Aaron Rabinowitz
The Skeptic
22nd November 2024
We need to talk about men. As of the most recent vote counts, 60% of white American men voted for Trump, compared with 53% of white women. While those are not particularly surprising results, 25% of the Black men and 48% of Latino men also voted for Trump, compared to just 10% of the Black women and 39% of Latino women. Trump has doubled his share of Black male voters, and across all racial demographics his gains were highest among younger men. As always, problems like this are intersectional and multifaceted, but one of the crucial facets we need to discuss is clearly the persistent problem of disaffected men.
One likely reason for these gains is that the GOP offers narratives for meaning-making that appeal to young men who feel that modern society is depriving them of a meaningful life. Researchers have tied the ongoing crisis of meaning for men to harmful personal and political choices that result in worse outcomes for men and everyone around them. If we are looking for things that the left can do to address this problem, we can start by adopting a restorative approach towards men in general and the crisis of meaning many of them are experiencing.
This conversation is made far more difficult by the fact that conservatives like Jordan Peterson have dominated discourse around this topic – that conservative domination, combined with entirely understandable resentment and compassion fatigue towards men, leads many on the left to reject it as a problem worth considering. The common refrain is that men should just “suck it up”, and that “loss of privilege feels like oppression” – which is essentially a fancy way of saying men aren’t actually experiencing real problems, just bad vibes.
Vibes do matter though, and for an unfortunately large number of men, loss of privilege also feels like loss of meaning and purpose. Folks on the left have no trouble mocking Ben Shapiro for his thought-terminating cliché “facts don’t care about your feelings”, but whenever the issue of men’s feelings come up it is often tamped back down with facts about how things are actually perfectly fine for men right now, so people need to shut up about men’s feelings. But men’s feelings do matter, not just because men are people too, but also because having their feelings derided is driving a disturbing proportion of young men to find meaning in the worst possible places.
Here are some thoughts:
The article discusses the growing issue of disaffected men, particularly in the context of the recent US election, where 60% of white American men voted for Trump. This phenomenon is not limited to white men, as 25% of Black men and 48% of Latino men also voted for Trump.
The article suggests that one reason for this trend is that the GOP offers narratives that appeal to young men who feel deprived of a meaningful life. These narratives provide a sense of purpose and meaning, which is lacking in modern society. The article argues that the left needs to present alternative narratives that appeal to these men, rather than simply dismissing their concerns.
The article also highlights the issue of toxic masculinity and the need to dismantle patriarchal culture. It argues that men are socialized to conform to traditional masculine norms, which can lead to feelings of despair and disaffection. The article suggests that the left needs to adopt a more restorative approach, recognizing that men's feelings and needs matter, and that they deserve respect and compassion.
Ultimately, the article argues that the issue of disaffected men is a complex and deeply ingrained problem that requires a fundamental shift in our cultural and societal norms. It requires a move away from toxic masculinity and towards a more inclusive and compassionate understanding of masculinity.
