dead. Thank God, and good riddance
DD
Manhattan
13
It is no surprise that men of low/no personal accomplishment in life adore a pathologically lying psychopath like Trump. I have known men like this all of my life. They literally have nothing to feel good about unless it is agreed upon by everyone around them that their maleness alone makes them superior to half of all humans. The sadder situation is women of low/no accomplishment who, rather than work to achieve something worthwhile, prefer to return to a less threatening time when nothing was expected of them. Some in each of these groups simply don't have the wherewithal to accomplish something, anything, they could be proud of, but the rest are just lazy.
7
As a rural white male...I should be totally enthralled by the antics of the current "bozo the chimp" in the white house. I am not. I can name so many intellectual reasons why not...but the gut level is different. At the gut level, I despise bullies. Trump is a bully and the Trump base loves bullies. What this article is telling us is that most men are either bullies or wish they could be bullies. I'm not one of them.
If I had power, I'd use it to protect the weak...not beat them up like bullies do. Like Trump does. Sad. Pathetically sad.
VOTE OUT ALL REPUBLICANS
18
Thank you. I think there are more of you than people realize. The real values are the ones you describe, and every country is measured by how it treats the most vulnerable. Bullies who attack the weak and engage in childish name calling like Trump does should appall everyone, men, women, and children.
5
Trump is just a bigger bully than the left which has completely abandoned civil discourse now that it has complete control of higher education and the media and has resorted to bullying anyone who disagrees with them. I hear you, but you need to understand that that is why people love him, because they feel that he's protecting them from a bully.
1
Well, some HAVE suggested that we might have considered the implications more carefully when we ratified the 19th amendment on 18 August 1920 that gave women the vote. Those same entertaining souls claim that we’ve had predictable problems ever since.
It’s a midterm election. Trump shows promise of compiling a strongly winning record at least through the end of the year – on the economy and jobs specifically, on the issue of securing the border that has broad appeal regardless of gender (but not regardless of ethnicity), on actions that favor the interests of people of faith (how many of those white women are hyper-religious?), and even on foreign affairs – North Korea, Iran, ISIS, getting NATO to re-affirm their commitments to increase defense spending, and an on a sense that we’re finally addressing real problems with trade and other issues that other administrations have kicked cans on eternally.
And comparing Trump’s behavior to that of a chimpanzee isn’t likely to get Democrats a single vote not already theirs by strong conviction and regardless of gender. Among other reasons, lower primates don’t tend to seek the favors of porn queens. They tend to take what they want – without even a banana as thanks, much less $130,000.
1
It's kind of sad that we need primate science to understand our president's behavior and its appeal to men.
One of the scholars says that primate behavior is based on an alpha male ruling through physical threat and intimidation.
If you read Rousseau's "The Social Contract," a key text for understanding modern republican governments, modern freedom is based precisely upon relinquishing rule through force in favor of rule through "rule of law" which promises human equality.
Trump's primate behavior is, in the tradition of political theory, regressive, a throwback to pre-democratic times.
5
Men need to define themselves in a new way. There is nothing masculine about the behavior of a bully...it is a position of inherent weakness to pick on those with less power than you. It’s disgusting, and it makes a joke of masculinity, which is allegedly about protecting women and children, not victimizing them. Trump is not a real man, he’s a pathetic loser.
10
The gender gap is real, but I'm puzzled at how it will play out in electoral math. If (speaking schematically) Republicans get 70% of their votes from men and 30% from women, and vice-versa for Democrats, does winning an election depend on which gender turns out in larger numbers? Progressives should place too much hope in the gender gap; after all, it brought us Reagan and Bush the Younger.
I have always felt that women should be the world leaders. Men are too ready to go to war (i.e. 17 year war in Afghanistan.) Women would be more thoughtful and measured.
Trump is a perfect example of what we don't need any more of. It warms my cockles to know that women will bring back sanity after the 2018 and 2020 elections and that scared old white men will fade away. Full disclosure, I am a white male, but I fear no Replican nor conservative. Progressives will survive and win out.
3
The interesting thing is that you could march through every elite institution of American life--from the Ivy League universities, to prominent corporations and law firms, to the media, to tech companies. In each of these institutions, you will find a similar discourse: it sees history in terms of a long, Manichean battle between the "historically disadvantaged"--women and "people of color"--and their historical oppressors--straight, white men. The latter are invariably possessors of unearned, unwarranted "privilege," and need to be taken down a peg. No one seems to stop to ask: If this discourse really is all about dismantling structures of "power" and "privilege," as it claims, why is it most prevalent--the hegemonic discourse, in fact--precisely in the most powerful institutions in the country?
4
Elsewhere in The Times today is a picture of a recent Trump gathering in the Midwest revealing a bearded white man (surrounded by many, many other white men in moto garb and just one nearby white woman), his left arm extended in front of his face and his hand holding the phone as he salutes. A white man taking a picture of himself saluting himself.
1
It's one thing for conservatives to love a patriarchal, alpha male.
But does he also have to be a total ignoramous? A vulgarian? A sexual predator? A business fraudster? An unrepentant liar?
I know plenty of patriarchal men who strive to achieve traditional markers of patriarchal success; they make informed and reliable decisions for their families and businesses, their word is their bond, and they provide for their family, their employees and their communities.
Trump has seriously blemished their brand.
4
I'm a retired soldier and a NeverTrumper. It is a mystery to me why ANY man - let alone any veteran - would support Trump. He has nothing but disdain for anyone who is "different." He has no apparent personal courage; for example, he seems unable to fire anyone face-to-face and ,of course, he is a multiple draft dodger. He is a blowhard and a (wannabe) bully. And he is incapable of telling the truth, In short, he is the guy our fathers brought us up not to be.
17
That is the big question: Will women fight hard enough. If they want to win they must get together in numbers because that is what men do and you can't fight a group by yourself and win.
2
The problem in California where we have "gender neutrality"--which is a fantasy unless you can make women stop having periods and giving birth and men stop having testosterone--is that in the divorce courts women lose their rights. In California, men are now free from paying child support by getting automatic 50/50 custody of children without ever having to take care of their children or pay child support. What single woman has the 40,000 dollars to go to court? Children as young as 6 months old are being taken from their mothers and they getting psychologically damaged. So, under gender neutrality it is women and their children who suffer because they have the audacity to have children. Come to California all you men who want the free ride because under gender neutrality, women have no rights.
3
53% of white women voted for Trump. They looked at the bragging and bad language and racialized hatred and threats to punish women who had abortions and said "Yup I'm okay with that."
They made the decision for a variety of reasons to pull the lever for Trump. White women are still the majority of women voters in America and will be so for the foreseeable future. An analysis which speaks to the racialized interests and fears of white men but ignores those of white women is an analysis which misses a lot and will leave us wondering at the election results in 2018 and 2020.
TL/DR; white women vote on race just as white men do.
6
White women have always been fickle when it comes to supporting liberal democratic values. Sure we love good social programs, but its all too easy for that good ol' white privilege to kick in while we're in the voting booth. It's so sad to see how so many white women have over the years helped to destroy that which they supposedly care about.
2
Also keep in mine that while many women will talk about having an independent mind, a lot will still vote the way their Trumpster husbands tell them to, even though ballots are secret.
1
Just in case this is not brought up:
"Republicans don’t have near as big a woman problem as Democrats have a man problem." -Wall Street Journal
http://www.wsj.com/articles/kim-strassel-america-is-war-on-women-weary-1...
Liberals drive away more men from the Democratic Party than conservatives drive women away from the Republican Party. This is likely because liberals tend to be more anti-male than conservatives are anti-female.
See Warren Farrell's new book "The Boy Crisis" to get an idea of what liberals do to boys (and men(.
Fifty-three percent of female voters picked Trump.
2
If it becomes a chasm, Trump will win again.
1
So many of look at Trump’s persona, see that he’s boasting, threatening, dismissive of others, etc. and we see a clown. He was born rich, evaded the draft, and in all ways acts like an insecure, paranoid, narcissistic bully. His need to surround him self with gold is a joke! We see through this phony. It is utterly mind-boggling that so many Americans actually see him as an alpha, really tough, a real man. To whatever degree that he is an alpha, it’s due to the gullibility or stupidity of those who look up to him in that way.
9
Good piece.
Pinker's statement: "The latest battle of the sexes has the media, educational, and workplace establishments sympathizing with women and demonizing men" needs to be taken very seriously.
As a white male who has always thought of himself as liberal (45 years of voting Democratic) and concerned about issues involving women, I have found myself becoming defensive with the over-generalizations thrown at me in articles I have read, and being categorized as an "oppressor."
There is a big difference between being a "Trump supporter" and being someone who uses his vote for Trump to punch back when being punched at in this way.
And even many Democrats and liberal men were dismayed to see Al Franken being hung out to dry without a fair hearing, found guilty and punished. The negativity toward men displayed by many liberals and women drives people to defend their honor in whatever way they can.
Many voted for Trump for this reason, and will again. They don't see him as an alpha male. They know he is Corporal Bone Spurs. Instead, they just see support for him as making a statement about themselves that they aren't as bad as they are being made out to be.
A lot of white men in this country are hurting--their incomes obliterated and their futures bleak. And then they get blamed for that and everything else.
I think they can understand Trump better than they can understand the people who ran out Al Franken. So they will vote Republican.
5
Thank you for this interesting and important analysis.
It is understandable that some (most?) males would respond to a chest thumping alpha ape. But what doesnt’t make sense is that the policies advocated and being implemented by this ape (and his chimp enablers in the GOP), hurt men as much as women.
Don’t men age, and get sick at the end of life? Don’t they need healthcare and security in their retirement years?
Don’ they have children who breathe air and drink water?
Don’ they also benefit when financial institutions are safely regulated, so that theis savings do not disappear?
The myth being sold (and bought) by the ape is that men don’t need anybody or anything, that they can and should do it all by themselves.
This wasn’t true in caveman days and it’s not true today.
When these men are shivering, toothless, demented, and alone in their caves, their shrunken red ball caps, with the faded white letters will offer small comfort.
And as they sit by their small trash feuled fire, they will nurture their memories of the days when the big ape ruled the world.
11
It seems to me that progressives who espouse the view that gender is merely a cultural construct are reaping what they sow. Their stubborn refusal to acknowledge the role that nature plays in shaping our behaviours only serves to alienate those who believe that the two sexes are endowed with deeply entrenched differences.
Of course, nurture can modify and temper those differences. Refusing to recognize the extent to which nature shapes us, however, is ideological blindness.
Progressive liberals like to demonize white males for clinging to their regressive, repressive masculine ways. The results are all too predictable. Those beleaguered white males flock to the demagogue who claims to speak for them and who promises to protect their threatened identity, and dialogue between those reviled “alpha males” and the feminist camp becomes increasingly difficult.
When that happens we no longer have fruitful discussions about toxic, destructive masculine behaviours that damage women and society; and the fears and longings of those white men who believe their society doesn’t respect them and has no place for them.
3
This is what Primaries are for, where Trump won vs more moderately minded Republicans. The others were simply seen as weak or unable to destroy the last 8 years of Obama. More-is-better in terms of political extremism that prevails these days.
I’m not sure I can adequately explain how deeply creepy it is, walking around every day knowing how many American men think bombing women back to the stone age is a reasonable response to hurt feelings.
15
You're in luck! It's not true, so you don't have to worry!
3
Good, so I have to assume you'd understand if man decided to support a male candidate.
1
Well the first thing this means is that there will be active GOP voter suppression targeted at white women.
The pattern seems very clear so far: alienate by not serving a group. 1) Ignore the concerns of that group. 2) Rally to your base those that hate that group. 3) Place token members of that group in positions to insulate the GOP from the painfully true accusations of open hate.
4) Stoke that hatred with slurs and lies. 5) Characterize them as other than American or virtuous. 6) Openly support policies that marginalize them.
I pretty surprised that we're not getting a SCOTUS nominee who is a viciously self hating white suburban soccer mom that will refuse to speak or do her job once installed.
6
There are deep, unexamined aspirations in the brains of many middle class white men. They imagine themselves men they will never be; wildly successful alpha males, calling the shots, living large. Their frustrations are played out a million ways; domestic violence, road rage and even in the voting booth where pulling a lever for a strongman gives them a sense of fraternity and, ( they strangely hope), an invitation to the big party. Critical thinking escapes these men. So does self evaluation. Most of the time their failures and disappointments reach far back and their inability to let go of envy and resentments propel them every day. Politicians know these voters. They play them every election, but now they are being played 24/7. Other potential alphas are watching and learning. Trump is not the first. He won’t be the last.
11
GENDER GAP DEFINITION
“The Washington Post-Schar School poll conducted June 27-July 2 found that men of all races approve of how Trump is handling the job by 54-45, while women of all races disapprove, 65-32, a 42-point gap. (The gap is determined in this way: If there were no difference between men and women, the gap would be zero. Using this case as an example, men are plus nine on Trump and women are minus 33, which produces a total gap of 42 points.)”
Hmm... I get how it is calculated, but it seems misleading.
If I read the data right, 54% of the men approve of Trump vs. 32% of the women — that's more like a 22-point gap! Or, even more precisely, an 11-point one as it would only take an 11 percentage point for there to be complete congruence!
We get the same result if we look at disapproval — 45% of men disapprove of Trump and 65% of women — a 20-point gap. Or, requiring only a 10 percentage point shift for the genders to be the same!
Alas, the gender gap is much smaller than it appears.
Of course, how a majority of men (and a third of women) can approve of this Putin- puppet who is a serial liar, racist, misogynist, and underminer of the Constitution and basic human rights is beyond me!
2
Normally the left is sharply dismissive of purported explanations of human behavior based on analogy with our supposed evolutionary past. But I guess the lure of including "Trump" and "baboon" in the same sentence got the better of their judgment.
As Anthony Gottlieb wrote in the New Yorker in 2012: "So strong is the temptation to explain our minds by evolutionary 'Just So Stories,' Stephen Jay Gould argued in 1978, that a lack of hard evidence for them is frequently overlooked .... Gould, a Harvard paleontologist and a popular-science writer, who died in 2002, was taking aim mainly at the rising ambitions of sociobiology. He had no argument with its work on bees, wasps, and ants, he said. But linking the behavior of humans to their evolutionary past was fraught with perils, .... Gould saw no prospect that sociobiology would achieve its grandest aim: a 'reduction' of the human sciences to Darwinian theory." Jonathan Beckwith warned that genetic explanations were a potential source of mischief.
All I ask is that you remember this discussion next time that someone offers explanations of human differences in violence, IQ, athletic ability, susceptibility to particular diseases, life expectancy, conscientiousness and many other traits in terms of our genetic patrimonies.
5
Imagine what will happen to that chasm if Roe v. Wade is over-turned.
9
Men want to pay child support for unwanted children?
3
Patriarchy / control / domination-- all these need to die out so we humans can grow and evolve. It's our birthright.
Every single person who votes Republican votes to stop or turn back human evolution and to keep the dark forces in power
2
The Handmaid's Tale isn't so far from what these men seem to want. Women, we can't let them.
9
Comparing Trump to an alpha male chimp is really disrespectful to chimps. While his displays might have something to do with primate evolution (try explaining that to his adoring Christian evangelical followers), I think much of it is connected to his deep-seated insecurity. The same insecurity carries over to his largely white male supporters because white men are a distinct and declining minority in this country. The period of their dominance is coming to an end, and it appears that only about half of us (yup, I'm a white male) can deal with it.
6
The role of propaganda and disinformation in rabble rousing and submerging the rational is given inadequate attention. A few bonkers billionaires run this machine that defines the universe for almost half of voters.
Until this brainwashing apparatus is dismantled, sanity cannot assert itself.
Edsall has provided the stats that demarcate those most susceptible to this deluge of rubbish. But they cannot be argued out of delusion until the flooding recedes and the id is put to rest.
Congress can regulate Social Media, insist upon separation of Church from State, require facts and balanced reporting on radio and TV and in print. But that requires a Congress not tied to the apron strings of the bonkers billionaire backers of the machine. A Congress that is not dependent for re-election upon the very unreality the propagandists promote.
Vote these lackeys out of office!!
4
Why is there a question on this subject? Women are a majority of voters so in the long run shouldn't we end up with laws that women favor? Even amending the Constitution should not require votes from Americans who identify as men. A two-thirds majority of states is required, not a two-thirds majority of voters within a state.
Why would it be a "battlefield" as the author suggests? Why not simply politicians delivering whatever laws are necessary to get voters who identify as women to keep voting for them?
5
I sure wish we could just relax a bit and find ways to enjoy each other and our differences.
We raised 3 daughters, have 9 grandchildren, and I was a teacher. My observation is there is a lot more pressure on many boys growing up, and starting at very young ages, to conform to a strong, macho male stereotype. Little girls can comfortably play with trucks, cars, wield swords, play sports (my generation of girls had to be content with intramural sports in h.s.), play house, dolls, princess, have more little guy friends than girl friends, if they so choose.
Unfortunately, not so for lots of boys. Parents, especially fathers, seem to get a lot more worried and upset if their sons want to play with dolls, play house, hang out with girls as their best friends rather than boys, not want to play sports or do macho things.
Worse is the gender stereotype that works against many boys expressing empathy, or even sad emotions (and forget crying--little boys don't cry). Listen to middle school and high school boys put each other down for being a wuss or worse ________ (insert derogatory words applied to female body parts).
Donald Trump strikes me as a very insecure man, not only status-wise but in his own manhood and humanity. I think he may have been one of those boys subjected to very intense pressure at home and at military school to conform to some comic book stereotype notion of a man, or that is how he interpreted it. I suspect other men who grew up similarly are his base.
16
The 2016 election became a proxy battle of sexes and Ms. Clinton's defeat was interpreted as a defeat for all women. The lingering resentment has manifested in several ways. Addressing inequalities and harassment have been long overdue, but the rhetoric of several women in politics seems to question the legitimacy of men in Left wing politics. This idea may appeal to many women, but it's hard to imagine that men would go along.
4
I get that this is an opinion piece, but I also respect that this is one of the few articles of NYT that explores viewpoints of both sides of the platform, as opposed to "we're right, you're wrong" liberal propaganda machine. And I'm saying that as a democratic supporter generally, one-sided thinking isn't right for either side, no matter how right you think you are.
