The US elections could be decided in an unexpected fight to attract the male generation Z voter, where Donald Trump has eroded the Democratic dominance over young people while Kamala Harris offers a new model of masculinity, closer to empathy and equality.
The former Republican president (2017-2021) courts those voters by appearing on podcasts popular with generation Z (born after 1997), while the Democratic vice president tries to position herself as a strong leaderrelying on a new model of masculinity championed by his running mate, the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz.
This battle reveals a deeper debate between the different conceptions of masculinity that prevail in the Democratic and Republican parties and how they resonate with young people.
Trump’s hypermasculinity
Trump’s campaign embraces a kind of hypermasculinity that reached its maximum expression at the Republican convention in Milwaukee, where former wrestler Hulk Hogan tore off his shirt live and the former president himself came on stage to the rhythm of ‘It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World’ by James Brown.
At each rally, Trump projects the image of a tough leader. When a man tried to kill him in Pennsylvania in July, he stood up after a few minutes crouching and, with a bloody face, raised his fist in front of the American flag, shouting “Fight, fight, fight!
Their objective, University of Michigan professor Aaron Kall explains to EFE, is to seduce young voters without university education and who feel less affinity with Democratic ideas than previous generations.
For this reason, Trump has chosen Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate, the first member of the ‘millennial’ generation (born between 1981 and 1996) to be part of a major party’s bid for the White House.
However, in their eagerness to attract the male electorate, both are alienating women, excited by the possibility of a woman reaching the White House for the first time.
For years, Trump has been accused of abuse by dozens of women and this same year a jury found him guilty of abusing columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996. He is also not helped by some comments that Vance made in 2021, when he referred to the childless women as “spinster ladies with cats.”
Harris’ proposal: a new masculinity
Harris is doing everything possible to mobilize the female vote with the promise of protecting the right to abortion, legal for half a century until in June 2022 the Supreme Court overturned the ‘Roe vs Wade’ ruling.
Additionally, to counter Trump’s “strong man” narrative, the Harris campaign has presented its own alternative masculinity: men capable of leading with empathy and comfortable in the background alongside a powerful woman.
This image is embodied by the second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who left his job as a lawyer when Harris became vice president, and especially Walz, who represents that renewed masculinity, as Georgetown professor Michael Cornfield explains to EFE.
Nicknamed “Coach Walz” for his football experience, Walz has 24 years of service in the National Guard and projects the image of a simple man from the crucial Midwest, appearing at rallies in a flannel shirt and hiking boots.
In his electoral debut alongside Harris on August 6, Walz greeted the vice president by placing his palms together at chest level, showing a deference that enhanced Harris’ leadership aura.
«Walz is the gateway for those men who feel uncomfortable accepting the possibility that a woman could be commander in chief. It shows that real men can take a backseat to strong, capable women,” explains Cornfield.
The largest gender gap in history
According to Lanae Erickson, former advisor to Barack Obama (2009-2017), these differences between the candidates anticipate that the November 5 elections will produce the largest “gender gap” in the recent history of the United States, that is, the largest difference ever recorded between the percentage of women and men who vote for one candidate or another.
«There is unprecedented enthusiasm for Harris among women. On the other hand, men, especially young people who are voting for the first time, are turning to Trump,” says Erickson.
A recent survey by ABC and Ipsos reveals that the gender gap could reach 18 points, exceeding the 12 points in 2020 and 11 in 2016.
Specifically, Harris leads Trump by 13 points among women, while Trump leads Harris by 5 points among men, an unprecedented phenomenon in American politics. EFE
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