Society/Culture Why are young males now more right wing then older males?

[Seeds]

Found this finding staggering. Usually young people are less conservative then older people (for numerous economic and cultural reasons). And this is still true of females. However, this poll asking australians whether they would support trump or not finds that not only do young men not support trump comfortably less then older men (as I would expect based on history), but they in fact support Trump more than older men. And quite comfortably. It appears gen z males are unusually right wing compared to older generations.

Why is this the case? Who/what is to blame for this? Is this a blip or the new norm?

Troubling split emerges in Australia over Trump

The gender divide in politics is a sleeper issue in Australia, with men and women — particularly young people — moving apart in profound and polarising ways, as opinions of the upcoming US election show.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Gough]

They're envious of the advantages that being being born with a penis that were afforded to their parents and grandparents.

 

[Rotayjay]

Maybe a better thread title would be 'Why are men drifting to the right and women to the left?'

I'd attribute this to a whiplash effect against what is perceived as feminism going too far. That and the 'Manosphere' on social media. Social media has now had well over a decade to influence attitudes - a 16-year-old boy in 2010 is now 30.

Anecdotally, I hear men complaining that everything is set up for women these days, real men are dying out and men need to rediscover their masculinity. But what does that mean anyway?

I think this ties in with the broader whiplash against what they call woke. Certain attitudes and systems seem to come in a package, and these have opposites.

Toxic masculinity vs old-fashioned manliness

Affirmative action vs 'best person for the job'

Consent and gentle courtship vs pick up artistry and choking during sex

Equality in decision-making vs the man taking charge and ordering his woman around

Easy divorce and child support vs the male provider and staying with him

Domestic violence epidemic vs false accusations and guilty until proven innocent

Pro choice vs pro-life

Sharing wealth vs being a self-reliant man who provides for his family only

Non-violence vs being tough, having schoolyard fights and boys will be boys

Mental health awareness vs be a tough man and suck it up

 

[Kram]

Probably some pushback against the agressive far left religion.

 

[ReidBetweenTheLines]

Who/what is to blame for this? Is this a blip or the new norm?

What do you mean “blame”? To say blame is to infer a mistake has been made.

Conservatism isn’t a mistake. The world going woke and pulling hard to the left, (putting tampons in male toilets at high schools for example) is why younger society is starting to self-correct.

 

[Seeds]

Maybe a better thread title would be 'Why are men drifting to the right and women to the left?'

I'd attribute this to a whiplash effect against what is perceived as feminism going too far. That and the 'Manosphere' on social media. Social media has now had well over a decade to influence attitudes - a 16-year-old boy in 2010 is now 30.

Anecdotally, I hear men complaining that everything is set up for women these days, real men are dying out and men need to rediscover their masculinity. But what does that mean anyway?

I think this ties in with the broader whiplash against what they call woke. Certain attitudes and systems seem to come in a package, and these have opposites.

Toxic masculinity vs old-fashioned manliness

Affirmative action vs 'best person for the job'

Consent and gentle courtship vs pick up artistry and choking during sex

Equality in decision-making vs the man taking charge and ordering his woman around

Easy divorce and child support vs the male provider and staying with him

Domestic violence epidemic vs false accusations and guilty until proven innocent

Pro choice vs pro-life

Sharing wealth vs being a self-reliant man who provides for his family only

Non-violence vs being tough, having schoolyard fights and boys will be boys

Mental health awareness vs be a tough man and suck it up

No the point was why were young men drifting more to the right then older men. Its far more obvious why men in general would.

Although I dont get how pro choice vs pro life is anti male? Nor easy divorce? Nor equality in decision making. Nor consent in courtship.

 

[Seeds]

They're envious of the advantages that being being born with a penis that were afforded to their parents and grandparents.

But why young men and not older men as much? If older men had those advantages and have now lost them then surely they would even be more against the changes then those who never had them.

 

[Seeds]

What do you mean “blame”? To say blame is to infer a mistake has been made.

Conservatism isn’t a mistake. The world going woke and pulling hard to the left, (putting tampons in male toilets at high schools for example) is why younger society is starting to self-correct.

Oh it is a massive mistake because the issues with wokism driving disadvantages for men (some valid and some not) does not even remotely offset the negative impacts of the anti democratic, anti globalist, anti human right and complete idiotic policies that trump proposes.

 

[Rustin Cohle]

What happens when you've got a generation raised on 4chan, twitter and other shit forms of social media.

No break down by education level included. Would be shocked if there wasn't a strong correlation between less education and Trump support.

 

[Rotayjay]

No the point was why were young men drifting more to the right then older men. Its far more obvious why men in general would.

Point taken.

Although I dont get how pro choice vs pro life is anti male? Nor easy divorce? Nor equality in decision making. Nor consent in courtship.

It's not about what really is anti-male, but what some on the far right perceive as anti-male. I've definitely seen anti-feminists complaining that abortion is the easy way out (Tony Abbott), that it's too easy to get a divorce and single parent payments are regrettable (Dominic Perrotet) and men in the 'pick up artistry' or 'PUA' online space advocate for what is effectively rape. Even Donald Trump said you should 'grab 'em by the pussy' without asking.

 

[Rotayjay]

Older men tend (or tended) to get their news from newspapers, radio, TV and books. Today's 10-to-25 year old young men tend to get it from Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok. Tiktok is full of clickbait (or eye-bait) rubbish and some just swallow it. Others are slowly influenced even if they don't believe the stuff at first.

There is a federal government website dedicated to the anti-women attitides Australia's boys are being exposed to:

https://www.respect.gov.au/hidden-trends

The Algorithm of Disrespect video is especially concerning.