"smaller government with fewer services" vs "“bigger government with more services”"
This is something that democrats often fail to realize or understand, that the battle around things like welfare and social services isn't necessarily about "should we help people or should we let them suffer". It can be portrayed as that, but I assume the primary goal of Republicans is not to increase suffering. Republican party is grounded in the ideal of reduced governance, reduced size, and let private side pick up the reduced services when and however it believes it should. That alone may be a respectable goal, or one worthy of debate for deeper reasons of wealth and power. But we often fail to see that because of polarized politics that only skim the surface.
5
With far more registered independent voters than registered Republicans or Democrats, discussions such as Edsall's become less and less relevant.
The public is to the left of either party - polls clearly show that to be true on a wide range of issues: single payer, increased Social Security benefits (not decreased benefits, as both parties have proposed), a financial transaction tax (the Democrats can't even bring themselves to utter those words), decreased defense spending - increase social program spending.
If there was a party that demonstrated support for those policies, the Dems and Repubs would be extinct within two election cycles.
13
As a woman I will favor women candidates, if most stances on issues seem rather similar.
2
Some of women have been there a long time. It's about time the rest catch up. I have always been patriotic and a history buff. I do not want to go back like the Republicans to the 'good old days'. What was good about them when it comes to women being recognized as productive capable human beings full of intelligence and good ideas? What was good about bad to no health care? Having decent affordable health care is a right not a socialist agenda. What is good about paying women less for the same job as a man just because she's a woman? I could go on for ever. Get real people. I'm 84 and proud to be a woman. Call me whatever you want..they are only names. I'm educated and if I'm 'elite' so be it.
7
Dems have been working hard for decades to alienate their male constituencies, beginning with the unions. It's no coincidence the male vote flipped a year after Clinton pulled out all the stops to pass NAFTA, over passionate union opposition. Even if NAFTA was a good idea, the US didn't need it, and it wasn't worth the political cost. Free-trade deals and liberal immigration policies, both pushed by Dems, rendered most private-sector unions irrelevant. Obama gave public-sector unions the final kick-in-the-teeth by putting Arne Duncan in charge of Education. Now, the Dem agenda is ostensibly about helping "working families" with things like free tuition and subsidized childcare, but because of income restrictions, few two-parent families, especially white families, will get much if any benefit. It's easy to get the impression that their agenda is all about making single parenthood a viable lifestyle choice. Because of environmental issues, I'll probably continue to vote Dem, if I vote, but I can't fault so many of my brethren for doing otherwise.
8
Castellanos comments sounds like something directly out of the Handmaids Tale. Trump has enabled this type of commentary in the public sphere. The #metoo movement (rightfully so) has caused men to finally confront their behavior. Now Trump is mocking that movement, once again supporting his supporters desire to keep women in their place.
9
Men? You cannot talk about a gender gap without mentioning the race gap. These simplistic interpretations of statistics make good headlines but don't reflect the reality.
3
Contrary to numerous comments, neither men nor women all believe in the same thing. Many women favor Republicans and many men favor Democrats. This dispassionate study seeks to explain the significant proportional differences, it does not impel you to announce that you are not one of "those men." Stop looking at everything through your personal lens. Nobody cares.
3
Yes, women are moving away from the Republicans. However, there are millions of Millennial women and men who didn't vote last time, and will vote November 6th, 2018! They learned a very important lesson in 2016....everyone's vote counts!
Please vote, folks, one OUT each and every Republican,our freedoms and our democracy depend on YOUR VOTE!
13
Are you sure about that? With all the coverage of the coming blue wave, how many articles have you seen warning the superhuman generation that they have to descend to normal human levels and register, in some places in person, if they want to vote?
The fake ads that told people they could vote by texting or by an app didn't target the men you read about in this article, they targeted the young, the app addled, and the facebooky. And as someone who worked the polls in 2014, and 2016 and again this year, I can tell you that the number one group that doesn't understand that voting for the first time or after you move, graduate from college, or suddenly decide it's a good time to stop twittering and go out and do something, is precisely the group you're counting on to be that wave.
My state has registration up to 2 weeks before the election, but that isn't the case everywhere. The odds on candidates for showing up at the polls and finding out that you don't know what you're doing and won't be voting are millennials.
2
Well. Now I'm really depressed. Our only hope is that there are more women, and we live longer. Take that, republican alpha males!
6
The gender gap is a Democratic party strategy for winning elections. I fail to understand why a straight, white, tax paying man would ever consider voting for a Democrat.
5
As a straight, white, heterosexual man who listens to scientists, cares about the environment, and supports policies that will benefit working class Americans and provide health care to poor kids, I can't in good conscience vote for today's Republican party.
2
Because he has a wife and daughters whom he loves. Because he is being treated as a chump by the billionaires' club. Because he may one day need health services and will certainly one day grow old and need support. Because he, too, has an interest in preventing unwanted pregnancies. Because nonwhite people are not his enemies. Because we all pay taxes and have the common good in mind. Because a warming planet threatens humankind, of which he is a part.
7
Me Tarzan, you Jane, right Bill? Maybe this straight, white, tax paying man wants clean air and water for his kids and grand kids, and an environment that hasn't been poisoned. Knows the strength of nation is in the education of its youth. He knows men have no business telling a woman what she can or cannot do with her own body. He believes that decent healthcare isn't just a privilege of the rich. He recognizes he was born on second base, when compared to those in this country of other races. He appreciates that, without friends, America is on the road to ruin. And utmost, he believes in democracy and rule of law. I can't name one Republican that stands for anything in which I believe.
10
Interesting that these men are willing to sacrifice so much for a useless show of domination. Aren't they being dominated too? Aren't they losing a part of their humanity too? Doesn't living in a country that treats everyone so poorly effect them too? This is like cutting your nose off to spite your face.
14
I am Woman, hear me VOTE. Bigly.
8
Genuinely shocking that a majority of men of all races have become so callow and cruel. Gilead is coming to life.
10
Men always were!
2
Smash that patriarchy!
10
Exactly how many white men identify with Maxine Waters?
4
It just shows you what profound cowards most men are. The strong should protect and defend the weak. Instead, these "men" cry when their unearned advantages are *slightly* eased so that women and minorities can get a more-equal opportunity.
Pathetic.
19
Waitaminute! Are you suggesting that men and women are different? Biology is such crock!
Sarcasm aside, educated white men like Trump for two reasons. No need to spend a lot of graduate student time to reach these conclusions.
1. Men in general like and admire decisive leaders. All of human civilizational tendencies make that the preferred choice for men
2. Educated white men like business friendly policies. A lot of them own businesses. Smalll, medium and large. Whatever else Obama was, he clearly was not that business friendly. Rightly or wrongly.
#1 above is true for working class men as well for the same reasons. Additionally working class men bear the burden of patriotism of 'culture', which makes them extremely vulnerable to be attracted to xenophobia. Also because their economic circumstances as with most poor people tend to tenuous in general
2
So-called Alpha Males, like DT, are insecure little boys with pathological tendencies. DT is no better than Golbin the chimp. Women, please rise up and vote/vote/vote these monkeys out of office!
15
Professor Pinker's description of Trump is spot on:
"almost a caricature of a contestant to be Alpha baboon: aggressive, hypersensitive to perceived threats to his dominance, boastful of his status and physical attributes (including his genitals), even the physical display of colorful big hair and a phallic red tie."
When will women of all races and backgrounds stand up for their rights and stop voting against their self-interest?
21
I'm older - 69. I'm white. I'm male. I'm college-educated. I'm voting with the women. Enough of this alpha baboon!
30
Could we stop calling Trump tough, please? In reality, he’s an obese old man who has hired others to defend him and hidden behind money all his life. The difference between him and the alpha chimpanzee is that the chimpanzee could actually fight and win. Trump’s aggression is all just an act; he could never “put up.” I’m a suburban, educated woman who grew up in a tough neighborhood, around the real tough guys—and they would never mistake the mouthy rich kid for one of themselves. Trump appeals to the weak.
42
Looking at yet another photo from "MAGA" rally, I wonder how those events are promoted. It would be interesting to learn whether the channels used and the audience targeted demonstrate that Mr. Trump himself and his operatives have a cynical - albeit practical - view of his "base."
3
Only men believe in the credulance of losing privilege is a form of discrimination. They want to return to a mythical "past" where the job market respected them as the bread-winners of the family and established a hiring and wage culture, accordingly. They want to return to the past where fathers were able to offer job opportunities down to sons as reward for years of loyal service to the company. From a priveleged position in a segregated world equal opportunity is a barely unrecognizable concept let alone a moral obligation. In a state rights government structure the federal government has no right to override local authority.
4
Why on earth would anyone prefer “smaller government with fewer services”?
We are doomed unless we find a way to render voters' fantasy lives irrelevant to what should be political decisions.
13
Two things stick out for me.
One: How depressing to see all those voting breakdowns where the Trump-Clinton percentages add up to less than 100. Thanks, purity and vanity Stein and Johnson voters.
Two: this article does not address at all a sleeper issue. How many women are pressured by their husbands to vote the way they want them to? Especially in the day of vote by mail at the kitchen table, I wonder how many women are truly free to vote their own minds. That can run both ways, but I’d bet research would be enlightening.
6
If it is rue that Trump is more popular today anong men than he was on election day, I wonder who are these men? Also, what does it say about how men now view masculinity?
Trump is all bluster and bravado. He is a cartoonish 70 year old with a thirteen year old's sensibilities.
The men I admire are strong and don't say a lot, but when they do they speak the truth. They care for their families, do their job to the best of their ability, and treat others with respect, and they are vulnerable. They don't generally use fighting words, but when they do they mean them, and fighting words are generally aimed toward bullies the kind of which can be found in Mr. Trump. The men I admire see Trump for who he is - a spoiled bragadocious rich kid who hides behind his security detail and his lawyers. The men I admire can't stand Mr. Trump, and they don't see Mr. Trump as deserving of their respect or their vote.
25
Working class white men, especially in rural states, are more affected than any other group by "diseases of despair": opioid and alcohol addiction, depression, chronic unemployment, suicide. Their "marriageability" is declining. Their life expectancy is falling.
These are Trump voters, and they are hostile (as a group) to emboldened women. I suspect their views and voting patterns will continue to harden, though there will be fewer of them in 2020.
13
We know we have a human wrecking ball in the White House and that a good percentage of old white men voted him in. What still
shocks me is the women who saw his hate-filled rants, his misogyny and racism - the sheer indecency of it all and voted for
him. I know, they all wanted change, well, they got it. Remains to
be seen whether voters will use their little grey cells and start to think about the damage this president has done, find their better
angels and correct our path ahead while we still can. Women today are more threatened by this government than ever before and will lose their rights and humanity unless they step up and vote as if their life depended on it. Decent men should follow their lead.
Apes are in the zoo or in Africa, they should not be installed in office or allowed to vote other apes into office. Men have to evolve
and think more clearly with justice and compassion in mind.
8
Make investments in sperm banks and in vitro fertilization company stock.
1
I was saying to my wife the other day, we have to find a way to acknowledge and correct past policies and behaviors that favored men, while not demonizing them as the root of all problems; the same dynamic applies to race. Not going to be easy, but i think one possibility is to back off the concept of "you're complicit" as a blanket accusation and focus on what a person actually does and thinks. But even that has to be balanced against acting as if change simply involves individuals, when we also need to evaluate the institutional status quo. At the very least, we'll need to be able to speak freely, instead of labeling people as "___-ists", or denying those we disagree with a platform to speak their truth.
9
Trump easily carried a majority of white women voters. White women, especially in the South, continue to vote Republican. Gender gap? Maybe for non-white voters, but for white voters, apparently it is not that important. Until white women as a group make a significant swing to the left, I don't see it happening.
3
Trump manly?
That's setting a low barre.
9
It is a terrible mistake to characterize Donald Trump as a strong man. Dwight Eisenhower was a strong man; Donald Trump is a textbook psychopath. This means that when his brain developed, the part that normally considers the feelings and welfare of others, does not function - complete lack of empathy.
We’ve come to recognize that some very able folks on the autistic spectrum lack the ability to perceive the feelings of others. Donald Trump, and other psychopaths, can perceive the feelings and welfare of others, but they do not care.
Historically, given state power, these evil men’s disregard for anyone but themselves results in destroying the people’s welfare and bloody inexplicable wars.
8
Edsall cites from the Quinnipiac Poll:
“Men of all races say they intend to vote for Republican House candidates 50-42”
“women of all races say they intend to vote for Democratic candidates 58-33”
Based on those two polling results, Edsall concludes that a 33 point gender "chasm" exists.
My conclusions based on the same two polling results are:
1. 50% of men of all races will NOT vote for Republican House candidates.
2. 42% of women will NOT vote for Democratic candidates.
If Edsall considers that a 33 point gender "chasm", perhaps his motivation in this piece is promoting the false “America is Divided” narrative that permeates mainstream media today.
5
The lesson of the 2016 Presidential election should be that only fools believe polls. The only poll that matters is the one held on Election Day.
4
Castellanos is a perfect example of the delusional thinking of Trump followers.
Apparently these stupes have never heard, walk softly but carry a big stick. They don't even understand that the posturing, nastiness and belligerent behavior makes them look weak and useless.
Strong leaders don't need to posture. People follow them because they deserve to be followed. They have earned the role, not painted themselves with jokes, bad behavior and idiocy.
6
As a white man, I guess I’m in a minority. Many of my fellow men seem to be attracted to a lying, incompetent, grifter like Trump to somehow return to a 1950s view of male dominance.
My message to women who seek to stop this retrograde idiocy is to VOTE!
10
Don't worry. A lot of GOP men insist their wives vote by mail so their true opinions are never heard.
1
Sorry, it's already a gender chasm. Men have just refused to learn, as a group, and women are sick and tired of it. Women don't trust men, and there a good reason for that. Generally, they are untrustworthy. We're not having it, anymore.
8
Will gender politics carry over into the bedrooms of America? If fertile women cannot have safe abortions or any respect from men, will they quit having sex with them as the best or only means of self-defense? If they follow the politics of Lysistrata, will it change the political results?
3
Comedian Norm McDonald said it best, with this tweet:
"White men are so stupid. But its not their fault that they are so stupid. The danger comes when you take the stupidest people on earth, white men, and give them all the power. Now, that is truly stupid. Maybe the stupidest decision the smart people ever made."
I'm just glad the smart people are finally waking up, and starting to get good and angry about not getting the pay we think we deserve, and staying angry about not winning the elections that we think we should.
This anger is smart. It will win people over. People will look at all of us smart people - the ones with advanced degrees in sociology, religion, public policy, and the humanities - and they will finally say "hey! look at these smart people! They're really educated! And they have the debt to show for it! Because those were expensive degrees! Why are they crushed by debt? Why aren't they payed more? Why aren't they in charge!?!"
And as more people wake up, they will vote accordingly. I don't know what to do about all of those white women who marry white men who vote for Trump though. Maybe if they married smarter men who earned less, or if they smartly stayed single and smart, they would understand the need to oppose white men.
Because when you really think about it, the accomplishments of white men are few in number - democracy, philosophy, history, the Enlightenment, industry, vaccines, free trade, space travel, meh. I'm not impressed!
5
All of the Serena Joy’s are now realizing their error. It’s about time
Vote Nov 6th for your daughters, for yourself, for the future
Vote the democratic ticket up and down to put a check on this liar president and his complicit congress.
Vote them out
Praised be
9
I wonder if male apes would continue to rally behind an alpha male who was holding their heads under water, stealing their food, and burning down their camp. If they would not, they’re smarter than the typical male Republican voter.
6
Men who support Donald Trump want to BE Donald Trump.
7
I detest Trump, but stories like this, even as op-eds, are silly. Trump is not a chimp, nor is he Mussolini, etc. This is specious, lazy journalism: Plug in any disparaging comparison, ring up a few academics eager to see their names in print and 'hey presto' -- a 1,000 word house of cards. Given the way 'ape' has been thrown around by right-wing nuts, this piece also has a darker hue. There's an actual premise buried under this ridiculous jungle motif. News and reality-based analysis, please, not fantasy. Trump is Trump and needs to be dealt with as such.
8
no he is trying to be another putin - dictator and kleptocrat
5
Edsall is right. It’s foolish of you to try to defend what castellanos is quoted as making clear: trump is defending white patriarchy. Now since you don’t mention that, I must assume you’re with him and trump. And although this is about white people, let me clisevwith a black man, Frederick Douglass: power concedes nothing without a struggle.
4
Republicans are winning the war on women.
4
The problem is the comparison of exit polls in 2016 with a single opinion poll now.
Exit polls reflect actual voters. One opinion poll is of many people some of whom will show up at a midterm election and those who won't
Apples and oranges.
I would be more interested to see how opinion polls today compare with opinion polls right before the election.
1
While my opinion is anecdotal I'm unsure about the accuracy of this piece as regards a gender split between left and right. The President's massive unpopularity among ethnic sections of the population does not support the notion that a gender-based political divide exists in those groupings. But it doesn't stop there - if anything Trump has de-polarised the he/she voting partitions in general. My friends and colleagues who have held steadily to the right for as long as I've known them are as dismayed as I am by this flim-flam man leading the nation. The only evidence I've seen of a gender shift to far-right opinion has been in groups who were already half-way there - long before Trump entered the arena. The results in the November mid-terms will be the political litmus test determining whether America has actually shifted further to the right or has a growing left of center and I don't believe for a moment that it will be decided along Aristophean lines.
5
When looking at the gender gap, racial gap, or regional gap to model voter behavior, it is important to remember that these gaps overlap and intersect. Yes, Donald Trump won a plurality of votes from white women, but only in the South.
Here in Seattle, Trump won 8% of the vote in 2016 (while losing every precinct in King County, including those that always go Republican). To get that total, he must have lost overwhelmingly among every demographic group.
6
I can see what Edsel is saying: Men want to be on the side of John Wayne (a made-up character playing the Alpha Male). They have been looking for John Wayne in politics since his last movie. (I believe that is why Ronald Regan became president.) I know some men are still watching reruns of John Wayne on TV. It is a projection of John Wayne they see in themselves and trump. That was why the rejected President Obama. He was the beta male (strong, silent and fair) that most of them were, but they preferred John Wayne.
11
In no way is Obama a beta male. He is pure alpha. Listening to people is not a weakness.
