The rapid increase in liberal identity among young women has led some to speculate that young men are moving in the opposite direction. Jean Twenge declared in her recent book, “Generations,” that the gender divide is going to become a defining feature of our politics. She writes: “Among liberals, the future is female and among conservatives, the future is male.” It’s an argument that offers compelling symmetry. Except that it’s not at all what we see in most polls.
As The Hill’s Daniel de Vise recently noted, even the data that Twenge cites shows that the overwhelming majority of teenage boys and girls identify as moderate. Other surveys tell much the same story. In a recent survey, we at the Survey Center on American Life found that the gender gap is most pronounced among political moderates, among whom young men are overrepresented by a considerable margin. More than 60% of young moderates among our respondents were men. Gallup polls stretching back more than two decades have consistently shown that the most common political identity among young men is moderate.
The overwhelming majority of teen boys and girls identify as moderate.
That young people would gravitate toward the political middle makes sense: They are being politically noncommittal as they figure out what they think and where they fit. For many young people, “moderate” can serve as a political placeholder as more stable partisan attachments develop.
Or the phenomenon could reflect feelings of political apathy. Even as young men readily share their thoughts about political matters, they are far less likely than young women to say these issues are priorities for them. On gun violence, climate change and racial inequality, young men express substantially less concern than young women.
One important reason the politics of young men is so difficult to pin down is that so few have participated in institutions that shape their values and help them identify their purposes. Young men today are far less likely than previous generations to have been raised in religious communities and participate less often in clubs and competitive sports. Membership in the Boy Scouts has fallen dramatically in recent years, as has participation in youth athletics. With fewer formative attachments and experiences, young men may take longer to figure out their places and find their voices.
Compared to young women, young men have also been less affected by recent political events. Young women have lived through a succession of seismic events, including the #MeToo movement, the election of Donald Trump and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, all of which profoundly shaped their politics. These events had far less influence on the politics of young men. The #MeToo movement was a defining experience for many young women, but young men often took little notice or evinced little awareness of its implications.
Young men may also take longer to define themselves because masculinity itself can be difficult to define in modern culture. It’s frequently treated as a pejorative, but it’s a quality many young men still aspire to. In a survey we conducted last year, nearly half of young men said it was important that people saw them as masculine, and nearly 4 in 10 said they had been teased growing up for not being manly enough.
One important reason the politics of young men is so difficult to pin down is that so few have participated in institutions.
The need to affirm their masculinity may influence their political choices. There are plenty of examples of men avoiding activities, careers or work that might be viewed as feminine. The New York Times’ Claire McCain Miller has argued that an important reason men eschew certain domestic chores, such as doing laundry or cleaning, is their historical association with women. “Masculinity is strongly tied to earning an income and avoiding things that are considered feminine,” she wrote. Men have shown a similar disinclination to pursue jobs in female-dominated industries — so-called pink-collar careers — such as nursing, teaching and social work.
Just because young men aren’t currently trending conservative doesn’t mean they won’t in the future, though. Some people see gender politics as a zero-sum proposition — an agenda advocating for one side invariably hinders the other. It’s conceivable that a political party or agenda with a growing popularity among young women might lead some young men to believe it’s not for them. There’s growing belief among young men that whatever past advantages men had in American society are fast disappearing. Nearly 4 in 10 young men say women have an easier time than men getting ahead in American society today, and even more young men (45%) say there is at least some discrimination against men in American society. Roughly half as many young women believe this to be true, and even older men are less likely to agree.
In today’s America, young women are being encouraged to seek personal achievements and professional success by breaking through traditional boundaries. At the same time, the message for young men has been muddled. In many cases it can be summarized as: Don’t be a bad guy — an admirable message, to be sure, but rather directionless. It has led to what Richard Reeves, author of the book “Of Boys and Men,” has described as an absence of ambition and pervasive feelings of uncertainty and passivity. It may also mean that the political views of young men are still evolving. How this plays out will have a considerable impact on the direction of American society and the future of our politics.