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The gender gap is growing — and it bodes badly for American politics and culture

Editorial / Opinion Piece / Blog Post

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February 16, 2024

The gender gap is growing — and it bodes badly for American politics and culture

Source: The Hill

For decades, we’ve seen a so-called gender gap in American politics. On average, men lean more conservative than women on a host of economic and social issues. As a result, marginally more men have tended to vote Republican and marginally more women have tended to vote Democrat. 

Among younger Americans today, it seems that this erstwhile gap is quickly becoming a chasm. 

More young men are skewing rightward, and further rightward compared to the rest of the electorate than was true for older generations. Meanwhile, more young women are skewing leftward, and much further to the left compared to the rest of the electorate than ever before. 

Men are not from Mars and women are not from Venus, but the deepening gender divide reflects the fact that partisan Republicans and partisan Democrats do increasingly inhabit what might as well be different planets. This polarization, and its correlation with sex, is constitutive of three problems in our politics that are creating even deeper crises in our broader culture.  

Click here to read the full article published by The Hill on 15 February 2024.

Image source: The Hill

Author
Elizabeth Grace Matthew
Focus areas

For decades, we’ve seen a so-called gender gap in American politics. On average, men lean more conservative than women on a host of economic and social issues. As a result, marginally more men have tended to vote Republican and marginally more women have tended to vote Democrat. 

Among younger Americans today, it seems that this erstwhile gap is quickly becoming a chasm. 

More young men are skewing rightward, and further rightward compared to the rest of the electorate than was true for older generations. Meanwhile, more young women are skewing leftward, and much further to the left compared to the rest of the electorate than ever before. 

Men are not from Mars and women are not from Venus, but the deepening gender divide reflects the fact that partisan Republicans and partisan Democrats do increasingly inhabit what might as well be different planets. This polarization, and its correlation with sex, is constitutive of three problems in our politics that are creating even deeper crises in our broader culture.  

Click here to read the full article published by The Hill on 15 February 2024.

Image source: The Hill

Author
Elizabeth Grace Matthew
Focus areas