3
I think Joy B's point was that the alpha model is fake, that the beta men are the real men.
2
The gender gap might be growing because many women have personally experienced what it's like to be on the receiving end of Trump-like conduct, whether social or professional.
The big question is whether women split their votes at the midterms - again. And give untrammelled power to the Trump supporters, a minority of Americans.
21
I have always subscribed to Carl Jung's theory that we each embody both male and female aspects and when they are balanced we have an integrated and whole person. It is, admittedly, just one model of human growth but I have found it useful as a guide to my own development.
My mother was the very "male" driven, domineering and aggressive member of our family, while my father was gentle, loved unconditionally and could cry unashamedly at anything that was genuinely sad. This spurred me to question the mainstream assessments of what male and female behavior looked like.
As a female who tended to be nurturing to the point of martyrdom, I came into my own only when I developed so-called male characteristics of assertiveness (not aggression) and confidence. I embraced my nurturing side but left sentimentality behind. It was hard.
We have to admit that not all males are "The Man," occupying a corner office and wielding unrestricted power. In fact, many if not most men have seen their heroic side exploited, sent as cannon fodder to useless wars in which they have lost so much. Many worked as drones in thankless jobs, forced to be "bread winners." They were not allowed tears to express their grief.
Both males and females embody courage, nobility, intelligence, competence, grace and other grand characteristics. Each gender may express them differently. There is also a dark side to humanity, which we have to vigilantly monitor.
We must avoid demonizing each other.
32
My wife still doesn't understand why she is married to a man who is a Jane Austen and Bridget Jones fan who also loves hi-tech, millitary jets and college football. I feel that I am a conservative, but today's conservatism is a power & money grab for the rich. So I supported Hillary & Barak, and consistently vote for Democrats. Why? My conservatism guides that we should not serve the wealthy or entitled, but rather 'the next'. Conservatism should be careful, preserving, intelligent. The Republican mess is none of those.
12
Aggressive, ruthless individuals come in both male and female flavors. Indira Gandhi, India's first female prime minister was known as 'the only man in the cabinet' for her merciless politicking and ruthless actions. Same with Sri Lanka's first female prime minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who fomented Sri Lanka's civil war. So this 'white heterosexual males are vile and world will be a paradise without them' meme does not appeal to most of us. Democrats should forget racial, gender, color, religious inequality and start addressing the real inequality----INCOME INEQUALITY. Income/wealth inequality is the basis of every other inequality.
3
Last night, I attended a forum featuring candidates running for the Arizona House District 6. The crowd was about 60/40 in terms of women & men. The main takeaway was that the incumbent, David Schweikert, does not listen to his constituents. All three of last night's candidates had knocked on thousands of doors, held community coffee chats, etc. in an effort to hear constituents concerns. In contrast, I can't remember the last time Mr. Schweikert held a town hall.
6
"men have repeatedly demonstrated their determination to win no matter the social cost"
Perhaps I missed it in this excellent essay. But I fail to see how either a strong push for women's rights is so different from a push back especially from marginalized men. Of course throwing Trump into the mix makes it possible that the author, often very carefully, failed to say Trump instead of Men in this quote.
Socially our society has changed since the 1960's. Just as the civil rights movement engaged government for its strength and results, so too have women done the same. And in so doing, government rules and government largess is now a growing issue for minorities and women. For minorities it is ofter great need for resources that makes growing government important. For women, the change in culture from a situation where most babies and children had two parents in the household to a situation where the majority of newborns now have one parent AND the Government to take cafe of them. Women are more independent of men in part because of the enlarging role of government in their lives, especially those who, for what ever reason, are dependent on the government for support when they have no partner to shoulder life's burdens.
2
These conservative men will eventually grok that perhaps having a hostile worldview toward women is not going to be the best way to attract them to you and this trend won’t continue forever. As much fun as complaining on 4Chan about being an incel obviously seems, my guess is that being voluntary normal and modern man is going to seem great by comparison when you want to get a date.
8
If you were looking for a reason to vote more women in to political office, this article would be a good place to start. While there is such a thing as a bad/stupid female political candidate (cf. Palin, S.) with few exceptions, I almost alway vote a straight female ticket.
10
Isn't there a Greek play about this? Starts with an L?
9
Still having trouble picturing Trump as an alpha male. Maybe that balloon floating over London makes a more reasonable reality.
15
SD, I agree with you. It’s hard to see how far we have fallen in the Trump era, although Trump is just the latest incarnation of jungle version masculinity. I grew up knowing honorable men who took responsibility, didn’t blame others, cared about other people, were mannerly, and could be trusted.
16
Pretty interesting piece, with lots of stuff to unpack. But I doubt a chimpanzee would be too happy to be compared to Trump -- what an insult, since the chimp is clearly more intelligent!
25
"The public sphere is filled with conversations regarding the disadvantages faced by racial and ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ community and women."
The public sphere, indeed, most particularly The New York Times
7
"If a Chasm means no procreation, then please hurry." sincerely, The Earth.
14
I note the "alpha-males" in the photo accompanying this piece.
People can settle differences by war/fighting or by recognizing others' positions and working to align interests and mitigate differences. Even the craven Repub congressional members are responding to realpolitik power Trump wields through his base, not the chest pounding show that just gives opponents a roadmap on how to manipulate this ignorant and stupid man who has a genius for knowing what appeals to the most base in our country.
Shouldn't be difficult for Putin to negotiate to benefit his and Russia's interests. The price of those interests is simply setting up a press conference for Trump to claim victory of some type. That is his overriding goal and makes it simple for foreign leaders to work him like a tethered goat.
5
I have found that the right brain people, the creatives, always vote liberal (actors, designers, illustrators, photographers etc.) and the left brain people almost always vote conservative (financial people, construction, law enforcement etc.). The problem is that the GOP claims they are for fiscal responsibility but unfortunately they are really for greed and job security. Their right brains won't let them see their errors and so are duped with the same old language that the GOP feeds them.
9
There’s a huge assumption in the premise of the title, and at many points throughout this piece. The author means there’s a gender gap between the voting habits of white men and white women, and much of the discussion says “men” while ignoring how men from communities of color are voting. That’s a really sloppy erasure, one that betrays the author’s perspective.
9
Privileged married women having freely chosen alpha male mate hypocritically riding # me too bandwagon.
4
I think the women that voted against Crooked Hillary learned a lesson : Crooked Donald is so much worse .
We cannot count on Mueller or Avanetti to fix the problem in the White House . The women need to get out the vote in November .
4
Look, I am a radical feminist -- 2nd waver -- and in Faux News Land, this "women need to hate men" rhetoric is often ascribed to my philosophical worldview. But that rhetoric lacks nuance and is exactly what creates this chasm in politics, probably purposefully (am I feeding a troll here?). Women can hate what is being done to them: demeaning behavior towards them, reduction of freedoms and rights, etc., but they don't need to "hate" men. Individually, I'm sure some men "hate" women, but more likely, there is a significant population of men who either don't understand (often willfully) the burdens that misogynist actions and policies place on women, or are unwilling to curtail those for fear of loss of power and status. This is a selfish, short-sighted, ignorant, and pretty disgusting way to treat half the human population, but it's not "hate" -- it's lack of maturity and compassion. Likewise, even a RadFem can see (and if she's true to her philosophy, must see) the way cultural forces hurt all but the wealthiest and most-insulated men, too. We don't need more "hate", we need strength and connection. Treating each other with empathy and equality is a good way to stand up to the real problem: the near-oligopoly that's taking real economic resources and power away from the 99%.
8
Polls showed that Hillary would win in a landslide. Polls showed that under-educated white men were the only ones who voted for Trump. Both were, of course, wildly wrong.
To me the only things polls show is what an author, group or media outlet wants them to.
8
The polls you refer to are imaginary along with your conclusions.
5
The polls I saw said that Hillary would win narrowly. She did win narrowly in the popular vote.
The polls also said that Bernie Sanders would beat Trump by a sizable margin. They still have Sanders ahead for 2020.
4
You are wrong, I think. While the NYT predicted something like an 85% chance of a Clinton victory, that's not the same as winning in a landslide. That is, big odds don't necessarily mean big margins.
And let's not forget that Clinton won more votes than Trump, just not in the right places.
4
The irony is that Trump is not a real man. Physically an adult male, yes, but emotionally a defective, stunted, pathetic imitation of a man cobbled together from his father's version of what a man should be and his mother's apparent failure to counter that distorted model and nourish the basic decency most men learn at home. Everything he says and does is a lie. The breast-thumping, stomping, and rock-throwing? The aggression and false bravado of the bully. The big hair? A big bald pate underneath. The big red tie? Well.
24
The irony is that Trump is not a real man - Amen! I am so glad that someone said it before I could.
4
This might be a good analysis for White men and women but this issue looks differently in communities of color. Next time, let's add some nuance??
I have said all along that whatever happens in November will depend on White women. Historically, the majority of White women have voted Republican. The reasons why the majority of White women vote Republican should be someone's future dissertation because Republican values are antithetical to White women's safety, earning potential and well-being. Maybe one day White women will stop supporting White male supremacy and prioritize their needs.
2
This might be a good analysis for White men and women but this issue looks differently in communities of color. Next time, let's add some nuance??
I have said all along that whatever happens in November will depend on White women. Historically, the majority of White women have voted Republican. The reasons why the majority of White women vote Republican should be someone's future dissertation because Republican values are antithetical to White women's safety, earning potential and well-being. Maybe one day White women will stop supporting White male supremacy and prioritize their needs??
Lastly, Trump is not a real man but a stupid man's notion of a real "man."
1
Excellent analysis of why so many Americans(who have much more in the way of food, clothing, cars etc. than any other nation, place in the world) turn out and shout Trump on to his next disruption of our society and that of the world society.
We US women and men, no matter what age, economic level, educational status, and gender must do everything in our power whether financial or voting in November to counter this unsustainable and dangerous movement to reduce our freedoms and way of life. Each of us who understands the danger inherent in Trump's thinking and actions and his supporters (this includes people who fear him and join in supporting his actions and behavior) have something to contribute to stopping this economic and political disaster.
Think about what you can do to help reverse the course of politics and government action that is so destructive and then do it.
9
Male insecurity appears to be the underlying theme of this article. Women have successfully advanced in almost all areas of education and professional employment and their social status has also risen. Yet, the fact that sexual harassment continues to pervade many professions including those in our government reflects an opportunism and insidious fear among some men of well educated women leaders. These men believe that women truly need to be put in their place. Our president is their leader. Despite his lying, uncouth behavior, they rally to his side. He promotes sexism and racism in his “manly” rallies around the country, further dividing our society. He really isn’t helping men in the long run.
Half the population is women. More than half of college graduates are women. Increasingly, more women have risen to leadership positions. Is the only response among men one of dominance and aggression towards women? Some men see that women have “invaded” spaces once reserved exclusively for them. More women are serving in the armed forces and facing combat situations. Some men see this as a threat. They also see advances in the LGBT community as a threat, yet homosexuality has been with us since the earliest civilizations.
I would offer that male-female roles in our society have traditionally been defined by religious groups and dogma so that women have always been subservient. This seems to be the case with Trump’s evangelical supporters. Women are pushing back.
24
"Trump personifies an approach to leadership that many men find deeply appealing. It is a primal appeal to social dominance."
Donald Trump has been consistent--if nothing else--in his life, particularly in his pre-political incarnation, in the "hormonal," if you will, culture war.
His entire behavior screams sex; its attraction; its rituals; its consummation, the last which implies no permanence but values and prizes the rutting aspect of the activity. It is, perhaps, no accident that, after descending his gilded escalator in the June of 2015, he singled out Mexicans, especially men, for his withering contempt, as "rapists." Even for an aberrant individual like Donald Trump, a rapist violates the sexual game, at least on paper. He never speaks about its violations and devastations for American women but only to make a sexual point.
In his Hollywood Access tape, he clearly admitted that the alpha male's aggression was necessary to command and appropriate what his sex demanded: the capitulation of the female through aggressive physical force, or threat, and the consequent acquiescence of the female.
All that said, enough women threw off the fear of sexual coercion and voted overwhelmingly for him. It is doubtful that they would have done the same for Barack Obama. As in so many things American, sex and race are the Siamese twins underlying the political dynamic which settles one issue only: who receives government's largesse: "us or them?"
Trump personifies the answer.
3
The Democratic Party ran one of the worst campaigns of all time. Further, the liberal media has been insulting uneducated white men for years. They claim it's "payback" for the insults they receive such as "snowflake" and "liberal elite", but I think it's fair to say making fun of someone because of their lack of education is far worse than making fun of something for being out of touch with the working man.
Liberals have a choice: wage a cultural war or win representation. You cannot have both.
3
So, Trumpism is all about the id, the ancient subconscious serpentine part of the brain. Once ascendent, rationality and awareness of fact are submerged, and the brainwashed zombie emerges.
Because the aroused rabble no longer responds to reality, only imagery, there is no remedy until the propaganda pervading the web and the air waves and evangelical pulpits is turned off, clamor subsides, and sanity can return.
Only Congress can reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine and regulation of Social Media and separation of Church from State. And a Congress of bought-and-paid-for venal lackeys beholden to a few ideologically manic billionaires running a pervasive pernicious disinformation machine won’t do a thing.
22
Here's the difference:
Men and women who vote for Trump don't know the difference between the word 'bravura,' which means 'exceptionally skilled' and the word 'bravado' which means 'unjustified courage in the face of danger.' (Really, Prof. Macadams?)
Trump exudes bravado, in a reckless way. Men envy and fear that trait, and women are simultaneously repelled and attracted by it. It's not quite that simple but that's a gloss. Modern human culture overlays millennia of history to reinforce that truth. Chimp life has little to do with it. Bringing primate behavior into political discourse should go the way of citing Hitler to win a debate.
1
It should be noted that the left (Democrats, progressives) have pitched a message that is blatantly anti- white male and pro any-but-white-male for a few years at least. Many Democratic guys (like me) are turned off by the constant drumbeat in places like the Times telling us to step out, get lost, get out of the way of history.
Think of how quickly the "resistance" to Trump became defined as "pink hat", resisting Trump et al quickly meant "down with white men" which made it pretty hard for white men to join the resistance.
3
I saw plenty of white men at the marches. All the white men in my circle vote Democratic. They don't seem to have any problem accepting the truth of history and voting for long overdue change.
No, it's not "pretty hard for white men to join the resistance" whatsoever. The problem lies with fragile white male egos that can't let go of myths and lies to embrace needed change. It's all on them, not "the left".
9
Yes! "Biff" in "Back To The Future" is exactly who I thought of as well when Trump became president. And it's America who's currently being assaulted by him. What I wouldn't give for a smart beta male like George McFly to gather his courage right about now and open the car door to declare, "No, Biff, you leave her alone!"
4
Candidates do not need to explicitly attack white men, as that attack can be inferred by much of what is said by those on the left. That is the cause of the partisan shift pure and simple.
2
Aside from the voting bloc, real simple. Women pull an ancient Greece play on the men and withhold sex until they come to their senses.
6
Thank you to Jane Goodall for the vivid and accurate comparison of Donald Trump to a chimpanzee.
8
But why? I have yet to hear, anywhere, a reason why people are getting tired of such conversations. Without any explanation, it would be easy to think it's because those who have a traditionally dominant role simply don't want to share. Is it really that crass and selfish?
4
The 2016 presidential election demonstrated the hatred men have for women. The gender chasm is vast. Women see this hatred. Women need to hate men with the same force.
7
Incorrect, Hillary was just such a lousy candidate. I think you'd be shocked at how well Condi Rice would fare if she decided to run.
1
Thank you, Dr. Boehm. From now on, he is President Goblin to me.
3
As long as the sentiments expressed in 'I Want To Be Rich And I Am Not Sorry'
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/28/opinion/sunday/women-want-to-be-rich....
are not commonplace, there is hope and everything to hope for in a world in which female power is ascendant.
Quite simply, alpha male behavior - whether it be in males or females - is not what this 21st century needs. Not if we want to make it to the 22nd.
7
Abortion.
That's the key question in the run-up to the 2018 midterms given that we're in the middle of a the SCOTUS confirmation fight. Abortion rights will determine turnout among women in many states. Edsall did not address this squarely, and it is this issue that makes this election different for historical trends.
Most women support abortion rights because they understand viscerally how it affects women's autonomy and financial viability. Personally I would not have an abortion for moral reasons, but I will do everything possible to ensure safe, legal and accessible abortion.
Even the progressive men I know don't understand how important abortion is to women, especially older women who are more likely to vote. Some of those suburban white women in places like Pennsylvania didn't believe that Trump would act to restrict abortion. Now they understand what's at stake.
13
The article overlooks an important issue -- the size of the four population segments -- college-educated vs non-college and women vs men. These sectors have different numbers of people and each sector has differient electoral participation rates.
The non-college male sector is growing as women are now occupying the majority of student places in higher education. This iñmproves Republican chances in November, especially because the non-college population is larger than the college-educated population.
5
Fascinating; great information. Women do more of the care giving and know how critical a strong safety net is. Men think they're in the Wild West and need to be strong loners like in Clint Eastwood movies: "Give me a gun, don't tax me or expect me to be educated, and I'll get by and get the hot girl." Pure fantasy.
White male insecurity is something to behold. White men are afraid of women and minorities taking their jobs. They crave the hierarchical structure enforced by the Alpha male who is going to make sure those loyal to him get rewarded.
It's much easier to blame others than look in the mirror and say: I need to go back to school for more education throughout my lifetime, keep adding more certifications, and cultivate a network of contacts. The modern corporation is flatter and more work is done in networks rather than hierarchies, which I think is an environment more conducive to women.
White men want to go back to the 1950's, when they were dominant and women knew their place. Trump promised to take us back there.
No wonder women are going Democratic. The one's that are still loyal to Trump will know just how bad a choice that was, when Roe vs. Wade goes and their daughter gets pregnant.
20
The problem here is that the comparison is to what Trump's "actual results" with women were in the 2016 election versus current "polling."
The polling prior to the 2016 election said he would do terribly with women and Hispanics.
Neither happened.
5
With all the rhetoric coming out of the MeToo movement, all I can say is the Democrats are lucky Trump is corrupt, incompetent, and boorish.
I'll vote for you because I believe in global warming, think a single payer plan is efficient and moral, economic inequality is out of hand, and support abortion on demand under any circumstances.
