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Culture War Roundup for the week of November 4, 2024

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I do not think most endorsements really move the needle.

But if there's anything that might goose male (especially white male) turnout just a bit, the combination of the Alpha Male Stoner in Chief and the King of the Space Geeks might do it. And that's not nothing.

This is almost literally an example of Jocks and Nerds setting aside their differences to support the same guy.

Side note, I have been consistently impressed that the Harris campaign has consistently failed in any real attempt to reach out to male voters by addressing what they care about. Every ad actually aimed at male voters has been basically "do it for the women in your life." I think the fallout if Trump wins and its CLEARLY the male turnout that pushed him over the edge is probably underrated.

What do you mean by fallout? Some extension of gendered politics like in South Korea?

Sort of.

I expect the left to QUADRUPLE down on the rhetoric against while males as the source of all evil. The states where Dems have control will probably pass some more laws to entrench current gender divides and further tilt the legal playing field towards females and minorities. They may think they've still got the numbers to win later with the migrant influx.

A very low confidence prediction is we might see active sortition of single females moving out of 'red' areas to blue areas as an act of protest.

I think the main thing will be coming from the Cathedral wanting vengeance, and if they can't take it out on Trump while Trump is in office, then regular cishet males may have to do. Males in positions of authority could come under direct attack to try and replace them with more favorable options.

Finally, expect the media to heighten female 'suspicion' of males. "Ladies, statistically speaking your husband/boyfriend probably voted for Trump, you better be careful around him!" Testable prediction: Increase in divorces between couples that lean liberal in the next year or so.

In short, in the near term certain trends will probably get worse as women process the social and cultural implications of the event. They've got to figure out how to align themselves going forward, and it is POSSIBLE that more of them will align themselves with the right if it looks like the right is ascendant.

On the flip side, I don't know how males will act in a world where it is clear that they're still politically relevant, even if they hold very little cultural power. May be they become bolder about demanding respect, maybe we actually get rumblings of a return to traditional/patriarchal norms. Very unclear.

Every ad actually aimed at voters has been basically "do it for the women in your life."

Even that seems based almost entirely on the idea that one of the most important things in the life of the women you care about is elective abortions. The people writing these ads don't seem to have any meaningful theory of mind for normal men.

Seriously. Nothing about improving their social status or helping them start families or boosting their career prospects.

All about (secretly) cast your ballot for Harris and you can maintain your masculinity AND help out women. Also we have no good definition of 'masculinity'.

Not even an acknowledgment of male-centric struggles.

Not even an acknowledgment of male-centric struggles.

They don't believe in these, except occasionally in the merited-impossibility sense. That is, if you do manage to temporarily convince them men are having a hard time, they'll say that's good for some reason, usually some variation of "well men were on top for thousands of years". If I had a nickel for every private-school full-ride direct-to-FAANG woman at Google who claimed male engineers had some sort of privilege over them, I'd have enough to weight my fist.