(NewsNation) — As the gender gap widens among America’s newest voters, young men are leaning more conservative than ever before, according to recent polling from New York Times/Siena College.
The gender gap between men aged 18 to 29 and women of that same range was 39 points when President Joe Biden was still in the race. With Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee, swing state voters recorded a whopping 51-point gap.
According to Paul Waldman, the co-author of “White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy,” a recent shakeup in gender roles may have left the newest generation of men feeling lost. And some, he said, find solace in former President Donald Trump‘s outward machismo.
“I think that a lot of men, and this is true of young men in rural areas, but also in suburbs and cities, they are feeling a little adrift, like they’re not exactly sure what it means to be a man in contemporary society,” Waldman said.
Gender roles, which used to be firmly embedded in American society, have slowly been called into question over the decades.
“And you know, when you have been at the top for a long time, equality can feel like oppression,” Waldman said, adding that Trump’s personality evokes a “retro version of manhood that some find appealing.”
He also posited that the Republican Party has been trying to appeal to these disgruntled voters wanting a more traditionally masculine candidate, something the Harris campaign turned on its head.
“That’s why I think the [Gov. Tim] Walz pick is interesting, because he offers a different kind of version of manhood,” Waldman explained. “[In] some ways it’s traditional: he’s a hunter, he’s football coach. But he also has kind of an ethic of caring and concern for his neighbors that is not based on lording it over other people.”