But after hearing how any accusation against a man should be taken seriously (whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?), masculinity is toxic, and freedom of speech is a tool of conservatives and should be regulated because of people's feelings (what do you think is going to happen when they use your 'hate speech' laws on you?), don't expect me to volunteer, donate money, or anything other than drive to the polling place and cast my vote for you.
10
Just look at the photograph accompanying the article. Do these look like the innovators, entrepreneurs and creators that will own the future? The Reps have no future and no plan as to what to do about that.
4
It's helpful to see this laid out so clearly. Thank you.
The sad fact is women will vote against their interests the same way that working class people do. The very people whose economics in part have been decimated by the decline in organized labor support the right wing campaign against unions, saying things like "unions were once needed, but now are in the way", meanwhile moaning that they can't find a decent job with benefits (and blue collar voters down south are the worst, they pretend like the past was a golden age yet have quickly forgotten that before labor activists unionized workers in the south, work conditions there were often on the level of a third world country, lousy wages, unsafe working conditions, no benefits, and they didn't unionize until the 1960's.).
The reason men have voted for the GOP is because like the white working class as a whole that make up their base, they believe that the GOP wants to restore the America of the 1950's they have mythologized, where "men could be men" (ie keep women and non whites out of a lot of jobs,if a guy bullied someone or beat up their wife or girlfriend, well, you know, the woman deserved it), and more importantly, to a time when they didn't have to compete or quite frankly do much to get a good paying job. As jobs traditionally reserved for white men opened up to women and minorities, they couldn't compete and blamed everyone but themselves.
9
The net of Mr Edsall's opinion concludes that (white) men are committed to protecting their status in the social order. Moreover, they are determined to do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal.
Maybe.
Maybe the issue is more rooted in Ms Kaufman's observation that "white men are always the implicit comparison group" for all the disadvantages of other social groups.
If Mr Edsall's comparisons of alpha men to apes is carried to its logical conclusion, then men are hard wired by DNA to attack and defend. They have since the dawn of time and they probably will continue doing so long after all of us become worm farms.
If so, then this is just as much a reality as the sun rising in the east. The issue is not so much to wail and bemoan the reality but to deal with it as a reality. Trying to change science to fit a social wish is just not going to happen.
That does not mean that (white) men must be allowed unfettered power. It does mean that, if a political party wants to win elections, it should stop attacking and start cultivating.
--------
One final note. The shift of white men from democratic to republican in 1992 Congressional elections was accompanied by the same shift in white women. The shift was a rejection of Bill and Hillary's healthcare proposals and swallowing Gingrich's lies about a contract with America. As PT Barnum once said "a sucker is born every minute;" white people are just as susceptible as any other human group to being suckers.
5
I am horrified by Trump and the men who support him. Chaos, incompetence, and bullying behavior cannot stand in this great country. If it means “leaning left” then so be it. I believe in protecting women’s reproductive rights, protecting the environment, saving our national parks, forging strong relationships with our neighbors and allies, strengthening the safety net, removing racist policies, and still having a strong military (while caring for our brave veterans) so if that makes me a leftie, I will happily own it. Please vote in November.
5
I find it disingenuous to refer to a chasm when the number for men is 42% to 50% Dem to Republican respectively. That’s a 4:5 ratio. And please don’t lump all white males together. A lot of us are revolted by Trump and his ilk.
4
Forty-two to 50% is plenty to continue to elect these clowns as president because of the slave based Electoral College, so I see it as a statistically significant chasm. That's millions of votes.
2
The Republican solution to gender-based voting gap? Deny women the vote. Ask Ann Coulter.
5
An equally interesting, though seldom discussed, question is why Democrats are unable to close their gender gap -- they keep losing the male vote, even when they run male candidates. Perhaps the Dems should cease trying to divide the country -- along gender lines, along racial/ethnic lines, along class lines. But that would be asking them to want to have a color-, gender- and class-blind society.
3
I have long joked that the DSM, the disagnostic bible for psychotherapists and their spouses has needed two new categories of mental illness: “rigid personality disorder” and “terminal uniqueness!”
I was originally thinking it applied (mostly) to Republicans, but I can make a good case it equally well applies to (mostly) men! Of course, I think that while the foundational reasons for these “afflictions” are found in family and cultural beginnings, it is long past time that men learned greater interiority, a wider language for emotional expression, greater empathic sensitivity and connection with others, in lieu of the hyper-individuality they too often learn in traditional male circles; that is, male circles that are passed along by both traditional men and women, parents and cultural icons!
We need more women and people of color, so-called minorities in positions of power, especially in the good, ole US of A! BTW, I am a man and know whereof I speak!
5
Almost all the articles put out by the 'liberal progressive left' (ie the Center Right) focus on identity as a substitute to what real politics should be about.
This is because they do not and cannot act in OUR interest as they as much funded by oligarchs (Soros, Clinton foundation) as the actual Right (Koch, Adelson) making us an oligarchy not a democracy. Yes we once DID have an actual functioning democracy, press and real political choices but as the Elite actually run things and have utter contempt for democracy or letting 'the people' have a say. (too often well expressed here in these very pages where those who vote 'wrong' are demonized and abused because actual political debate and solutions are actually out of the question).
So what we get is the politics of the irrelevant (tarns rights, pearl clutching morality, horror at the separation of 2000 families by Trump but none towards either Obama or far more importantly the MILLIONS killed or made homeless by an opposition (DNC and Clintonites) who love to ignore the FAR worse war CRIMES committed by SOS Clinton (Libya's destruction alone leading to concentration camps, 40,000+ deaths per year from drowning.
We see how todays' Democrats play by the Reagan GOP playbook (McCarthyism, eternal multiple wars of choice, hacking an ally Merkel, cheating Sanders etc) because they are morally, in their minds only, superior.
Trump IS a pig, IS dangerous but it is today's Democrats who have betrayed democracy the most.
7
In this day and age I will never understand why any woman would vote for a Republican.
6
Mostly the same reason why white males do: irrational, overwhelming fear. Fear - of the loss of status, of change, of whatever - is what drives them all. Everything else is just rationalization, and the rationalization cover needs to be big enough to hide that much fear. Hence the patently absurd but emotionally loaded claims that the left "hates" straight white males, the left wants "open borders", the left "murders babies", and the like.
3
When I look at the picture heading this column, I see males acting so like the subservient chimpanzees Jane Goodall describes. The great irony here is that these very men have been forced into submission by the likes of Trump their whole lives. All they can do is act out their claim to maleness, by aping their leader. They stomp their feet, shake their fists, and babble on like the crowds at Babel in grunts and cheers. The Alpha males have trained them well, while the Alpha males steal their money, move their jobs away if they dare ask for their fair share, flaunt the women most of the men dream of at night, and mark their territory by stamping their names all over their ugly creations.
The greatest irony is that these wimpy males are stuck a couple of stages back in the process of human evolution, even though most of them likely refuse to believe in evolution.
If brute force wins out, it wouldn't be the first time in evolutionary history. More often than not, however, the quick- witted species wins the race. The lumbering, knuckle draggers are left to die the slow death of starvation after they have killed off all their prey and, otherwise, destroyed their environment. At that point their self-styled manliness is generally so depleted that they lack the strength to be mobile. Usually, long before that point the quick witted have recognized the wisdom--in the words of that quintessential American adolescent Huck Finn--of the need to "light out for the territories."
4
I have great difficulty identifying with men who subject us all to their gun carrying, aggressive pick up truck driving and loud Harley motorcycle mentality. Being obnoxious is disrespectful and annoying. The less respect they get the more aggressive, loud louts they become. Is it me or am I feeling more threatened by these types of men just driving around my town? The ones with the huge flags waving on their vehicles make me the most nervous. I try not to make eye contact with any of them.
8
The poll said H. Clinton should have been the President.
2
Also, I am tired of being told that I believe in such-and-such because I am a white male. I believe in none of the political positions ascribed to me in the article. If X % of a polling group is counted as believing something, that's X %. Not 100 %.
And its ridiculous when pollsters try to interpret politics by ape behavior. The gender gap is caused by the abortion issue and #metoo, period.
8
Sadly most people are primal in their thinking, all of us are sometimes and some of us are most times. No doubt White males are being blamed and diminished in recent years, with some justification. That opens the door to someone like Trump, who is playing them like a violin.
1
They'll have to meet in the middle, at least occasionally, or we'll become extinct.
1
It is not a matter of gender, but of common sense and intelligence. To get rid of Trump is really the only realistic solution available for someone who are able to think.
3
White women voted for trump. They largely vote GOP like white men, just 8-10 percent less.
Democrats win women overall simply because of their dominance with nonwhites.
Stop presenting women as a monolithic group. The gap between white & nonwhite women is huge and shouldn’t be ignored.
6
i have been stymied for years about this issue. I understand a vote against one's wants. heck i supported a tax increase on cigarettes years ago. at that time i was a smoker but felt it was the right thing that year.
the fact the GOP keeps as many women in their ranks is somewhat mystifying. it's like to me these GOP women always vote against their own interests. it makes no sense to me.
both sexes are required to continue human existence but only one truly Delivers on the bargain. the fact this atavistic man who is running the show in america should frighten these women of all stripes. i get the need to survive but to always support backwards thinking and actions is not conducive to Growth. for the uneducated voter or the absent one they all need to stay that way and eventually they will be irrelevant. they have snubbed all opportunity to further themselves by evolving in their life's. and now they are marginalized. good for them, i hope they accomplish the end of their use full shelf lives in the shadows.
3
The male brain is wired differently from the female. Perhaps this evolved with the different roles in hunting and gathering.
Right now white men see themselves as an endangered species, and are acting accordingly.
3
With such a divide, I wonder how marriages between couples who have parted ways politically are faring? Trump disdains and is downright cruel to women, immigrants, and laborers, to name just a few of the disfavored demographics. How about it, ladies? What is it like to be married to a man who has morphed into a Trump fan when you feel the opposite? Any Trump divorces, as his presidency revealed your husband to be someone you no longer recognized?
5
I'd seriously rather join a convent than couple with a Trump voter. And if I somehow found myself with a Trump voter, divorce would be swift and final.
2
Yes! "Biff" in "Back To The Future" is exactly who I thought of as well when Trump became president. And it's America who's currently being assaulted by him. What I wouldn't give for a George McFly to open the car door right about now and declare, "No, Biff, you leave her alone!"
This analysis is drastically incomplete. It focuses on what men for Trump have to gain from their support - this allegiance to the dominant male primate gives them a reflected glow of personal status & power - but it doesn't bring equal clarity to what people opposing Trump want. The #MeToo wave is not the main deal. Justice-as-revenge is not the main deal. Women on the Democratic left, along with men, will align their interests more with those of the community; you might say, as an extension of the family.
This is why the years of governance by Democrats, in our era, have proved more beneficial to the nation at large than the years of Republican power.
Check it out.
8
Trump lost any minuscule chance he might have had of getting my vote after the remark he made about Megan Kelly. His disdain and disrespect for women were all too obvious.
6
Another reason to elect more women to Congress and state legislatures. White men have not and seem to not wish to keep up with the changing economics and social mores. I have family members who have been teachers for a long time and they will attest to the failure of parents to expect the high educational standards that they obtain from their daughters and not their sons. White men do not go to college in the same numbers as men and it shows. More than 50% of all medical students are now women. White men wish to "take the country back". From whom they do not know. Stupidity is no excuse for trying to push the country towards fascism and anarchy. White men need to get with the program and grow up.
6
Won't be seeing a woman elected President anytime soon. Democrats better nominate a tough guy (John Brennan) in 2020.
2
Do people buy the zero sum game because it is easier to understands? The feminist movement, in most of its varying degrees, is based on the principle of equal opportunity for all regardless of gender, race, faith, political belief. When women fought for the right to vote, they didn't want men to lose their right to vote. It's not women gain what men lose. Why is it so difficult for some men - and some women, too - to accept simple equality for all?
41
Demographics are catching up with the republican party.
They cannot hold off that fact with their continued purging of voters rolls of Liberal Voters. They cannot stop hold us off with poll taxes and moving around the polling stations. They cannot stop us with ending early voting, nor with requiring us to have 15 new pieces of identification. They cannot stop us with wedge issues anymore.
In fact, because of those wedge issues ( in particular not allowing women to have complete dominion over their own bodies) the backlash is going to be immense and sustained.
Women are not only going to vote in record numbers, but they are applying for the jobs themselves.
There is indeed a special place in hell for women that do not support other women, so on that fact alone, why would any women support the republican party ?
They wouldn't.
22
Professor Pinker offers the most important note in this sociological/psychological safari. It's not that men went for an "alpha" in Trump. It's that they went for a "caricature" of an alpha. He's Biff in "Back to the Future." Fumbling, an object of amusement, deluded, child-like issuing "twitter-barks" (hardly the stuff of high noon) and sucking up to men like Putin and Xi who could arguably be called real alphas. *They* are dangerous men. Calculating, very smart, hard workers, effective, strategic, and not to be trifled with. Trump, even without constitutional limitations, isn't even a pale imitation. A pity he (and his followers) can't see the difference and that Trump is out of his depth.
33
Please include purity-testing Stein voters with the Republican Party. They knew that in our two-party system a vote for Stein was a vote for Trump,but they did it anyways with great glee and smug malice towards the rest of us progressives (Susan Sarandon tops my hate list). I made peace with the continued existence of the GOP years ago but it's Stein progressives who deeply betrayed me and I expect to be taking it out on them for the rest of my life.
This says Democrats have been driving away men while pulling in women.
How about they put some focus on keeping their men? Then they'd win.
There are some issues for which that is impossible, the misogynous appeal, the racist appeal.
However, there are other issues that appeal to men. Focus more on those. Jobs, pay, consumer credit (buying toys), and good polling could find more. Democrats have written off or ignored a margin by which they lose.
5
So you suggest that Democrats try to "keep" men, but it doesn't occur to you that Republicans should try to "keep" women? There is going to be a female backlash like never before against the GOP, yet you see the problem as democrats not keeping men. I wonder why that is.
5
Maureen -- You want the GOP to keep women? I don't. But I do want the Dems to keep enough men to win.
I suppose you may mean the GOP should treat women better. Yeah, but it will never happen, so better they lose.
A wonderfully insightful outlook or even prediction.
If the wheel of history rolls toward a matriarchal society, so be it. Being neither a Trumpian Republican, nor Clintonite Democrat, I stay calm by thinking of politics as a dualistic struggle of Good and Evil, where each side has for a while the upper hand. Grin and bear it ...
One of the best columns on the politics of the Trump era I have read over the last two years. Excellent. This is what journalism used to be about and, clearly, still can be.
6
Could we get something straight at the outset? Not all men are conservatives nor are they likely to drift that way over time. Few men want to live in a theocratic police state which is the ultimate end of the trend if it continues.
18
Male patriarchy and misogyny have ruined civilization for far too long; it's well past time for women to take the lead and forcefully reject the wretched male powermongers that are currently running the Russian-Republican Congress, Presidency, voting rights, worker rights, female rights and country into the ground.
The 2016 vote for Trump was a caveman vote, and Trump has delivered the Neanderthal public policy his misogynistic base adores.
One of his first acts was re-issuing and expanding the Global Gag Order that cut health and contraception funding for women worldwide...while surrounded by a group of smiling white men as the cruel signing 'ceremony'.
“It wasn’t unexpected that they would reinstate the global gag rule, but the dramatic expansion of the scope of it is truly shocking,” said Geeta Rao Gupta of the United Nations Foundation.
Then in April 2017, Trump ended funding for the UN population fund (UNFPA) – the world’s largest provider of contraceptives, which provides reproductive health services to 12.5 million women in more than 46 countries.
Then Trump and Pruitt proceeded to shred the EPA, because who needs clean air, water and earth.
Then Trump and Greed Over People delivered a massive Tax-Cut Christmas gift to billionaires and charged it to the middle class.
Then Trump stacked the courts to ensure that no male sperm gets left behind.
These are Mad Men misogynists in charge.
D to go forward; R for raping the country, the planet and forced pregnancies.
132
Articles like this one are always very interesting to read, but they often leave out any mention of the 2008 and 2012 elections of President Obama. If the male electorate has been drifting rightward since 1980 with women remaining in place, how does that square with the 2008 and 2012 wins for Obama? And if you go all the way back to 1992, the democratic candidate has won the popular vote in every presidential election save 2004! I'm not spouting predictions or theories either -- it really happened. So, maybe we should be thinking more about who (which demographic) is the most motivated to vote -- the when and the why, rather than "alpha" males and the women who love them.
15
Big puzzles have many pieces. This is one.
2
I think many voters, men and women, have become weary of " conversations regarding the disadvantages faced by racial and ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ community and women." Men are attracted to Trump because, with all his faults, he shows no feminine personality traits. It feels like he is " one of the guys."
4
Some of my best friends are guys, including my husband and son. Thankfully none of my guys have a thing in common with this boorish and dangerous pretender in chief.
4
The men vs. women scope is intriguing so far as it goes, but a slightly sharper level of analysis is required to get to a more accurate framing of our current moment. White men constitute roughly 32% of the US population, yet control virtually all levels of power, from the White House to your local school board; from Wall Street to your nearest Walmart. And this order of affairs has been so not just for the entirety of our Republic, but indeed goes back millennia to Ancient Greece and beyond. But for our present state, this power imbalance constitutes nothing less than a sociopolitical apartheid. And given that such power is rarely, if ever, voluntarily relinquished, and the extent to which white men will go to maintain their sole dominance (the election of someone like Trump; conspiring with Russia to undermine western democracy; voter suppression; etc.), I fear that the only logical endgame is a general and violent upheaval of the social order.
7
This article is frightening when you consider what is happening to us white men: shifting so far right and shedding any sense of decency or empathy for others. I think this dove tails with Michelle Margolis piece on how politics influences your religion in today's Times. She didn't mention it but any casual observer will have noted the hyper masculinization of Jesus in the minds of Evangelical Christians. No good news for the poor only good news for misogynists and patriarchal figures.
What struck me was the date 1968 for the start of much of this shift to the right. The folly of Vietnam is the gift that keeps on giving as many men were more bothered by a loss of faith in our military instead of the deaths of Vietnamese women and children at My Lai.
