With the election approaching and tensions rising among Democrats and Republicans, Gen Z is lining up at the polls and mailing in their ballots. Our generation has the opportunity to make real change here, so as a small reminder, please go out and vote!
That being said, I’ve noticed an uptick in my fellow young male voters' allegiance to conservatism. Oddly enough my sister’s ex-boyfriend was one of them, who took time from what I assume was a very busy day to ask me who I was voting for. But before I could answer, I was met with a slew of remarks speaking on the future of our country under Harris’ presidency and how Trump would make this country great again through his many unidentifiable policies. Even at work, a co-worker asked me the same question and I was met with more remarks, telling me about my catastrophic mistake in not voting for Trump and the many ways in which Harris is a dangerous person. It was the crème de la crème of political idolization, and I stood as its reluctant martyr.
While I’ve long since recovered from the realization of my involvement in our country's ensuing downfall, I realize that if we look at the current situation of men in our country and the rise of young male conservatism, we begin to see a pattern. With male loneliness and violence on the rise, and women making up a larger portion of the population attending college, why are we seeing not only the rise of conservatism among young men but a simultaneous redirection of men’s issues towards women?
It’s that this is the manifestation of men’s breaking point, brought on by a tremendously long history of the patriarchy’s impact on men and the standards they are expected to adhere to. Men aren’t allowed to be emotionally vulnerable. They’re expected to bring home the bacon, steer clear of anything remotely feminine and the list goes on and on. We can see how this has led to men suffering from depression or anxiety, most of which is underdiagnosed, leading to higher suicide rates in men. It’s an important issue that is characterized by patriarchal standards that men continue to perpetuate. We see it in the rise of young men looking towards Andrew Tate and other male-focused influencers who take advantage of these vulnerabilities.
Men are feeling lonely, ridiculed and blamed for larger social issues. Conservatism offers a chance to find a community that instills them with a false sense of belonging and confidence. It’s comparable to incel groups who are notorious for their views on women and their beliefs on involuntary celibacy, or rather, blaming women for their sexual shortcomings. Men, who are at their lowest, find community in each other and come together to fight a common enemy — women. Feminism in its fight for gender equality has allowed women to decenter men and it’s left men more insecure and hopeless than ever before. Conservatism on the rise amongst young men allows us to see conservatism for what it truly is: a way to reject women as they too have already been rejected, adhering to ideals that are characterized by traditionalism and misogyny to stroke their egos and reinstate their positions of superiority.
I’m not arguing that men aren’t currently facing severe issues that have been barred from any major political or social discourse, but it seems as though men are feeling like they are owed something. It’s expected that once they bring home the bacon, get into shape and become the epitome of masculinity, the rest will fall into place. But once they realize it’s not enough, they become angry and bitter. What they fail to realize is under all that anger and frustration is the fear of failing as a man. In other words, failing to conform to the toxic ideas of manhood that they collectively continue to perpetuate.
For the first time in a long time, women have worked their way into a position in society that has shifted a gender-based power struggle. Adhering to ideological groups that have time and time again pushed oppressive and misogynistic policies towards women only serves to further this divide. While men are the perpetrators of their demise, I do want to emphasize that to take down oppressive systems we have to come together to combat these major issues. Maybe then divorce rates would decline, thus saving the traditional institution of marriage. Wouldn’t that be conservative?
Eriel Pichardo is a UF English senior.