 

[Gethelred]

The patriarchy reinforcing its own standards onto a new generation.

Don't acknowledge your emotions. Don't let anyone in. Don't accept rejection. Don't feel anything other than the acceptable male emotions, boisterous enthusiasm or fury. Don't be affectionate in public. Have only masculine coded interests.

There's also a wide strand of conservativity that has wound its way around Australia socially for its entire existence. The OP conflates social conservatism with RW economics, which are not the same thing. Then, you have the consequences of the extremely sex positive libertarian internet, which means sex beamed into your eyeballs as often as you want it. A lott of young boy's first exposures to either sexual or gender relationship dynamics are negotiated through their relationships with the females in their lives laid against the infinite versions reproduced by the internet; whether we're talking tic tok or facebook or pornhub, the vast majority of these reproductions replicate pre-existing gender hierarchies and even lean into conservative ideals of how a woman should look, behave and act in a relationship.

You've then got the manosphere, which pulls young men in search of answers towards traditional masculinity and affirms that the society around them is indeed stacked against them and that it's women to blame. A lot of this stuff is also capitalist and materialist; you've got to have the expensive suit, the fast car, the manicured appearance, the expensive watch. You've got to smoke cubans, you've got to drape yourself in the aesthetic of wealth to be a real man. This pulls these boys into a spiral of retrograde attitudes towards women on one hand and RW capitalist attitudes with the other.

This is all surely not all that much of a surprise, is it?

 

[faible]

But why young men and not older men as much? If older men had those advantages and have now lost them then surely they would even be more against the changes then those who never had them.

Trump isn't just 'conservative' he's something else entirely.

I suspect older men might be more traditionally conservative, but aren't 'in' to the whole Trump show. Younger men might like the show that is Trump, they might not have the life experience or education to think critically about the things he's saying, and if you're a white male, you're probably not going to be on the wrong side of the vitriol he spouts or the things he threatens to do.

Younger women are much more personally impacted by stuff like the anti-abortion push in the US (that some are trying to make a 'thing' here), and would be far more aware of what a vote for Trump / GOP would mean for them.

Conservative by Australian standards is also still likely somewhere to the left of the Democrats in the US. So a traditional social or economic conservative Australian isn't necessarily a full blown anti-abortion and no-social-welfare believer.

 

[blueboy25]

Trump isn't just 'conservative' he's something else entirely.

I suspect older men might be more traditionally conservative, but aren't 'in' to the whole Trump show. Younger men might like the show that is Trump, they might not have the life experience or education to think critically about the things he's saying, and if you're a white male, you're probably not going to be on the wrong side of the vitriol he spouts or the things he threatens to do.

Younger women are much more personally impacted by stuff like the anti-abortion push in the US (that some are trying to make a 'thing' here), and would be far more aware of what a vote for Trump / GOP would mean for them.

Conservative by Australian standards is also still likely somewhere to the left of the Democrats in the US. So a traditional social or economic conservative Australian isn't necessarily a full blown anti-abortion and no-social-welfare believer.

Older men are more likely to be thinking about the impact on their daughters and grand daughters where as young men aren't at that stage and probably are only thinking about themselves not their sister or female friends

 

[ReidBetweenTheLines]

Oh it is a massive mistake because the issues with wokism driving disadvantages for men (some valid and some not) does not even remotely offset the negative impacts of the anti democratic, anti globalist, anti human right and complete idiotic policies that trump proposes.

You’re the one that’s anti-democratic. You only want a Democrat leader ever, meaning you prefer communism.

Democracy is about swing voters balancing their society as it naturally seems fit. Your mindset is the mistake.

 

[faible]

You’re the one that’s anti-democratic. You only want a Democrat leader ever, meaning you prefer communism.

lol. You don't even know what the words you're using mean.

 

[burge13]

Mix of rallying against radical stupidity the left come up with and more likely Trump has been on all the popular podcasts in that demo, he's seen as a bit of a 'meme hero'.

He's on Rogan, Logan Paul, Theo, goes to UFC events. Can you think of more 'young men' shit than that?

I think people are also well and truly over everyone being a Nazi too.

 

[spinynorman]

I think that the premise of the thread is pretty presumptive off the basis of one poll (asking about support for two foreign political candidates, both of whom are right wing albeit to varying degrees on different issues).

Other polls suggest otherwise - while there is a gender difference in political belief in young people it’s less stark the younger they are. This varies in different countries, for example, the left wing Mélenchon won the youth vote in the last two French elections with the far right Le Pen second. The centre right Macron was third, but was much more popular with older generations. Perhaps this more suggests a want for a break with the status quo, which Trump is seen as being moreso than Harris.

 

[RedStarUncle]

The current state of the "right" is far more radical/distant from current norms. That's why I think it's appealing to young men.

To call Trump and the various similarly positioned right-wing politicians "Conservative" is a complete misnomer... they're agitators for change. You can argue whether that is "change back to the good old days", "neoliberal economic change", "change leaning harder into fascism", or whatever you want to call it... but it's about change not maintaining the status quo. Hence it appeals to young men who have always quite typically rebelled against the status quo.

Young women, on the other hand, probably feel quite comfortable with the status quo because they only need to look as far as their parents' generation to see things could be worse for them than they are now. Only a relatively small portion are keen to agitate for harder change towards stauncher left/feminist ideals.

 

[evolved2]

The left is fixated on identity politics which doesn't make young men feel represented at all. If you're a young white cis hetero male with 'privilege', what does the left do for you?