Sports talk radio demonstrates hyper masculinity as does Fox news and other outlets. The idea of what is a man is someone who can beat other people up.
When American a turned from baseball to football as its favorite sport it began to embrace this more aggressive mind set. Food for thought.
We need to teach young men to care, to love, to read poetry and to truly serve others.
8
The predominance of the routine acceptance of misandry by "progressives,"as evidenced by the stereotypes portrayed in these very columns, no doubt plays a role in men believing they must change their belief systems to be accepted by progressives. Why should men be subject the sort of tyranny that we reject outright for other groups.
4
While the he-man/baboon metaphors are interesting/scary, Edsall makes this too simple as he, as too many other journalists are doing, keep forgetting about one crucial demographic--independent voters. Elections will no longer turn solely on how many Repubs or Dems turn out to vote--but who independents ultimately decide. In Dutchess County where I live, independent voters account for nearly one-third of all registered voters. I despise Trump and Trumpism and as a white, well-educated female am doing all I can to oppose him and candidates who think like him--but we must never discount the power of the independent voter.
4
Fascinating article. Another gender aspect to be explored is how all this affects female candidates and whether a woman can be elected President, especially at this particular point in time. Women cannot succeed by acting like alpha males and are easily perceived as strident. And the Democrats these days, men and women alike, are appearing very strident, which does not go over well with the electorate and is particularly loathsome to the male voters. Both male and female Democratic candidates need to be very careful in this cycle to be "likable".....I think "keeping calm" while being powerful and forceful will be most helpful in 2018 and 2020. The blustering, chest-thumping alpha male needs to be ignored more and countered with a more mature response.
2
The graph shows men moving away from Democrats - despite what the text says. But regardless of gender, Democrats have lost electorally nationwide.
But which issues are critical in defining ""right" and "left"? More importantly for Democrats - reeling nationwide electorally - on which issues might it actually be beneficial for Democrats to move left, and on which to move right? In order to win - not just to imagine that you are going to win?
NYT's Frank Bruni (a Republican) would have Democrats believe that more of the same - Clinton type Third Way right on economics, and left on social wedge issues - is just what Democrats need. Dont't fall for it. Again.
From NYT's Thomas Edsall:
"..among those who say immigration is their top issue, opponents outnumber supporters by nearly two to one. In this respect, immigration is similar to gun control — both mobilize opponents more than supporters."
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/opinion/the-democrats-immigration-...
Pointing out Trump's corruption, is met by non partisan swing voters with a yawn - so long as Democrats run candidates who take big money from banks. Both beyond the pale? Then corruption is a non-issue for swing voters.
Obama won Wisconsin *big*, on populist economic rhetoric in 2008. Then he bailed out banks and left everyone else in the lurch. THAT is why Democrats got routed in 2010.
Wedge issues don't motivate swing voters, except to discourage them.
Not hopeful for 2018, nor 2020.
3
The Elephant in the room is abortion. It appears that any nominee trump appoints will disrupt Roe vs Wade. This will jolt women to feel exceedingly threaten and rightfully so. Women of all economic classes had encountered the real need for safe abortions.
This is not a new dynamic for 2018, this is a reality women face since time and memorial. Currently, the Republicans love and crave "witch hunts" including circuses and will be really enthusiastic about punishing women.
These actions will certainly impact women that comprise the base. No abortions, lack of welfare and the destruction of Obamacare will really hit these women and their children.
6
The gender chasm is how few men go to college. But this gender disparity is ignored proving gender equality for a liberal only moves in one direction. Toward the woman.
2
SD, I agree with you. It’s hard to see how far we have fallen in the Trump era, although Trump is just the latest incarnation of jungle version masculinity. I grew up knowing honorable men who took responsibility, didn’t blame others, cared about other people, were mannerly, and could be trusted.
6
Not all men support Trump and not all women vote for Democrats. Making this about gender is a mistake. Our two parties are growing farther and farther apart along the continuum of democracy versus authoritarianism.
It is simply that more men are authoritarians who believe might makes right, who want a strong government where rule breakers are harshly punished, while more women want a supportive government that nurtures and encourages people to be their best.
The real political divide in America is between those who want an authoritarian style government like they have in Russia and those who prefer a democratic form of government that has been our tradition in America for over 200 years.
Maybe that is why the Republicans seem to like Putin so much, and why it is becoming the party of old white men.
3
Trump's desperate need for attention will do him in. The more women see and hear of him, the more repulsed we are by him and by the party that chose him as its leader.
5
THE PROBLEM is testosterone poisoning of those oin elected offices. The solution is simple, elect qualified, nurturing women.
Women cooperate and compromise, starting in preschool and understand that survival is not enough. If we take care of the lest of us, the richest of us will do just fine.
2
What's most astonishing about this analysis beside the fact that it totally ignores the ways in which both men and women in more urban states have less of a vote than people in large, lightly populated states is how insulting it is to men (and women) who believe that basic morality, honesty, expertise and competence matter. The truth still remains that a majority of Americans who voted did not vote for Trump. I think the truth of why he remains popular among those who voted for him is simpler than psycho babble about gender and chimpanzees. When you make a little mistake, it's often easier to acknowledge it than if you make a terrible mistake. We all make little mistakes and don't see them as defining us, but if we make a terrible mistake of judgement, we often realize that it reflects badly on our sense of self. That's why people continue to believe nonsense like the danger of vaccines.
That's also why con artists have such an easy time and that's what Trump has spent a lifetime perfecting: not dominance in the sense of being better, smarter or more competent but dominance in the sense of a fake performance. For the ordinary person, admitting that they fell for that performance is extremely hard to do. The real question is what happens when the people who voted him have to confront the wreckage when it hits them personally and admit that they enabled it.
8
The Trump supporters I know are very concerned about "hand outs." These are hard working guys who pride themselves in working 60 hours a week if that is what is needed to support their families. Their pay has been dropping for years, and they resent paying taxes that they see as being handed over to "lazy, shiftless welfare recipients."
These guys just dont see the complexities in our society. And they tend to think about solving societal problems in terms of "all you need to do is..." They see simple solutions to complex problems and cant imagine their solutions not working, kind of like Trump.
7
Government does not provide "support for 'free' to women", they have programs applicable to all - Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP etc. And judging by the degree of domestic violence and sexual assault, men aren't doing a great job on the protecting front. We've seen where that paradigm goes - suppression and repression of and violence against women. Raises the question - why do men oppose/fear strong, equal, capable women? Some navel gazing time is in order for those GOP men.
17
Memo to all - Trump will be out in 2020 or 2024. The next Republican candidate (perhaps Nikki Haley) could have great appeal to women.
This is not a trend. This is about one person - Donald Trump. Move on.
1
Two alpha chimps meet in Helsinki next week. Will either chimp attempt to chase the other up a tree? No, both have to much to lose by acting alpha.
2
and we invented "feminism" for the good of mankind. However that is not what we Edsall is talking about- Basically he is saying that raising expectations or lowering of the same may elicit sympathy or antagonism. Initially the courage women demonstrated was worthy of respect- maybe not so much now. One does not gain courage or status by congratulating an afflicted person or group. Playing the victim will not stand, that dog wont hunt, as they say. Power is addictive.
I'm sure if we let white males vote on it, they'd repeal the 19th amendment.
But I find it difficult to believe that the percentages of Republican v. Democratic white males is uniform between the Silents, the Boomers, Gen Y, Millenials and soon to be Gen Z. I would hope to see a rather dramatic decline of white male Republicans across these generations.
8
Women live in a world of compromise, usually doing what's in the best interest of their family, their coworkers and generally supporting the good of the group. Today women are often responsible for financial support of their families and trying to function within influence of years of the alpha male mentality. It's hard not to get angry with some men. Most women will carry on, however, doing the best they can. I hope women remember that no one is in the voting booth with you and think realistically about what direction the Republicans and Trump are taking us. If you are not offended by this direction yourself, think of your family's welfare and the future for your daughters.
6
That White men are steadily becoming more politically conservative is a reflection of the crisis of modern men as a whole. Men no longer have a clue what their role in society is. It used to be that a man was a man by virtue of exercising such manly virtues as control over women, children and families, ruling the state, making the laws, hunting for food, and fighting battles. No matter how low down on the totem pole, a man was always able to comfort himself by remembering his very virility and the joyful fact that he was not born a woman.
While women generally are happy to be free of male control, many men see women's freedom as having come at their expense. It's not merely about jobs and traditional power; it's about their very pride in being a man. In urban centers with the kinds of jobs many undereducated, alienated rural men are always being told are the jobs of the future, their sort of manliness is irrelevant, suspect or risible. Finally, women in the age of sexual equality don't want or need men like they used to; many are choosing not to marry, and prefer raising children on their own or even conceiving babies with sperm from anonymous donors, and they've learned they can do without husbands and fathers.
Unless a new cultural model for modern man emerges that is specifically about pride in being a man, men will grow only more unhappy, and things will only get worse.
2
Democrats, the leadership at least, will continue to grasp at any straw to win, be it slow demographic shift, identity politics, LGBT rights,or just plain anti-Trumpism - anything save coming up with an economic plan to address an almost universal anxiety of what lies ahead. They are so ensnared by corporate cash and so out of touch that only insurgents can save the party from complete ossification
The Huffington Post just ran an extremely disturbing article about where many of Obama's appointees have ended up, though I guess it shouldn't surprise anybody that they are all sitting on corporate boards and picking up hefty paychecks for showing up 8 or 9 times a year. Many working for corporations that have paid large fines for malfeasance. This is the party in a nutshell. I can't imagine any of these men and women giving a hoot about heatlthcare, student debt or a living wage, and they're the ones running the party!
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/so-how-are-obama-administration-alu...
9
The pollsters can knock themselves out all they want. The split we have in America is between people who can think for themselves, and those who need others to tell them what to think. The second group are Trump's people. They can't think their way through any complicated problems. Just give them a hat and a slogan, and you are President.
21
Thanks, but let us be clear. As Kauffman says, it is about white men. It is both race and gender. White women now moving away from Trump are joining black women who have been voting Democrat. White men left the Dems in the 1960s because of civil rights gains.
1
I've long thought that men who support Trump think he has raised their status.They won't question him because he makes them feel special. The case Mr. Edsall makes in this article supports that viewpoint.
The world is changing, and these men (and their women) feel threatened and so they're lashing out. They see Trump strutting about the world like an alpha chimpanzee, beating his chest and bullying everyone in his path, and they want to be like him.
He's a genius at manipulating a mob, and they've become part of a cult. That's why they flock to his rallies, so they can pretend to be just like him. They don't care what he destroys, even our democracy, as long as they can feel important.
The evangelical support for Trump also becomes understandable, since it's a religious ideology based on male dominance and female subservience.
It's sad how much biology and the lizard part of our brains still control so much of human thought and behavior. We are not rationale animals.
The question is, how long will it take these people to adapt to a changing world? How many other Trumps will there be in our future until they do? How long will it take us as a country to repair the damage?
12
Well presented. Propaganda must be quelled to allow sanity to return.
3
I did not vote for Trump and will not. I hope there are more women in Congress, and I will vote that way. I do tire, however, of the endless bashing of white males by many on the left. If there is a problem, blame the white males. If a white male is successful, it is because of privilege. I cannot think of another group that is treated as monolithic and reviled more by the left. Remember, the country that immigrants according to Gallup most want to come to is the U.S. by a large margin, the land of the evil white males who have caused all of the country’s problems. If white males are responsible for so much evil, why would this be the case? Perhaps they see things in a different light than so many on the left.
5
Trump represents the toxic mix of alpha male and resentment that characterizes working class white men. They are being displaced by robots, automation and jobs that require more skills than they have. Instead of fighting for more resources for training and education, fighting for unions who would help navigate these times, they dug in and claimed victimization. Trump is working class, he is from Queens, his family made lots of money from rental apartments in the outer boroughs, he went to a local college in NY before he finished at Wharton undergrad, he doesn't have an MBA, he has a BA in business. He resents that his money did not grant him a classic 6 apartment on Park Ave, he resents that he was never really accepted into Manhattan social circles (he stomped and Page 6ed his way in) and he was treated as a side show by Manhattan elite. What he failed to realize is that the truly wealthy don't broadcast their value, they fly under the radar and most use their money not only for their own comfort but to help others through philanthropy. Trump is still the crass, slightly educated, poorly read, working class schlumpf from Queens, he even dresses the working class idea of wealthy - knock off suits that don't quite fit and garish ties. That he appeals to white working class men who are angry and resentful about the gains made by women, minorities and immigrants should come as no surprise to anyone.
9
Ah, another NYT columnist quoting Quinnipiac polls, the same polls that had Hillary beating trump by 9 points on November 5, 2016. I'm surprised he didn't consult the excellent prognosticator Nate Silver, who had Hillary at an 83% chance of winning on November 6, 2106.
And then, still people wonder why the term "fake news" is alive and well.
Edsall, you might want to factor in the 45% of the electorate that is Independent. They tend to not answer polls, but they do tend to vote at a high rate.
In addition, why do liberal op-ed writers continue to fail to acknowledge the 9.2 millions voters who voted for Obama twice, and voted Trump, and that Trump got 29% of the Latino vote, and 8% of the black vote ?
There are factors running much deeper and wider than "gender gaps", that gave rise to 45.
The Independent/Unaffiliated voter is the true silent majority, which neither the media nor the pollster industry understand at an even basic level.
4
Of course, Alex Castellanos would revere Trump’s perceived manliness. He is a small man with a Napoleon complex. I have watched him for several years when he appeared as a panelist on Sunday news programs. His speech and cocky demeanor have always indicated his bent toward strongmen. I’m still astonished that he still defends Trump after all the antics of our current president.
6
Edsall asks but doesn't answer a critical question this column. How much can Democrats bank on the votes of women to block the Trump agenda in 2018 and to vote him out of office in 2020? Answer (1) they can't and even if they could it won't matter. Trump is going to place another justice on SCOTUS. Nothing can stop that. Controlling SCOTUS is the grand slam that ends the ball game. Control SCOTUS & you win the Cultural wars. Control SCOTUS & you destroy the liberal agenda once & for all whether they win elections or not. That's why they are putting up with Trump for now. Trump has gotten Two Supreme Court appointments, he may well get more, and he’s moved more quickly on lower-court appointments than Obama did. The legal arm of the conservative movement is probably the best organized, most far-reaching and far-seeing sector of the Right. They truly are in it — and have been in it — for the long game. Control the Supreme Court, stack the judiciary, and you can stop the progressive movement, no matter how popular it is, no matter how much legislative power it has, for decades. All other priorities are rescinded. Long after Trump is gone, the right will rely on the judiciary — and behind that, the Constitution — to protect, enlarge, & consolidate their gains. What Happens if the Gender Gap Becomes a Gender Chasm? Not much. The country will continue to shift to the right. Whether you like it or not this is an idea who's time has come. And there's not much we can do to stop it.
3
Democrat hubris in over-estimating the likelihood of a Clinton win in 2016, coupled with Obama and Reid not engaging in the fight to bring Garland's nomination to a vote, led to Gorsuch and now Kavanaugh.
The likelihood of both GInsburg and Breyer (Thomas is only 69) lasting on the Court until 2025 is extremely low. So Trump could have one or two new Justices, with a nominal 7-2 leaning.
Fivesome of Roberts, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas could last a decade or more, along with Sotomayor and Kagan.
That is a fearsomely solid majority.
1
I am sure there is some validity to the authors analysis. However, it also struck me, as I read the last bits of his data, that all of this could also be assessed much more simply. Instead of all the assigning of underlying psychological causes, is the "rightward shift" of men not more easily explained by a committed bloc of racists shifting from the Democratic to the Republican party with the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960's?
2
Women got the memo that the country and world were changing. Men didn't.
12
Women were the deciding factor in Hillary Clinton winning millions more votes that Trump. Had it not been for the Russians and the outdated and unequal electoral college we wouldn't be having this conversation.
40
Perhaps gender will decide if there’s a blue wave in November. White men will never abandon the president because they share his world view. The president harvested a huge crop among white women in 2016, in spite of the Hollywood Access tape. They brushed off his lewd conduct and supported him over a fellow sister, Hillary Clinton. White women hold the key to this November’s election results. They overlooked his lack of morals and forgave him his marital trespasses but all that might end with a Supreme Court that will tell women what to do with their bodies and take away their health care.
White men and a white and enabling Congress are pushing America back to the middle of the 20th century and this Court will make it all legal, if the president has his way. Women should stand up to their men when they are wrong and this president and his party are wrong on just about everything that women hold dear. Sometimes race can bridge a chasm but not so much with gender. Maybe women will tell white men that their days of privilege are over.
2
Well it's back to primal basics with Trump and his followers. He certainly did physically display his dominance at NATO yesterday, sticking out his chest in photos and snearing. He publicly shamed Angela Merkel and her nation and he has a particular disdain for Merkel which I believe is because she is a dominant female. If this is the level we're now acting on, male versus female and big white men versus everyone else, woman need to get back to basics, too, and get in a defensive posture. Women, especially single ones, are more dependent on benefits to survive, especially since we are paid less. Ladies, we all need to register and vote in November. Our status is slipping and we need to respond to the alpha males. I'm not willing to be pushed back barefoot into the kitchen, are you?
6
There's a lot here about white men. What about non-white men? It is, after all, unarmed black men who have been visibly killed by police. It is Hispanic men (and women, too) who are singled out for scrutiny by ICE (and even by whites). As the nation inexorably moves toward "majority minority" status, won't non-white men be more likely to abandon the Republican party? (Whether they then join the Democratic party is another question.)
2
I'm in the approximately 40% that are not gullible enough to see Trump as my savior. I'm a combat Marine veteran with a Ph.D., so my background would suggest that I could go either way. While white men may feel energized by Trump as their protector, meanwhile the cruel GOP in Congress is gutting everything American including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, aid for children, and facilitating Trumps move toward war, perhaps World War. Then where will they be as their sons and daughters die in another useless conflict designed to enrich the wealthy even more. These angry white male voters are taking the country and the world down the toilet and destroying democracy just so they can continue to control women and minorities. At least at 69 I won't see all the chaos caused by these selfish male voters, but my teenage granddaughters certainly will. For that I am truly saddened.
7
No. Liberals believe that people have the right to pursue happiness. Life. Liberty. And the pursuit of happiness... ring a bell?
