In recent elections, women voted more progressively than men. In the 2020 election Pew Research Joe Biden won by 11 points among women, while Donald Trump had a 2-point lead among men, according to the report.
Through the lens of domestic politics, it's easy to see why this might be the case. that much Dobbs The decision may not have been made at that point, but it was clear that Trump's control of the court with radical conservatives put abortion rights at risk. Next was Trump. blatant misogynyHis disgusting commentAnd a sexual assault survivor lawsuit already pending. E. Gene Carroll.
which Financial Times They report that the political gap between men and women is a global phenomenon. Moreover, they argue that this divide is growing rapidly and is dividing the younger generation.
But this crisis may not be exactly as it seems.
The gender gap in American politics is not new. As follows Center for American Women and Politics According to the show, in 1980 there was an 8-point gap between men and women. The closest the gap came was in 1992, when Bill Clinton won by a gender gap of just 4 points. base exit poll A survey by Edison Research found that the gender gap in 2020 may be the largest on record, according to Edison's historical data, but it's not all that surprising when compared to past cycles.
But that may not be the case in 2024.
that much American Life Research Center (a project of the conservative American Enterprise Institute) shows a widening gap between the attitudes of men and women. The most surprising aspect may be that this gap does not open between older men reacting to a changing world and women pushing for change, often after spending their entire lives under a system that severely limits their options. It is in the youngest groups that we see the most extreme differences.
It is known that the political attitudes of young women and young men are rapidly changing in opposite directions. According to the article, this is creating a political gap between genders across the world. It threatens to do more than just influence the outcome of an election.
The Survey Center on American Life and the Financial Times place the main cause of this phenomenon on the “MeToo” movement, while the FT calls it “the main trigger, an opportunity for people to speak out.” “It aroused fierce feminist values among young women who felt empowered.” We are against long-term injustice.” But it's not as simple as women around the world getting angry over social media messages, angry that men are finally paying the price for decades of abuse they've ignored.
First of all, the timing is inconsistent with what we think of as MeToo. Although the movement's start date is often set at 2006; It wasn't until 2017 The movement received widespread attention in the United States and was covered and reported internationally.
In some areas data This shows that the gap between men and women widened decades before #MeToo. This is the case in the United States, where significant differences emerged between 1980 and 2000 between women and men aged 18 to 29.
However, the data presented shows a huge gap in the political positions of men and women in this age group over the past five years.
The relationship between this change in political orientation and the #MeToo incident, which holds men accountable for using their power to commit rape or sexual assault and for threatening women into silence, is unclear. Donald Trump's election large-scale feminist protests It happened around the same time. It seems clear that this is a point where women, especially young women, are strongly protesting against the patriarchal system that not only limits women's choices but also physically abuses them.
MeToo may not be a perfect label, but it serves as an indicator of significant change in gender politics.
Some of the charts included in the Financial Times article initially looked as dire as the results for the United States.
But while this may seem jaw-dropping at first, a survey of the scale shows that only a minority of young men share these concerns. Only about 12% of men in the youngest group feel very threatened by women's empowerment. The majority of men of all ages don't agree With a statement. Additionally, since this appears to be a one-off measure, there is no way to compare it to previous generations. Young men still trying to build their careers and going through the awkwardness of their first serious relationship. always Women… I found it somewhat scary.
This isn't the only problem that doesn't hold up to scrutiny. As well as voting in elections, there appear to be substantial differences in the way young men and women respond to questions on a variety of issues in many countries. The gap is growing fastest in countries like South Korea. china, where women's empowerment represents an abrupt change from a system far more rigid and restrictive than that of the United States. However, as the article suggests, it doesn't seem to be anything serious or consequential.
at USA and Germany, the gap between male and female conservatism and liberalism among 18-29 year olds is currently about 30 points, with more than half of that gap occurring in the past six years. In Korea, the gap is over 50 points, which the Financial Times links to a very important change in Korean society.
Although the situation in Korea is extreme, it serves as a warning to other countries about what can happen when young couples separate. The society was split in two. The marriage rate has plummeted, and the birth rate has also fallen steeply, with the number of births per woman falling to 0.78 in 2022, the lowest level in the world.
When you hear this, it may seem like Korean society has changed significantly over the past six years, but that hasn't been the case. that much birth rate in korea It has been declining for decades. fell less It has risen faster over the past six years than in any other recent period and is expected to stabilize before beginning a slow rise. low marriage rate It is also part of a long-term trend. decline rate It is almost the same as the change over the seven years since 2017.
Korea was not divided in two due to the #MeToo movement. The men and women there woke up in 2017 and started running in opposite directions, bringing radical change to society. Their marriage and birth rates are both low, the result of long-term trends that existed long before anyone said “me too.”
But data from the Center for the Study of American Life shows that the gap between young men and women on political issues is growing rapidly. For example, here is a chart on the UK's immigration issues:
But focusing solely on the status gap between men and women seems to ignore the bigger picture. already more progressive More than any other age group. This does not seem to be the case where young people are becoming fundamentally more conservative on this issue. In fact, young men are more progressive in their attitudes than any other age group, including older women.
What this data shows is not two groups running in opposite directions. It shows that young women are making progress. faster than a young man.
similar question germany Young men seem to be drifting toward a conservative stance, while young women seem to be drifting toward a more progressive stance than any other group. But again, the magnitude of the difference is so small that all groups give their answers within a few percentage points, making it difficult to say what this means. Notably, the chart does not include margins of error.
Many of the American Life Data Research Center's claims appear to be based on changes in small numbers of respondents. Aside from the fact that it covers only 12% of all respondents, it would be easy to see young women in Germany as being four times more progressive than men.
The biggest change, and the only one that seems big enough to really have an impact, is that young women are moving into more progressive positions than young men. If there is a reactionary “they go left, so we go right” response from men, it is not noticeable in what is presented. There is also no indication that these political changes among women are having an impact on birth or marriage rates. The same goes for Korea.
The American Enterprise Institute wants to combat the idea that men are from Mars and women are from Venus and that our planet is increasingly divided, but there isn't much evidence for this here. Other studies from non-partisan sources have not found this divide growing.
And to add a little sour icing to that cake, Trump, despite everything he's done and said, despite marching in the streets multiple times, actually Improving His standing with women decreased by 1%. 2016 and 2020.
No chart will explain it.
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