Two recent opinion pieces I read dealt with observations on a phenomenon that influenced our last election process. They both centered on the current situation among young men and a crisis of identity and social roles. One talked of the changing dynamic between men and women as women become more powerful in the workplace. It discussed the shift in advanced education where women represent 58 percent of the enrollment in 4-year schools within the 18–24-year-old population. Women also had a higher graduation rate. Since 2019, more college-educated women are in the workforce than men. The national birthrate was down to 1.67 per woman in 2022, below the rate (2.1) where our population is sustainable. In the last 124 years, the marriage rate is down 54%. Cohabitation with less financial commitment is on the rise.
The first article I read was titled, How Our Messed-Up Dating Culture Leads to Loneliness, Anger, and Donald Trump. It discussed the “bro culture” of disaffected young men who feel threatened and no longer fit the historic gender stereotype of successful breadwinners. The article also tossed out a term with which I was unfamiliar, manosphere. Wikipedia defines it as the diverse collection of websites, blogs, and online forums promoting masculinity, misogyny, and opposition to feminism. The result of these changes has been resentment, loneliness, declining birthrates, and a vision of Trump as a champion of their cause.
What is their cause? I’m not sure but it certainly wasn’t going to be found in supporting Kamala Harris. I’m not sure there is a “cause” here, only a situation of common circumstances where a group of lost souls represents yet another vulnerable population to be exploited by politicians and businesses hawking products that appeal to their threatened testosterone levels.
[Aside-I just watched several football games over Thanksgiving and one product seemed to dominate, Blue Chew. I thought it might be some new tobacco product, but it turned out to be a treatment for erectile dysfunction.]
The second article talked about “Barstool Conservatism” which the writer titled referencing this same group of largely disenfranchised young males. The association here is that these might be the same individuals influenced by a media (sports apparel) company, Barstool Sports. The writer lived in Michigan and conducted an informal analysis by talking to such individuals in bars in his state.
The group of young males he “interviewed” over drinks was a mixed bag that might hold to the values of traditional conservatives, libertarians, or who might be otherwise ideologically unpredictable souls with but one common trait, they loved Trump. Issues of abortion, cannabis, family values, pornography, religious freedom, and organized labor might get varied responses, but support for Trump was universal. Beyond their love of Trump, the only discernable common trait was a perceived threat to their masculinity by the societal advances of all who lack a Y chromosome.
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| June Cleaver from Leave It To Beaver |
I don’t foresee us setting the calendar back to a time when young girls wait to find their prince charming to whisk them away and live happily ever after. Nor do I see a future with June Cleaver waiting at home in her high heels and pearls for Ward Cleaver to return home after a hard day at work to ask what mischief the Beaver got into that day. Some within this “study group” might want a return to those thrilling days of yesteryear but that ship has sailed. Trump’s personal lifestyle example might be something they would aspire to, but his locker room macho attitude without a large financial carrot incentive, will likely be ignored by most of the opposite sex.
The times have certainly changed. Women are more powerful and independent. Men need to find satisfaction in working and living in this new world. They should feel comfortable in their own skin and not be threatened by the opposite sex. Failure to come to terms with this new reality will result in a banishment to the confines of the manosphere where your priorities are fantasy football and betting apps but not romantic relationships. I see long periods of celibacy in your future.
While understanding the dynamic of this group of confused young men might be difficult, if Democrats don’t find a way to garner support in this culture, the way forward will be more difficult than finding a way to get a boyfriend to watch a Hallmark movie at Christmastime while the big game is on.
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