So toughen up and stop worrying about Bob who wants to be Sue. It's none of your or my business.
But if some fat cat wants to dump poison in the air or water, you bet that's our business.
And that pretty much sums it up. Of course there are other issues, but it boils down to that general principle.
I wish conservatives could see that. Such a shame they think we want to destroy America. But the fat cats have divided and conquered.
24
The notion that someone would cast a vote for a candidate solely based on gender or political party is just silly. If people are truly invested in the future of the country, or their community, they would research the candidates and vote for the best one, regardless of party or gender. Example.... my state senator is a Democratic Haitian-American woman. She is ardently pro-life, has been convicted of both mortgage fraud and elder abuse and after Hurricane Irma, directed her contacts at the power company to turn her power on first, prioritizing her own comfort over the needs of her constituents. When the issue with the power came to light, she claimed she asked for priority due to her elderly mother living with her. The Miami Herald then discovered that her mother had died 4 years prior. Anyone that votes for this woman because she is a Democrat, a woman, an immigrant or black needs to seriously examine their responsibilities to the community before casting a vote.
6
What happens? Good news appears for those males who preferred reading to weightlifting, higher education to sports, and fine arts to macho madness.
2
Jane Goodall seems to have it about right. It's not just, or mostly, the policies; it's the displays: Shouting and insults, stomping and waving a big stick. Constant campaign rallies. Making America great again apparently means taking it back to before the emergence of the human species.
15
Fascinating column. Interesting when contrasted with politics here in France.
First, the US of the first half of my nearly 60 years:
Hook, line and sinker, this was the America of my early youth: "America the beautiful ... from sea to shining sea", "with justice and liberty for all". That plus a moderate Christian upbringing, a classic Protestant work ethic and a keen awareness of my own and our world's finite resources was the essential making of me.
A college-educated white male, I've never felt a strong attraction to the Republican party, and over the years, the GOP has become polarizing and downright repulsive on many counts.
So second, France: it is not perfect, but it has been a kind of oxygen that was lacking in the US. Gender relations are less fraught. The alpha males are not like the chimpanzees Jane Goodall described. Discretion is preferred to open aggressiveness so that, generally, civil discussions can be held.
Interestingly, in 2017 Marine Le Pen succeeded in repelling undecided voters by using a Trumpian debate strategy (mendacious, "in your face") when facing Emmanuel Macron.
How to shrink the American political gender gap? Living in peace, dignity and respect for one another would go a long way. American women have to sell men on the benefits of that, even if it means fighting tooth and nail.
10
ah yes, "with liberty and justice for all". How could I forget?
1
Getting with this program requires an intellectual decision on the part of the dominant hierarchical group/individual to subordinate themselves, to one degree or another, in the name of demonstrable social progress. Here it’s gender, elsewhere it’s race/ethnicity or sexual orientation. The privacy of the voting booth ensures that it will be a very long and painful process.
There is a failure in this article to connect the rise of male Republicanism and the fall of private sector unions. Just as union membership began its slow decline from 1/3 of the workers to the present day single digits, males began moving increasingly to the Republican Party. And there is a failure to grasp what this did to the nuclear family. What these union jobs did was allow a family to be supported on one income, typically the man's. While the mother was able to devote all her energies raising her children. The father gained esteem from being the bread winner and the mother from being the nurturer and care giver. With the decline of unions, thus the diminution of wages and benefits, the nuclear family was economically stressed, forcing working-class woman to work outside the home. This not only put pressure on the quality time families had to spend but also on the sense of purpose of each member. The Democrats need understand this dynamic - that in many working class families the values of family (with comfortable roles within that family to nurture its overall well-being) are more important than some feminist version of radical equality. The Democrats could emphasize a message of greater economic equality through greater support of unions and their ability to rise the economic well-being of its members and consequently more quality personal\family time. Currently, they are more comfortable with the feminist elites than the huddled masses yearning for economic justice.
20
What you call feminist elites and feminist radical equality is out of touch and a male biased view. Feminists support women deciding for themselves what their role in the family and in society will be, including the decision to stay at home to raise children. On unions, maybe you’re forgetting how many women were in unions. It’s the GOP that systematically broke up unions, the Democratic Party understands this and has long supported the working class and, yes, should emphasize that support much more loudly. The GOP have become masters of propaganda and make untruthful policy positions all the time, the GOP doesn’t support the working class. Finally, one thing men, white men in particular, need to evolve on is that equality is NOT radical.
3
What separates us from the apes? Our brains. Our ability to have empathy, to understand the pain and suffering that others experience. To understand the big picture, to problem solve and come to solutions that benefit all instead of just a few.
Some people just are not bright enough to care. I try to live my life respecting everyone, no matter their sex, age, color, culture, or beliefs. But when it comes to idiots who choose to remain so? My bias against them is becoming more and more difficult to contain.
4
What separates us from the apes? Our brains. Our ability to have empathy, to understand the pain and suffering that others experience. To understand the big picture, to problem solve and come to solutions that benefit all instead of just a few.
Some people just are not bright enough to care. I try to live my life respecting everyone, no matter their sex, age, color, culture, or beliefs. I am not perfect, but I try my best. But when it comes to idiots--especially those who could be something greater but choose to remain ignorant (if not downright stupid)? My bias and anger against them is becoming more and more difficult to contain.
2
So it all boils down to primate behavior, a depressing thought in light of the genius men have for destruction.
Patriarchy flourished in days of yore when fewer people on the planet made room for testosterone fueled aggression. As the world becomes more crowded and urbanized, economic and gender equality becomes more essential to human prosperity and survival.
If, as Mr. Edsall suggests in his excellent column, the current flowering of revanchist fascism among world leaders represents obsolete patriarchy desperate to maintain the status quo, our primate emotions will assure the continuation of our dismal history of human misery and conflict, even as human intellect puts Utopia within our reach.
16
It all boils down to a search for stability. Outsourcing, layoffs and eradication of unions have left so many in reduced circumstances that they vote fro what they think is stabilization but actually accelerates the layoffs and wage stagnation.
5
These snapshots of voting fail to account for external factors, like a major recession, which can cause shifts in voter allegiance.
8
That's very true, but those factors are hypothetical at this point. By necessity, the analysis has to be at a point in time.
1
One must remember the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s made it illegal to discriminate against women. With that the professional schools such a Law and Medicine became close to 50% or mores female as opposed to the 10-15% of prior years. Firemen, police construction workers and finally the Armed Forces admitted women into their ranks.
Men at the margin in intelligence and attitude were pushed aside in gaining admittance.
Trump was really saying not make America great again but make America male again. Deny women control pf their reproductive lives and you push them back into their 'proper roles' as primarily carers of children and housewives.
That message appealed to men particularly men who were being left behind in a changing job market and white women who saw their men not able to support a family on their salaries alone.
Women were pushed to be Democratic voters . Men chose to be reactionary voters.
27
A key variable is voter turnout. US Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys, reports that women's voting rate has exceeded men's since 1980, and this difference has gradually increased from less than 1% in 1980 to more than 4% in 2016. If this turnout trend persists, it could make the gender gap in party preference a major gain for Democrats.
3
Trump entered the NATO summit disparaging allies, then following that display with negotiation.
I always heard "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar" ...but Trump takes the approach advocated by the self-named PUA (Pick-Up Artists), a group of misogynistic aggrieved single men - from whence the term "Incel" (Involuntarily Celibate) originates.
Among other things, they encourage men to seduce women by insulting them, their theory is that is what ladies want, and that will gain them sexual favor.
This is Trump's approach on the national and international stage.
Critically important political, social, and environmental issues aside, is there any reason to think that men and women would not have drastically different reactions in the face of this kind of display?
11
Men are Right, women are Left. Nothing new there. Men moving Right, women moving Left? Little new there. Women, despite their strive for equality (whatever that means), still seek coddling, i.e. Left. A stark contrast in how to live in the world. So it should not be a big surprise, that numerically, major gender changes in Boardrooms haven't taken place. Thought I suppose if women originally controlled the Boards, then whether they were Left or Right wouldn't matter, to their status there. As long as stark contrast exists, among equal numbers, it reasons power will default to those who have control. Little new, here.
3
I am disheartened by what seems to be the predominant focus of a majority of men: might makes right. I have come to the sad conclusion that as long as the average male can exert physical dominance over the average female, women will be viewed as second class citizens, even by other women. I wish I could be more optimistic, as I have two very intelligent daughters.
13
I am disheartened by what seems to be the predominant focus of a majority of men: might makes right. I have come to the sad conclusion that as long as the average male can exert physical dominance over the average female, women will be viewed as second class citizens, even by other women. I wish I could be more optimistic, as I have two daughters with very high intellects who are navigating this world.
1
Very observant. Don't seek too much equality, earn attention. Too much equality; to scream and shout, creates conflict. Conflicts are often won by the strongest.
What gender were / are the great entrepreneurs, that have impacted our lives? Why? Score there --- as a peoples, the rest will follow, literally.
I'm a middle aged Midwest male. Not foreign to schoolyard scuffles, though certainly not ruffian. As a young man I went to Chicago, to work in a professional manufacturing environment. I immediately found that disagreeable exchanges occurred more often, louder, and with disagreed parties in closer proximity to my face. I was heckled some as a child, so I was calloused to tension, but there was always the underlying notion that I might have to defend my person. I never did; and after nearly twenty years, chalked the experience up to Daley style politics.
Where is this pervasive jungle version of masculinity coming from? I'm in my 70's and was raised in a rural region. Growing up, most of us were taught to tell the truth, accept responsibility for our actions, and to always try to do the right thing. Robert Mueller would seem to be the perfect roll model for the era in which I grew up. What has happened?
88
Sadly, while most were taught, fewer absorbed. Rural counties are Trump country, so evidence abounds. Hopefully this will be a teachable 4 years.
I'm puzzled at what's puzzling. Yes, more from women and less from men. But the math means that overall, democrats DO benefit due to higher registration and higher voting numbers of women, all else equal.
1
SD, Ronald Reagan happened. When an actor who would play the roles of actual men of action like Mueller or Kerry got himself elected president and was wildly popular for his words and not his deeds, the Republicans realized that fantasy is what deeply insecure post-Vietnam Americans really wanted. Reality was just too painful for them. They're still addicted.
3
The gender gap is real, but I'm puzzled by its implications for electoral math. If (speaking schematically) Republicans get votes from 70% of the men and 30% of the women, and vice-versa for Democrats, then does winning an election depend on which gender turns out at the polls in larger numbers? Democrats seem to think that they benefit from a gender gap because they get more votes from women. Why shouldn't it mean that they get fewer votes from men?
4
The great, great irony in men’s approval of Trump and Republicanism in general is that these men get nothing, NOTHING in return for their support. Most men and women are average people who work for others and are not terribly aggressive, yet the program of Republicans that they are supporting undermines the economic security of the average citizen by favoring businesses, corporations and the super rich. The average men and women who support Republicans apparently never stop for a single moment to gauge whether they have received any of the “benefits” pushed by the right wing agenda. It is one thing to be a brave, independent working man, it is another thing to be up against that corporation, looking for a job or trying to get a better salary and doing it without the help of another single human being. That’s the consequence of the anti-union policy of the Republican Party. That is the bottom line effect of Republican anti-worker philosophy and apparently something that all our “beta males” delude themselves about when they identify with the chest pounding, insulting bully in the WH. There is no cure for those who don’t protect themselves.
99
Relationships are evolving. The time has come for them to be based on friendship and mutual respect. When we were pioneers on the frontier or similarly difficult places, the partnership you seem to believe in made sense.
6
"Much of this is justified and long overdue, given how women are exploited and discriminated against, but it may leave some men feeling defensive, belittled, and eager for a champion. This may especially affect lower-status men."
Low status men are, in some ways, even more exploited than women in a patriarchal society. In such a society women still retain some value, even if it is limited. Low status men, however, are completely disposable, as any history of war or economics makes clear. Male-chauvinist societies still preach protecting "women and children first" in the event of a disaster, which means throwing the unmarried men overboard without lifeboats.
If low status men are truly so afraid of women's rise that they would rather double down on the old order which treats them, literally and figuratively, as "cannon fodder", then the situation seems hopeless. It is a great failure of liberal politicians that they have not gotten across the message that changing the power hierarchy will not just benefit this group or that group, but everyone who has suffered unfairly.
74
"t is a great failure of liberal politicians that they have not gotten across the message that changing the power hierarchy will not just benefit this group or that group, but everyone who has suffered unfairly."
I'm getting tired of the knee-jerk reflex to blame "liberal politicians" and Democrats for not holding the hands of these men, as if they were children, while they try to cope with a changing world. This is all on men and men alone and they don't have any excuse whatsover. They alone need to learn to adapt to a changing world. That's alway been the key to successful existence on this planet from the beginning.
It's been a man's world for too long and while great things did happen, they've now left the planet in shambles. The idea that they'd rather commit suicide instead of admitting their own failures and sharing the reigns of power with women is ludicrous. This is a fatal character flaw that needs to be bred out of the species. I have little sympathy for low-status men who refuse to evolve. They can now educate themselves like never before in the history of humanity but they refuse to, choosing to tantrum like toddlers instead.
The fragility of the male ego is the ultimate failure and the reason for our current mess, not "liberal politicians". The rest of us just need to overwhelm them in influencing and accelerating cultural change, AND at the ballot box.
2
"It is a great failure of liberal politicians that they have not gotten across the message that changing the power hierarchy will not just benefit this group or that group, but everyone who has suffered unfairly."
I'm getting tired of the knee-jerk reflex to blame "liberal politicians" and Democrats for not holding the hands of these men, as if they were children, while they try to cope with a changing world. This is all on men and men alone and they don't have any excuse whatsover. They alone need to learn to adapt to a changing world. That's always been the key to successful existence on this planet from the beginning.
It's been a man's world for too long and while great things did happen, they've now left the planet in shambles. The idea that they'd rather commit suicide instead of admitting their own failures and sharing the reigns of power with women is ludicrous. This is a fatal character flaw that needs to be bred out of the species. I have little sympathy for low-status men who refuse to evolve. They can now educate themselves like never before in the history of humanity but they refuse to, choosing to tantrum like toddlers instead.
The fragility of the male ego is the ultimate failure and the reason for our current mess, not "liberal politicians". The rest of us just need to overwhelm them in influencing and accelerating cultural change, AND at the ballot box.
9
Don't know what's up with the commenting system but hope this is posted correctly and not as my last reply to another comment below.
You've given me a new way to view the evolving trans and gender identity movements, as a way to minimize gender. While gender will never be "extinguished", minimizing the fetishization of gender difference would go a long way in moving humanity forward and out of this suffocatingly patriarchal quagmire we're stuck in. Interesting that nature, perhaps in response to the catastrophic ending hypermasculinity is taking humanity, has manifested such an obvious spectrum of gender orientation. The key to our survival is to embrace this diversity and, thankfully, millennials are stepping up to the plate and taking on the challenge.
2
Is the world friendly or hostile to your interests? This, said Albert Einstein, was the most important question for us all.
Right now, neither males nor females see the world as friendly: males fear losing their traditional role as provider and protector, females fear that males will fail to let go of those roles. Indeed, as certain categories of males feel more threatened, females are more threatened.
The most basic way to deal with social tensions is to eliminate differences. This article helps me understand why my two daughters' (both in their early 20's) vociferously defend those who have declared themselves either trans or gender neutral: millennials like them are trying to create a world in which gender itself is extinguished or at least minimized.
22
While I agree with much of what you write, the larger problem for women is our lived experience of men (#notallmen) is not of protector or provider but of exploiter and abuser.
In work and in life many of us experience being demeaned, harassed and exploited, and no man comes to our defense while t is happening. So, while we would love male protectors and defenders they do not intervene when we are being hurt.
It is a small group of men who are really awful to the ladies, but they touch the lives of the majority of women. If you men remember times you have felt demeaned or have been assaulted, you will understand it is not the sort of thing any person can forget.
14
This is an excuse for reactionary behavior that presents the fantasy of male dominance. Few of these individuals who are so offended by the social issues you describe actually have any personal experience with those social issues - the #metoo movement or complex gender identities or even bathroom access. It's in the news, but not in their lives. To think that this is driving voters is frustrating to say the least. It is very similar to anti-immigrant attitudes which are most strong in communities with few to no immigrants. The policies that affect all of our daily lives are the ones that ought to drive voters. The other issues are being pushed by media savvy "marketers" on the right and they are the winners.
42
The gender gap exists in turnout as well. The elections in 2018 and 2020 may be determined by the gender gap in turnout. Trump won the Electoral College by only about 78,000 votes in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
In 2016, 63.3% of eligible female voters turned out while only 59.3% of eligible male voters turned out. That is a 4% gender gap that has been growing since 1980 according to a Center for American Women and Politics report.
http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/resources/genderdiff.pdf
If the female voter turnout gap and the female voter preference gap continue to increase, women could easily determine the next two elections.
60
I always found it curious that the alpha male stuff works in boardrooms and high level negotiations, while the actual successes of businesses depend on more evolved behavior.
185
Terrific and thought provoking piece that explains a lot of where we are. This gender gap is largely hidden when one looks at total population polls. However, what strikes me is that an obviously relevant mathematical fact is totally ignored here: women outnumber men both in voter registration and actual voting in both presidential and non presidential election years. Combining this with the data presented leads to a straightforward conclusion.
33
In 2010 census date, there were 21.4 million men between 60 and 90 years old. There were 30.3 million women in same age group. Prime voting group. Old people vote in great numbers, and that's 9 million more women. Clearly not all vote or are capable as they age, but that is still quite a spread.
11
I think this analysis is interesting but misses some important aspects. Pew's research actually shows that unmarried men are actually quite Democratic. It's only married men that are overwhelmingly Republican. The same goes for women. Married women are far more likely to be Republican than divorced, never-married, or widowed women. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/28/a-closer-look-at-the-gen...
99
People in red states and rural settings tend to get married much earlier, often at ages 20-24. People in urban settings and those who spend a lot of time in college or grad school tend to get married later, usually in their lates 20s-early 30s. That could influence the data, as urban/rural is a pretty good proxy for Republican/Democrat.
