The results of the 2024 election revealed an interesting new phenomenon: young men have become increasingly conservative while young women have become increasingly liberal. Despite general sentiments that younger generations have more progressive views, a different reality has slapped women across the face. 53 percent of men aged 18 to 29 voted for Donald Trump, compared to the 36 percent who voted for him in 2020.
There is a growing political divide between men and women at a time where women’s rights and freedoms are a key issue amongst voters. The Republican party has been able to subtly and successfully attribute a variety of societal problems to the growing respect for women in the workplace and in society while the Democratic party has struggled to perform on its promises. This—combined with the threat of perceived gender equality and a slew of bad of male role models—has led young men away from progressive values and left all women to pick up the pieces.
A popular issue that Republicans have campaigned on is revitalizing traditional family values within society. The idea that the nuclear family is at the heart of society is a common conservative belief, and is also one of the most detrimental beliefs for women. From 1990 to 2023, women’s workforce participation grew from 53 percent to 75 percent, and as of 2023, 70 percent of mothers with children under eighteen participated in the workforce.
As women have become more career-oriented, the average age in which women have their first child has increased, and in recent years, birth rates for women aged 20 to 39 have decreased. These statistics not only demonstrate society’s progress towards gender equality in the workplace, but womens’ desire to participate in society in the same way that men have historically. While we have certainly not achieved full equality in the United States, with the continued existence of the gender-pay gap and the rollback of reproductive rights, gender equality is a threat to the nuclear family, and therefore a threat to a core conservative belief.
Many conservatives feel that family is the core of society, believing that a crack in its foundation will lead to community-wide harm. Based on this principle, conservative politicians have often attempted to solve major societal issues such as poverty by promoting a nuclear and traditional family. The fact that children are twice as likely to grow up in poverty if they have single mothers has led conservative politicians and media to create the narrative that poverty stems from the absence of a father in the home.
What they fail to communicate is that poverty is a complex, multifaceted issue that stems from factors like unequal access to education and the job market, unaffordable housing, racism and discrimination, and low wages. There are typically less nuclear families with lower socioeconomic statuses, but it is important to realize that correlation does not equal causation. The solution to this issue is fixing unequal systemic structures, not a return to traditionalism and the promotion of “strong masculine men” as the head of the household, as conservative media often suggests.
The return of traditional family values is an easy belief for young men to subscribe to because it establishes their place as a leader and a provider. This philosophy encourages that men be the primary providers for their households and that women be the caretakers of their households, reinforcing heterosexual norms. These traditional roles strip women of their individuality, but they allow for men to pursue their passions, feed their egos, and cement male importance in society. Societal shortfalls might not be a result of the decline of the nuclear family, but it is easy for young men who are continually feeling left behind by their societies to think that this is the case.
White men especially are feeling left behind because they feel unseen and overlooked by diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. In 2022, 46 percent of women aged 25 to 34 were college-educated compared to the 36 percent of men. Additionally, women now make up 51 percent of the workforce. For men, these numbers tell men a frightening tale of female superiority, but this tale is incomplete. Women are still paid 82 cents to the dollar that men are paid and only make up about 10 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs. While women are participating in the workforce more than ever before, they are not participating in positions of power at the same rate. Women may be closer to achieving workplace equality, but the ribbon at the finish line remains unbroken.
The sense of being left behind that some men experience often arises from challenges in separating emotions from feelings of threat. However, they do have some legitimate concerns. Four times as many men die of suicide than women, and only about half of the one in ten men that experience anxiety and depression receive help. While these concerns contribute to the male shift towards conservatism and resentment, they do not paint a full picture. One thing that cannot be overlooked is that the role models young men idealize in society generally display no real respect for women.
Young men are coming of age in a world where men face no consequences for disrespecting women. Donald Trump and Elon Musk—arguably the two most successful men in the United States right now—have been completely undeterred by their blatant lack of respect for women, so it cannot be surprising that young men are following their lead.
Despite being defined by sexual assault allegations and his infamous “grab ‘em by the pussy” statement, Donald Trump was elected to the presidency of the United States twice and won the popular vote handily in the 2024 election, despite losing it in 2016 and 2020. Elon Musk, similarly, is one of the most successful businessmen in America being the CEO of Tesla. He is seen as a role model for many young men, none of whom seem to notice the piles of sexual misconduct allegations and lawsuits that surround him. Allegations alone are enough to make any woman uncomfortable, but allegations alone fail to deter men from supporting other men who don’t respect women.
Young men find these role models everywhere, and they’re more accessible than ever because of social media. Algorithms are known to radicalize people by feeding them only information that aligns with their views and grievances to maximize their engagement on the app. These echo chambers have led young men to the content of people like convicted rapist Andrew Tate, who has said that women are “inherently lazy” and are “responsible” for sexual assault, or like Joe Rogan, who perpetuates the idea that women want a “provider.” In addition to Andrew Tate and Joe Rogan, there are a host of other influencers who promote the ideals of male dominance and female submission.
Despite having grown in workplace equality, women are far from equal in the household. Despite 75 percent of mothers having full-time jobs, women spend more time with their children than their husbands on average. In heterosexual relationships, mothers take on significantly more childcare work than fathers, and more mothers are likely to report that parenthood was harder than expected. The household tasks that women often pick up are perpetual, such as cleaning, cooking, and laundry, whereas the household tasks that men usually pick up are infrequent, such as lawn mowing and other household repairs. Mothers are also expected to pick up the mental load of parenthood, meaning that they are the ones who keep track of childrens’ schedules, clothing sizes, and schoolwork needs, while fathers are merely expected to show up.
This has pushed many young women away from the desire to have children, and at a minimum, has pushed them away from the desire for a traditional family structure. The expectation for a more equal family structure, along with the fight for reproductive rights, general equality, and respect from society has led women towards liberalism. These ideals have also led to an increase in the amount of women who choose to stay single instead of subjecting themselves to a relationship where they are not treated equally: a source of resentment among young men and conservatives in general.
Political commentator Megyn Kelly attributed the lower rates of relationships amongst college students to the fact that more young men are liberal and aren’t strong examples of “real men,” but the reality is that there is an increasing number of men who want more traditional relationships while there is an increasing number of women who just want equality. While the desire for traditional relationships by certain groups has always existed and was the general consensus of the population for a very long time. This is the first time in which traditional views of a family and relationship are appealing to men while women look for something completely different. Society has taught women that they no longer have to “settle,” and the fact that most women are financially independent makes this a real possibility.
As the political gap between men and women grows, women will be the ones to pay the price. Young voters are a key demographic for progressive politicians, and as young men shift away from these ideals, conservative politics will thrive. This will result in policies that inhibit the rights of not only women, but anyone who strays from the heterosexual cisgender norm. Many prominent Republicans seek to not only implement policies that limit the ability of children in schools to learn about different types of families, but they also seek to implement strict abortion bans and limit the general reproductive freedoms of women. This demographic shift will have severe negative consequences on all women, regardless of how they choose to build a career or how they choose to have a family.
While women are certainly not at fault for this disparity, women are the ones affected by it. Fishing for solutions is a bleak task, as it seems as though the closer women come to equality, the more disillusioned men become. With the strong shift of American politics towards conservatism, the unfortunate reality is that things aren’t getting better. This means that the burden falls on today’s parents, both mothers and fathers, to raise sons that see women as equals. Radicalization is present now more than ever, and we must fight for future generations of women to thrive.
