Political Masculinity, Whatever That Means

Deciding which candidates in the upcoming Presidential election would most adequately support women is not just a woman’s problem: Men must also educate themselves to make sure they are voting to protect their wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, and best friends. Women are human. They deserve human rights. This November, we will not only choose between Democrats and Republicans but also between two opposing ideas of how the government should regulate American behavior.

Vice Presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz disagree on how to define gender roles. Vance, Trump’s running mate, has clearly asserted that the “childless cat ladies” of the Democratic Party are unfit candidates for office because they “don’t really have a direct stake” in the future of America. However, many Democrats whom he called out by name, including Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigeg, are parents to one or more children. His offensive claims, though baseless, have deterred many conservatives, especially women, from supporting Trump’s candidacy because they find his comments insensitive to women who don’t have children either unwillingly or by choice. However, Vance’s views reflect a trend of American men becoming more conservative, and perhaps he attempts to capitalize on that opportunity to win votes. 

Progressive political campaigns may seem like a threat to Vance’s beloved “traditional masculinity,” which he defines as a means to control others, especially women. Consider his support of abortion bans and preserving marriages that should be dissolved. Vance celebrates providing for a family as a stereotypically “male” role, linking unemployment to being unworthy of love: “When men are unemployed, it's very hard for them to maintain [and] build families themselves.” He also believes that divorces that break up “maybe even violent” marriages still enable people to “shift spouses like they change their underwear,” giving children the worst part of the deal. A child of divorced parents and an alcoholic and drug-addicted mother, Vance’s views may have stemmed from his wish that his parents had stayed together to raise him. Although divorce is hard on children caught in between, it is extremely important for anyone to be able to escape a toxic marriage instead of paying for the child’s protective bubble with violence.

Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s running mate, is like a breath of fresh air compared to Vance. An average midwestern man from Minnesota who went on to become its governor, he distinguished himself just by being himself. Walz respects and fights for women’s rights; he pursued pro-reproductive and pro-LGBTQ+ rights as governor, along with implementing policies for free school lunch for kids and paid parental leave in the workplace. His work includes the Protect Reproductive Opinions Act and a “shield law” that protects women who travel to Minnesota for abortions by prohibiting healthcare workers and local police officers from cooperating with out-of-state law enforcement.  If implemented throughout the United States, Walz’s policies could reshape America for the better. 

Walz’s views of masculinity also differ from Vance’s. His personality is respectful and his policies are supportive: stipends for parents raising children, preserving abortion access, and support for LGBTQ kids. Walz is comfortable with his own masculinity as a father, coach, and teacher who is able to be a powerful leader without being a dictator. He is masculine while still lifting women up. To Vance, those two ideas are mutually exclusive. While Democrats may need to work more to gain male appeal, Tim Walz is an exemplar of ideal Democratic masculinity. Also, as nominee for Vice President, Walz is supposed to help Harris get elected, and as a white man, he can help attract voters from that demographic who might not otherwise relate to her.

Because liberal candidates espouse women’s rights, women tend to vote blue. Trump famously vowed to name “justices who would overrule Roe” and succeeded in overturning the bill. Republican candidates are unwilling to fix problems that don’t directly relate to their socially conservative viewpoint. During a livestream of the most recent presidential debate, I witnessed Trump’s downright antagonistic attitude towards women in America. He even suggested that women could terminate their pregnancies after giving birth, which is absurd and intentionally inflammatory. Politicians must restrain themselves from saying stupid things they know are wrong on national television that millions of people watch. With these options, it’s no wonder that women tend to vote liberal.

Every American must educate themselves about the presidential and vice presidential candidates, while making sure that they support and are willing to fight hard for policy changes to improve rights for women.