7
You're either with us or against us. I have rejected any man in my life who supports Trump(and women too, but I only know one). How any man who loves his mother, daughter, sister, wife- could have heard the access hollywood tape and then voted for him anyway is beyond me. How do you face those women? How do you tell them you support their choices and want the best for them? Men can fight their "loss of status" all they want, but for younger men it is not a zero sum game. Women gaining status and equality is good for them, too. It frees them from the constraints of having to perform and provide and bluster and display that the patriarchy has forced on men. It's a win /win.
276
Susan, by opposing social programs, educational and infrastructure spending and wasting large amounts of money on the military, men are voting against their own interests as well.
How men rationalize that making society worse will benefit them is beyond my understanding.
116
Frees them to do what? What is the role of a man when the government provides support for 'free' to women? No wonder married men are overwhelmingly Republican. A large aspect of the man's role in marriage is to provide and protect. It may seem self-defeating to turn down nanny government's free this and free that, but when government encroaches on how you define your value, a man fights back.
9
So what happens to single women— widowed, divorced, never married — and the single moms or the childless, the elderly, the disabled, etc. in your system? There are a lot of people in those circumstances. How about people who can’t compete economically in our current system because of disability or mental illness or age or simply being a little slow? While I disagree with the Democrat platform on a number of things, I still think the party is more apt to support the social safety net that offers some protection for people who need it.
1
One way to see it is that men have moved right. Another way to see it is that men have stayed just where they were, but the public mainstream, as created by the left-leaning media and cultural/art establishment, has moved sharply to the left and is now very extreme.
Just as one example, it used to be absolutely common sense that there are two genders and that people wanting to be what they are not is a mental condition that should be taken care of by mental health professionals, not a human right that should be encouraged. Now that notion is considered right-wing or worse. So without ever changing their stance one bit, millions of people, especially men, are now labeled "extreme".
Liberals of course are completely blind to this because they see it as self-evident and unquestionable that everything always needs to "progress" and if you don't want to progress with them, it is you who is being extreme. The rest of us do not appreciate that sentiment very much. Human nature does not change in 10, 20 or 100 years, so if a movement suddenly claims that everything we used to believe is wrong and we should believe something else entirely, they are the extremists, and also very likely wrong.
22
Bravo!
Also, that there are real, meaningful, and impactful differences between the (two) sexes, that there are no meaningful differences between/among races and ethnicities, that we are entitled because we earn, not because we exist, that rights come from God -- not government, that children lack the experience, accomplishment, and wisdom to have a say in government, that charity is preferable to confiscation and redistribution thru government, that liberty is an American value, and equality not, that "Sticks and stones..." is preferable to a self-esteem movement that suggests that we have a right to a life free of offense and hurt feelings, that income inequality is automatically bad, that feelings are preferable to a God-based moral code...
2
Progress will always be needed as long as there is injustice an inequality. Perhaps white men (and some women) are unable to put themselves in someone else's shoes and therefore think everything is fine. Human nature may not change, but that does not mean that progress shouldn't nudge it along and in some cases force it. People in this country did not willingly give up slavery, but I doubt you would argue that it was extreme to want to abolish it. As for your assertion that there are only two genders and that anyone else has mental health issues, liberals struggle with this too. But we are open to learning more about how or why some people feel that way. If you take the time to get to know people who are transgender, you will see that it was not a choice but something they have known since a very young age. They are not damaged or needing mental health care any more than any one else. No one is forcing you to accept it or believe it. Merely to treat others with compassion and respect.
38
Just this Sunday a woman complained about the "violent and extremist" anti-abortion movement. What did they do to provoke this? Cast votes in a legislature. Lots of people don't seem to understand democracy. Just because a group of judges (mostly dead now) made a 7-2 decision 45 years ago doesn't mean that it's the norm.
1
Hidden Brain did a podcast on how we relate to power recently. Scientists they interviewed noted that in hunter-gatherer tribes, the alpha hunter is honored and respected as long as he equitably shares the meat he brings in. The moment the tribe thinks he's using it to reward certain members or to build more of a power base, they take him down.
We appear to be evoluntionarily hardwired to honor the alpha as long as our needs are being met, but as soon as he (almost always a he), gets too big for his boots, he's taken down by the group.
99
One can only hope. (This alpha male does not want to share except with his peers. "Only the little people pay [taxes]." Plenty of people out there who do not kowtow to the alpha male or there used to be. Not sure about what goes on in the hearts/minds of the younger generation and esp. the lawyers!)
1
And who could be more of a hoarding and and inner circle rewarding example than our current president?
Talk about being too big for his britches . . .
2
Almost all women on this earth are aware of the injustices large and small perpetrated against them, their daughters, mothers and female friends by male bosses, co-workers, husbands, brothers, strangers, etc. and they become by turns indignant, furious, frustrated, sad and demoralized. But being upset with the way you're treated and generally viewed when you'd prefer to have a peaceful, ordered and somewhat happy life is hard to continually maintain, and it really interferes with getting things done, so very often women resign themselves to their situation as far as they can and carry on.
Besides, most women I know really try to love and sympathize with the men in their lives, most especially their husbands and sons. and they want them to be successful. They know that everyone must take the bad with the good, and know that life is difficult for everyone. And yes, when their men have success that helps in achieving (their desired) order, peace and security. So, how do you choose a public political position?
Men, on the other hand, are less conflicted.
51
Over the past year, I have been working to help young men confront the more toxic aspects of the male gender role and move towards health. It’s taught me a lot — not only that many of the key factors Mr. Edsall cites (men feeling demonized, left behind) are correct and contribute to mens’ move right, but also that these men are rarely the lost causes we assume them to be.
Young men — as individuals — want to feel (a) important and (b) like they have a voice in the conversation. Many people on the left today recognize these desires but laugh at them, because they think at wide, societal levels instead. The reasoning here (correct at the macro level) is, “Men — especially white men — have so much privilege and visibility they don’t need attention.” But validation and inclusion are basic human needs. So at the individual level, when young men see men demonized, they tune out or, worse, move to the only groups providing them with attention: the far right and Trump.
You may be reading this comment and scoffing — and that’s okay, that’s your choice. Consider this, however: studies show us that men participate in gender equality initiatives when they’re told their opinion is needed to create a fair system. My outreach work has taught me that if we on the left included men instead of demonizing them, we’d have a much bigger team — and to beat Trump we will need the biggest team possible. It’s not about giving men disproportionate attention — it’s about not shutting them out.
387
This comment is completely on point. It is increasingly difficult to engage in a party that views me as the enemy due to my race and gender. I continue to vote Democrat, but I often have to tune out the candidates' rhetoric. I am less and less engaged and contribute much less money.
The 'big tent' isn't very welcoming.
I wonder where you get your idea that "many people on the left...laugh at them". I certainly don't and have become attuned to reporting on this sort of thing. I just don't see it. I think the idea is nothing but a defensive posture or of a desire to pre-emptively claim others have committed some sort of sin. That way, the "fault" is projected upon someone else.
1
This is an excellent comment, and is important to understand for its political ramifications.
So many white men feel demonized, dismissed and disrespected in the current climate, and they angrily move to the right. Sadly, many on the left are more interested in payback than progress. To tell a factory worker who's working a second job to barely scrape by and support his family that he's enjoying white, male privilege is to create a Trump voter.
The left always shoots themselves in the head with self-righteous, identity politics which is what allowed a racist, misogynist demagogue like Trump through the door in the first place.
If the left truly wants to practice inclusion, perhaps they should start with white men. Our democracy depends on it.
This election boils down to a choice that will likely determine whether the human species (and many others) will survive into the future or become extinct.
We can no longer to follow the alpha male formula of aggression and intimidation that often leads to war. We cannot afford to keep fighting wars and having hostile confrontations with other nations if we are to marshal the forces needed to minimize the effects of global warming. We need far more civil conversation, cooperation and consensus building to achieve critical positive ends. We must adopt a more feminine/beta male model of how society is run. It's our only hope.
170
This analysis also points out the obvious, educational attainment gap in party preference. The corollary data show women's educational attainment is rising as well as women in the workforce. Most recently, a higher proportion of women than men are in college or training programs beyond high school. That data alone points to an accelerating loss of support for the Republican party for both women and men. As to the alpha male theory, it is partially correct. There are few conservative males (or Congress) standing up to trump and his alpha male supporters. Whether they are just plain scared or insecure in their own maleness is open to question. They see their place in the world changing and see it as an assault on their manhood are unwilling to change. On the other side, educated males see Trump and his supporters as blowhards, bluff and bluster. They see the world is changing and are willing to change with it. They do not see progress as an assault on their manhood.
144
Men also don't have uteruses and give birth -- which is a huge determining factor for many of my female friends and acquaintances for voting for Dems. Republican's aren't a safe bet for keeping females safe from harm and having agency over our own bodies.
Now if only nearly 50 percent of people who haven't been voting actually vote, that would be a miracle.
6
"...educated males see Trump and his supporters as blowhards, bluff and bluster". Yet, as stated in the article, Trump barely lost white men with degrees, 46.60 to 45.30.
Degrees today are mainly advanced job training, and don't in themselves change people's perspectives, make them smarter or more moral humans. They just help people to earn more money. It would seem that cultural and geographical influences are stronger than degrees in determining voting preferences. I've lived in a heavily conservative area for 45 yrs. Virtually every doctor I've seen in the last decade has been a Republican. My PT, a fairly young and generous, kind man who does much free work for the community, is an anti-ObamaCare Trumper. Most of his patients are Trumpers, both men and women of all ages, making therapy a depressing-as-heck place for me because it's political talk all the time. Six miles south of me begins all rural towns for the next 200 miles, the entire width of the state. The only thing carrying our "blueness" in our state legislature is the aging remnants of an old, powerful but slowly dying political machine based in the major city driving the state's economic engine. All these colleges and universities here, putting out all these degreed conservatives, does not bode well for our state remaining blue.
4
Polls today are unreliable because of the racial and sexist factors Thankfully, some individuals remain reluctant to voice publicly openly racist or misogynistic views. Unfortunately, they are not so constrained in the privacy of the ballot booth. Notwithstanding the above, we still need to force all Americans to confront these most significant issues in politics and in life. We must unrelentingly continue to shame the Papa Johns, Weinstein's and Roy Moore's. Thankfully again, women are leading us in the right direction.
59
People need to take a closer look at polls instead of accepting them as accurate representations of how people think. Polls are easy to rig, if somebody wants a particular answer.
I remember a poll in 1980 shortly before the Presidential election. It asked if the respondent favored a "ban on abortion". Since even abortion opponents are willing to make an exception when the mother's life is in danger, respondents overwhelmingly said no, and the pollsters announced that "Americans overwhelmingly support abortion". Two months later, numerous liberal Congressmen were voted out of office over the abortion issue. The poll had asked the wrong question and gotten the wrong answer. Whether this was through stupidity or a deliberate attempt to rig the poll to favor the abortion advocates, I don't know.
2
I have a hard time thinking as poorly of men as this column suggests that I should. But I guess if men keep voting in large numbers against the vital interests of their mothers, wives, daughters and, yes, sons and selves, I will need to rethink. It would have been interesting to get some sense of how all this breaks down by age as well as gender.
116
I happen to think the opinion pieces wastes too much space on those psychologzing stuff. Bill Clinton is right still when he said, "It is the economy, stupid!"
it strikes me that the same alpha male aggressiveness can be seen in any sports bar during just about any sports game. look at the behavior of the largely majority population of men compared to the small group of women and their more restrained behavior.
31
Granted, there is a gender gap. BUT, is this not truly an issue with age gap amongst voters? As a 60 something female with 30 something progeny, I sense a major generational shift. As time goes by and especially (I hate to say it) as the older 100% voters can no longer go to the polls, things will change if our children just "get out and vote".
125
You are assuming that the politics of the younger generation won't change, as they get older. I'm not sure if that is correct (and we won't know until they DO get older). I'm in the same generation as you are, and when I was 25, I naively thought our generation would permanently liberalize the country.
5
You're right. And i reckon things will change big time as those geriatric Democrats with a chokehold on the top of the party start to head into the good night as well. I suspect that's the only way you'll get rid of them.
1
@Emily: I am a baby boomer woman, age 62. When I was young, all I heard was how "the modern young people -- the Woodstock generation! peace, love, rock n roll! who march against war and Vietnam!" -- were going to change the world. How'd that work out? Same generation ended up applauding our invading Iraq and Afghanistan -- for 14 years -- longer than the Vietnam war!!!
Reality is that you are not the same at 45 and you are at 20 and with good reason. Your ideals bump up against reality -- against a job market, finances, marriage and family/children.
As far as voting...older voters are remarkably reliable and consistent (and conservative!) and they can all VOTE BY MAIL. I haven't been to the polling place in a long time. Easier to vote by mail! I can of course still walk or drive, but a senior who is a shut-in can vote by mail easily enough.
Seniors still think of voting as a moral obligation in a democratic society -- young people today are whingers (I include MY OWN 30-something kids here!) who want a free ride, and then pout if things don't go their way. They want do-overs and backsies! They pouted over Bernie not getting the Democratic nomination -- sulked and refused to vote (or voted for Jill Stein) -- and handed the Presidency to Donald Trump.
2
Republican women should consider may things when the are making their voting decision. If they choose republican and those republicans win majorities they will be living in a world of conservative extremism.
Trump will continue to run with the extreme GOP agenda . If democrats win there will be moderation and compromise. Women have a very important role this coming election and going forward.
One more thing: women should not be forced to vote for their spouse/partner's. This type of bullying should be called out. Can the GOP leaders speak to that?
31
Out of curiosity - has anyone done a recent major poll of the 100 million voters who sat it out or voted third party last election? Or for that matter, those who have been sitting it out over the past 4 elections or so? Because without understanding those voters, all this Dem vs Republican, male vs female and whatever other polarizations that pundits and pollsters can come up with are going to tell you about as much the polls told you the last couple of elections - ie not nearly enough to call anything.
216
In this discussion, it's necessary to keep in mind that it was not the polls that were wrong but the pundits. The polls were off by little more than 1%; the predictions based on those polls were, for the most part, wildly off, Fivethirtyeight being at least a partial exception.
30
But they still don't know why. There was a poll, not at all comprehensive, after the election i believe that looked at voters who sat it out or voted third party. But there have been an awful lot of couch sitters over the last couple of elections, not just 2016 but in, say, the 2014 midterms. The Dems seem to just assume that it's their base who stayed home. Is that a valid assumption? Who do they consider their base? 40+% of the electorate is registered Independent. There is far too much missing information that's a black hole as far as pollsters and pundits are concerned, with their tunnel vision on polarization and parties. Even the otherwise excellent Mr. Edsall tends to leave this stuff out of his analyses.
1
One major flaw in your argument is that the national polls predicted Clinton would win the election. She did. By more than 3 million votes.
Polls aren't useless, and Trump and his supporters aren't normal.
11
I'm always surprised when people call trump an "alpha male". Once again people take the appearance for the reality. The trumpshow keeps playing. Trump is a shrill, blustering, pseudo 'alpha male'. His ape display is all show, with no substance. Like all cowards, he'll back right down when confronted.
210
Not so fast. Humans are closely related to other primates but there are significant differences. We live in a matriarchal society and have since earliest times when men went hunting for days and women tended the social structure and foraged. Men have their own social order but it is a subset of this. Add to this white men are a declining part of the demographic. To make an all apples comparison you need to compare white men with women and others who line up with them such as beta males, minorities and the young, i.e. Millennials. There is no doubt that older, less educated white males still salute the hierarchy but their numbers are dwindling. Trump himself is 72 years old. He is the end of the line. Who is in line to succeed him? Pence? Scott Walker? Scott Pruit? They’re all deeply flawed and lacking in ideas. This is not the continuation of conservative dominance but its going out of business sale.
76
Men leaving home to bring home the bacon and leaving the women home with the kids, cleaning and cooking and farming with a baby strapped to their back does not constitute a matriarchal society. Women do not control the social structure and never have. They may have had a little more say in the last 40 years, but they control nothing. I do agree; however, that this is the last gasp of male conservative dominance.
10
Western European culture has never been matriarchal. However, there have been matriarchal cultures, Polynesian most readily comes to mind. James Michener observed something along the lines that matriarchal cultures can arise when access to survival resources does not so depend on physical strength or warfare. Kind of like how society is shaping up now.
4
This reads like something from the 2016 election. Keep selling this to the choir and we'll see a repeat of that debacle.
1
Speaking as a woman who has lived through a violent personal relationship, I view the entire Trump administration as a form of domestic abuse. It's not just patriarchal. It's possible to be a traditionalist but still kind, and at least trying to operate in everyone's best interests.
That's not Trump. Trump's vicious and cruel, and he takes pleasure in it. And he's encouraging that behavior among other men, including some who are related to me that I will never be able to look at the same way again.
In some ways, women who hate Trump have been hating him all their lives. His behavior plugs into a circuit we had built already, based on the worst experiences in our personal lives. He embodies the worst of what women have to put up with in this world, and he elevates the worse in men so that we have to put up with still more of it.
I don't think I'll ever forget that or forgive it, and I expect to be taking it out on the Republican party for the rest of my life.
518
This. This is exactly how I felt the day after the election.
2
It comes down to a simple thing for me. Why would I as a woman support the Republican Party that sees women as things, not humans...including Trump and his "trophy" wives. I have daughters and granddaughters and I do not wish their options in life to be narrow and doors shut in their faces. I have one grandson also...and know being raised by loving parents, he will be the exact opposite to our blustering ignorant bully of a president.
4
Speaking as someone who's been a male for a long time, I salute you for your cogent remarks, with which I agree completely. There are a lot of good letters here, but yours moved me the most.
2
The college educated women I know here in NJ that consistently vote republican are all embarrassed by Trump but actually like his policies. They don’t like those people getting their tax dollars and they resent paying taxes but they all make sure their parents have trusts and qualify for Medicaid. They all have an undocumented lawn care and housekeeper. The all hire undocumented painters and carpenters while cheering the new border policies. Most have daughters, but few feel their right to choose will be effected. Call it the northeast bubble. They are in denial of how access has changed women’s autonomy in other states. They don’t care.
The best we can hope for is that they don’t vote in November as they will not vote for a democrat.
449
I agree. I have friends like this and it horrifies me to hear their "I've got mine" attitude that denigrates those who don't have it as easy as they do. The ignorance and hypocrisy allows them to vote for someone who treats women like objects or worse. However, I think there are more of us whose disgust at the mess men have gotten us into will motivate us to make a course correction in November. I know I'll do everything in my power to make that happen.
