A New York Times op-ed attributed President-elect Donald Trump’s success in the 2024 election to resentful young men and their creation of a “manosphere,” which, according to the writer, “reinforces the male breadwinner norm.”
The piece, written by playwright Sarah Bernstein, argued, “our cultural narratives still reflect the idea that a woman’s status can be elevated by marrying a more successful man — and a man’s diminished by pairing with a more successful woman.”
The op-ed titled, “How Our Messed-Up Dating Culture Leads to Loneliness, Anger and Donald Trump,” noted that men’s and women’s fortunes were trending in opposite directions. After Trump was declared the winner over Harris, many have blamed his victory on sexism, misogyny and racism.
“Now that women are pulling ahead, the fairy tale has become increasingly unattainable. This development is causing both men and women to backslide to old gender stereotypes and creating a hostile division between them that provides fuel for the exploding manosphere. With so much turmoil in our collective love lives, it’s little wonder Americans are experiencing surging loneliness, declining birthrates and — as evidenced by Donald Trump’s popularity with young men — a cascade of resentment that threatens to reshape our democracy,” Bernstein argued.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on November 13, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Allison Robbert-Pool/Getty Images)
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Bernstein argued that modern romantic comedies promote the idea that women should have a successful career “and also a husband who is doing just a little better than she is.”
The “male breadwinner norm,” she wrote, paved the way for the creation of the manosphere, which, according to Bernstein is, “a space occupied by new media podcasters and their favored politicians who win eyeballs, votes and dollars by selling a retrograde version of masculinity as the fix for men’s woes.”
Trump, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris, appeared on several popular podcasts ahead of the 2024 election. The president-elect joined the Nelk Boys, Joe Rogan, Theo Von and more, in an effort to appeal to young, male voters.
“While so-called female gold diggers are an obsession of the manosphere, much of its content reinforces the male-breadwinner norm — tying money to manliness and women’s preference for providers to biology,” Bernstein wrote.
Former President Trump appeared on The “Joe Rogan Experience” for a 3-hour interview. (Getty Images)
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Harris appeared on podcasts, including the “Call her Daddy” podcast, Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” and more. The Harris campaign tried to get the vice president on Rogan’s podcast, but it ultimately did not happen.
Numbers suggest a shift among Gen Z as a whole. Democrats have historically relied on at least 60% of the youth vote, but early exit polls suggested Harris came in at only 54% of youth support, NPR reported.
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“This zero-sum paradigm has always been a feature of Trumpism, which is all about keeping resources with the right kind of people. But if we are willing to reject the manosphere’s narrow ideas of masculinity, we will find that it is possible for both men and women to thrive at the same time — in work and in love. This future is ours to create. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s a fairy tale,” Bernstein concluded.
Fox News Digital’s Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