53
Doug - how about it frees men to have healthy relationships with themselves and others? No one said men had to take free hand outs from the government, but if you think you're emasculated because you occasionally need support from others, then that's a problem. We all need help from each other sometimes. It's just a fact and women are far more likely to acknowledge and accept that than men. That doesn't make us weak - to the contrary, it's a source of strength. With most marriages now consisting of 2 working spouses, the burden for "providing" for the family now falls more equally on women and men. It's not a win-lose scenario, Doug, it's a win-win.
33
All of the Democrat women you know in your social circle also hire illegal aliens, make sure their parents assets will be preserved for them by having the taxpayer cover their nursing home and personal care spending, and resist paying taxes. Democrat women, in addition, get Medicaid and food stamp benefits for their adult children living at home after graduating from college and underemployed.
They do this because they believe the false narrative that their high tax burden is the result of blue state federal taxpayers subsidizing red states. They are in complete denial to the reality that high tax burdens in blue states is solely caused by high government spending in the state, providing money to pay for corrupt and inefficient cronies and leaving little for services and infrastructure.
Property taxes of $10,000 plus in NJ are not going to pay for food stamps in Mississippi, they are going to pay high wages to local government but are still not sufficient to have funded the pensions of state and municipal employees, along with high post retirement health insurance in perpetuity.
It is fascinating that that the primary objection Democrat women have to Trump is that they believe he is a sexist, not that they disagree with his trade policy or immigration policy or tax policy, but had and have no problem with the sexist and misogynist behavior of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Disagreement with Trump's personality have no bearing on other Republican candidates.
I get this, and largely agree with it. What I don’t get, is how Trump is somehow seen as an alpha male. I see the similarities with some of the other primates, but we are supposed to be more.....advanced. I can’t see, for instance, Trump becoming a natural leader of a sports team, a military unit, a rescue operation, or even a homeowner’s association. He would be the guy that everybody viewed as a blowhard, a bully. Sure, I can see him dragging branches, pounding his chest and slapping the ground. But I can’t see him galvanizing and encouraging young men to charge and take a hill, or formulating a plan and leading a group to save children stuck in a cave. I can’t even think of a ‘leader’ of any sort of who he reminds me.....except Mussolini. But clearly, as a white male, I’m missing something.
333
Wealth is power. He is a bully, but he is a wealthy bully. That means he already has enough power that he can't just be ignored. So we have the suck ups. And the other bullies.
2
The other night, we were watching a rerun of "Pocahontas" and there was Trump as "Governor Radcliffe," the bloated, bossy, cowardly, power-hungry, greedy, aristocratic, vain, ruthless representative of the Virginia Company. In this movie, Radcliffe had no trouble dehumanizing the Powhatans and ordering his men to slaughter them all in his quest for gold. Were we to watch "The Lion King," Trump would be there as Scar. Were we to watch "Aladdin," he would be there as Jafar. "Beauty and the Beast?" Gaston. These are villains. Bad guys. How do so many men not get this?
3
The difference here is that trump unlike a true alpha male has all those white male and a substantial number of white female supporters on his side. In primate cultures it's the one male against all the rest. You could say that Jeb, Ted, Marco et. al. were the unsuccessful challengers, which politically they were, and they just were unable to attract as many allies in the fight. This was not dominance of one person so much as an ugly culture war where the ugliest contender won.
1
Of course American men want a smaller government without any services. In their minds, women should still be providing these services for free.
In the 1970s, Icelandic women stopped all work for 24 hours, and by that I mean they all stopped doing everything in the home as well as in their paid jobs. Icelandic men got the point and soon after, Iceland became the first country to vote for a female president (and a single mother at that).
If the statistics in this piece are true, American men may want to rethink women's importance in society. Women are looking at the amount of free labor they provide to society and they are starting to wonder why they are expected to sacrifice so much of their lives to a society that doesn't treat them equally. If men think they can turn back the clock by voting for men like Trump, they are in for a rude awakening. These men may have won this battle, but they will lose the war because without women, America will never be able to compete globally. American women are now better educated than American men. Given this reality, do American men really think men are the future? Even Saudi Arabia is starting to realize (however slowly) that no economy can survive without the intelligence and talent of its women. Let's see how long it takes Christian Americans to wake up to this fact as well.
597
Exactly! The Republican plan for education is to have Moms pitch in at school or home school and to set up preschool co-ops for free. Heaalth care will be pushed into home care, witb the majority of that work being done by women. Never mind that a majority of women have jobs, too.
It's God-ordained women's work and they aren't going to pay for it.
6
Spot on, thanks!
2
Exactly. And to add to your point, you need no further evidence of the free labor phenomenon than looking at the average public school's reliance on volunteers--primarily stay-at-home-moms--to keep it afloat. All of the positions that used to be fully paid for out of school budgets, e.g. administration, teachers' aides, bus drivers, etc., are now the purview of the mothers whose children attend the school. And that impacts their decisions about whether or not they continue to work outside the home. I've said on numerous occasions that we are severely under-calculating the cost of public education because so many necessary services are being provided for free. Every school district in the nation's budget should be increased by at least 50% to cover the volunteer man hours. So, I'm with you on the women's strike. The point needs to be driven home that our time is valuable.
4
Thankfully, some of us are not apes. Truly confident men don't have to belittle others in order to raise their status. The success of others, their intelligence, strength, etc, doesn't detract from my own. Intimidation comes from insecurity. Truly great leaders inspire, by their words and true actions, not by boasting and beating their chest. Castellanos is wrong, patriarchy has not been eternal. Matriarchal societies existed and still do. We need to redefine masculinity in our culture, away from the macho violence of Schwarzenegger in The Terminator to the tender, loving, fearless courage of Benigni in Life is Beautiful.
If we don't adapt, we won't survive. I am male. The future is female, and I'm pleased with that.
308
Bang on, couldn't agree more! My beloved, late father was just such a man. Totally secure and without any desire to posture and bang his chest. I remember him once looking at me in total incomprehension when I explained to him some of the stuff some modern men do to try to look more impressive in gym shorts. It was an issue that had never even occurred to him, and that he thought completely ridiculous!
2
"The future is female" is the kind of casual sexism that is so prevalent on the left that only serves to push male voters to Trump and his ilk.
Would you say the future is male? The future is white? The future is Christian? Then don't say the future is female. How about the future is for all of us?
How hard is it to understand that insulting people is not the way to get them on your side?
4
''I am male. The future is female, and I'm pleased with that.''
Good luck with that. The most recommended letter here states that 'feminism is for everyone' While you have just said its for women and you like it that way. Between that, the pushing of trans gender rights before class warfare in a world of increasing rich poor gap (ie the one that matters and effects EVERYONE) I think you are on to a perenial loser-
There are a lot of women out there who as mothers of sons and married to men they love don't pine for a world without gender or think they forcing boys to be girls is the solution to our resource and jobless future run by oligarchs who don't DO democracy!
4
Well, that is one side of the coin. The other is the Democrats collapsing share of the white working class vote.
For a party of the left - to get ~30% of that vote is jaw dropping. The saddest part is that the Democratic party has pushed these people to a demagogue who speaks to their concerns (but will not do anything).
You don't win 60-70% of the vote in key demographic - they were pushed into the other camp. Free college for all is not a slogan for a person that didn't go to college. Medicare for all isnt that great when you had better benefits when the mill/factory was still open.
Reminds me of Hillary going to those fund raisers in SF, the Hamptons and Martha's Vineyard and ignoring Wisconsin and Michigan. Trump may be a dumb, but he's sly. The Democratic leadership may be just dumb.
99
While it is true that a disproportionate number of positions of power and wealth are held by white men, it is also true that a very, very small proportion of men hold that power and wealth. Most white men are also regularly subjugated by the rich and powerful.
If the conversations were less about gender and more about power, Democrats would find many more allies among men. It is hard to fully engage with a group that labels you as the enemy based solely on your race and gender. As a lifelong Democrat, and a 'lower middle class working stiff', I increasingly feel unwelcome in my own party.
188
Yeah, I'd go with eliminating gender. The gender non-binary vote is vital in WI and MI.
I wish I could post this comment all over the internet!
2
You should use that experience to build empathy towards those that are discriminated against. Think about how you are facing 1/1000 the discrimination they face and yet it is very demoralizing.
1
Trumps idea of masculinity is a cartoon. Like Goodall's observations of chimps it is all show. We have all seen how sensitive he is to criticism and how he lashes out at those who don't defer to him. He is a baby. The men women admire are strong but hold their defensive actions in check. It is the control of strength that is appealing. It is their ability to respond emotionally wth great humanity that makes us love them. Trump is needy and paper thin his sensitivity to criticism. He has no empathy for anyone but himself. That is not an adult male that many women can admire. We cringe.
245
Back when the suffragettes campaigned for votes for women, this was the influence of women on politics they hoped for. That is, that women would champion progressive politics which men, clinging to their privilege, would not consider. Within their lifetimes, the suffragettes were bitterly disappointed to learn that women mostly voted influenced by their social milieu.
Isn't it amazing that 100 years after universal suffrage, those dreams actually come to pass?
2
This is not an adult male that a man who aspires to live up to his own best potential can admire, either.
3
The psychology is interesting but it pales besides policy. The republicans appointed 11 white men to make decisions about women's health care. They argued that employers shouldn't have to pay for birth control if they had religious objections (Viagra was untouched). They decided that prenatal care wasn't an essential benefit. They have lobbied hard to defund Planned Parenthood and are gun ho to get rid of abortion entirely. Their most recent Supreme Court pick will be very helpful in that regard. Why is anyone surprised that women, who apparently don't want to live the Handmaid's Tale, are striking back?
301
But in spite of their opposition to birth control and abortion they don't care about babies (even newborns) after birth. This administration is opposed to BREAST FEEDING and doesn't care if a baby needs clean air to breathe. Your baby's in the ER with an asthma attack, tough luck. They don't care about air quality.
1
It all keeps coming back to status preservation, doesn't it?
The white nationalists are seeking to preserve the privileges of the Anglo-Saxon culture. The "law and order" types are seeking to preserve the privileges of white society more generally. And now researchers are telling us what every thinking woman has known instinctively her entire life--that alpha males and their brethren, the alpha wannabes, are seeking to maintain their status on the pinnacle of the entire lot.
This research likely also explains the rise of the evangelicals, who preach that men were ordained by god to be rulers of women in the church, the household and secular life more generally and that women were ordained to be both physically and culturally submissive to their male "leaders." How better for the male of the species to back up his pinnacle position than with scriptural texts--the "infallible Word of God"?
It is hard for women, especially women of color, to see a path forward these days--in a country so poisoned by testosterone and now led not by an alpha male, but the caricature of one, a chest-beating man-child who inspires so many millions of his fellow alpha wannabes to line up behind behind him. But we will no doubt keep making incremental progress, as we always have, through fierce moderating spirit, steely determination and true grit.
And maybe, eventually, we will show the world that gender--like race, like ethnicity--is not a zero sum game.
167
So well said, thank you.
Totally pathetic, I'm with you.
Exactly right. Men and women are rational choosers. Trumps policy—Republican policy in general—favors white men because it means government will not interfere with discriminatory practices the put non-white non-men at a disadvantage. Without government intervention white men have a better chance of getting better jobs at higher pay. Working class white women support Trump because their only option in the labor market is boring pink-collar drudge work. Their most rational strategy is to see to it that their men can get higher paying jobs so that they can drop out of the labor force altogether. Upper middle class women whose men will not support them whatever happens oppose Trump because his policies make it more likely that we will be forced into pink-collar drudge work.
When I first saw Reagan on TV after his election I had a panic attack: all I could think was 'This man wants me typing and filing'. That is what gender gap is about. When I got tenure I made 20 xeroxes of my tenure letter. On one I superimposed the inscription 'Safe from the typing pool forever!, and hung it over my desk.
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castellanos has a lot to learn. He should start with Alfred Adler's striving for superiority. women do nt want to be beta males. they accept it because it is the best they can get in the present circumstances.
So I am talking with my pro-abortion 15 year old at the table about Trump. We have a great relationship. I give her a hard time about abortion, trying to tease her into seeing it's a lot more complicated than just getting a tooth pulled. She asks me why I support Trump (though, not 100%, calm down NY Times readers... I'm not crazy pro-Trump just not crazy anti-Trump). And I explain to her, I am a straight white male. Everything that is wrong in the country is my fault. The Democrats are not on my side. I am their enemy. "Hm," she says. "Where else do we have to go?," I ask.
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"The Democrats are not on my side."
This is what the Democrats propose, and which would right now be in the process of implementation.
https://www.democrats.org/party-platform
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/
The emphasis on culture war comes from political reporting of click-inducing comments, and Republican propaganda
No one is pro-abortion.
The issue is that there have been abortions for hundreds of years, but RvW made them legal and therefore safe. In some countries, women face criminal prosecution even when they experience the tragedy of a miscarriage
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/el-salvador-where-wome...
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You criticize your daughter regarding simplistic thinking about abortion, then come up with a ridiculous meme that the Democrats and society blame all ills on straight white men. Talking about oversimplification! Sincerely yours, a straight white man.
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I hope your daughter can learn to be a more critical thinker. Your conclusion that all white males are the targets seems overly simple. Fairness and democracy, a lack of desire to divide the country with name calling and bullying, refraining from putting kids in cages, taking health insurance away from millions, all seem to be more on the mark. Playing the victim seems the easy way out.
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The GOP has successfully framed feminism as a dirty word, which is why so many women are still voting for Republicans. They have also successfully framed "the left" as a bunch of communists looking to turn America into the Soviet Union, in order to get the votes of the white working class. Neither could be further from the truth, and I think that's finally starting to dawn on all but the most ardent Trump supporters.
But time will tell. We got the polls so wrong in 2016 because so many said they were "undecided" when they really meant they were voting for Trump or not voting at all and ashamed to say so. Job #1 for the Democrats is to get out the vote in November, particularly among women who have so very much to lose.
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Sabrina, it’s also important to underline your point that the GOP has successfully framed the issues in a compelling manner for many voters using propaganda and disinformation and surreptitiously slander.
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Indeed they have.
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If it becomes a gender chasm, women will win at the poles. They are a majority. It's not just a chasm. Women seem more motivated to vote. So you have a quantity issue (how many women show up to vote) and a motivational issue: The most recent fiasco with immigrant children being ripped away from their parents. To say nothing about the new threat to Roe v Wade. If women don't determine the next elections in November, I will conclude that they just don't really care, like the slogan on Melania's shirt.
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I thought that the women voting in the last election would have tipped the scale away from Trump and was very surprised and disappointed when that did not happen. Hopefully seeing what they voted for is enough to convince them that Trump and the Republican party has no regard for women or anyone else if they do not happen to be rich and powerful.
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Clearly you are discounting all the white women (majority) who voted for Trump. They will still vote Republican even without Trump every single time.
Unless a business friendly democrat ala Bill Clinton comes along.
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I wholeheartedly support this comment. The unintended (?) typo in the first line made me smile. A huge smile.
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Re Castellanos and the views of the likeminded: when I was growing up in an America long ago, manliness was demonstrated in the strong and silent tradition. Loud bragging and mean spirited intimidation was a sign of weakness and earned no respect. That was, may I add, Wyoming in the 1950's and 60's. Fear of and desire to silence strong women is hardly a sign of "manly" strength. Neither is it in any great American tradition. Sad.
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The types of display that signal male dominance vary by culture, but the instinctive responses to that display does not.
What is changing now is that we're remembering the female side of the pattern. In apes, males come and go, especially the dominant ones, but the female power structure tends to be both more permanent and to have more power to decide the fate of the group and the success they have in raising progeny.
Women are re-discovering their own importance, and remembering that we don't have to put up with a dominant male who annoys us.
Let's hope that rediscovery translates into a change in leadership in America, just as it does in groups of other apes.
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I am supposed to treat all people as individuals- to value them based on their qualifications and not on their race or gender.
I support that. I support meritocracy. I support equal pay.
In exchange I, a white male, am treated like a caricature. I am not an individual. I am just a white guy- assumed to be privileged. Assumed to be racist. Assumed to be sexist.
We can achieve equality without demonizing white men. White men want the same consideration every non-white man wants- a chance. To be judged not on the basis of our skin and genitalia but on our skills and potential contribution.
The left is practicing a new kind of racism and sexism when they attack white men for being white men. It breeds resentment which feeds Trump and the Republican Party.
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Rubbish. I am a straight, white, veteran male, and perhaps a handful of times I have had people make unfair, snap judgments about me; yeah, some people are jerks, I hold no illusions that 100% of population is respectful and decent, but the hugely vast majority (of all backgrounds) are just that. On the other hand, I have witnessed 'others' targeted simply for not being like me, many times more often than I have experienced such unfairness myself. I don't feel guilty about it, but I don't deny the reality, nor try to paint myself (and other white males) as 'demonized' victims of some sort of supposed reverse prejudice. That is simply ludicrous. I don't see it, nor do I see any documented evidence of it, but in right-wing circles these false stories have been circulating for decades, fueling their ire without reason. It is nonsense.
There seems to be a huge fuss over the word 'privileged,' and I too take exception to those mindlessly admonishing others to 'check their privilege,' but there are two ways to look at the word: it doesn't have to mean 'substantially well off,' which is how many who are offended take it, as it can also just imply lack of being unfairly penalized. Lack of punishment can be perceived as privilege by those on the receiving end - that's not the same as being 'demonized' or otherwise victimized.
The right complains liberals need to 'just deal with it,' but I don't see reciprocation. In fact, I expect this comment to be flagged, like my last one was.
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Can you give specific examples of the left demonizing all white men?
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Welcome to equality. Women have been treated like caricatures -- the bimbo, the maid, the mom, the old hag -- for millennia. Now you know how it feels.
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I grew up with the manliest of fathers. He was an Eagle Scout who served in the Navy in both World Wars. He was a very successful businessman. He was courteous and courtly to women, always treating them politely and kindly and with respect. He was a huge fan of Eleanor Roosevelt. He was my mother's greatest cheerleader. I cannot understand that the bullying, rude, disrespectful President is made to be a prime example of a man. If this is how we want our men and boys to act, if we are supposed to go back to the era of "Mad Men" - I, for one, despair for the future.
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