Toxic Masculinity Explains Trump’s Support Among Many Men
By: James Knight
Tags: Toxic Masculinity, Election 2020, Gender, Trump, Biden

And why they won’t wear masks

Photo by Damir Spanic on Unsplash

Beginning in 1980, the voting patterns of women and men have been increasingly divergent. According to research conducted before and after the 2020 election and reported in FiveThirtyEight, the current COVID-19 pandemic and divergent female and male opinions on how much blame should be attributed to Donald Trump played a large role in exacerbating gender divisions in voting. For “hyper-masculine” men, it was a significant contributor to supporting Trump. For most women and what I will call “men who think with their brain and not their balls,” Trump’s COVID-19 clusterfuck approach and Biden’s proposed policies to control the pandemic were significant contributors to voting for Biden.

Overall, most Americans consistently disapproved of Trump’s response (or lack thereof) to the pandemic. However, an American Enterprise Institute poll revealed a notable exception among men. Men who self-identify as “completely masculine” approved of Trump’s handling of COVID-19.

The survey asked men how they see themselves as masculine or feminine on a 7-point scale in which 0 equals “completely masculine,” and 6 equals “completely feminine.” They could also choose 7, meaning “neither feminine nor masculine.”

When broken out by how masculine or feminine they considered themselves to be, “completely masculine men” were the only group where the majority (60%) said that they approved of the way that Trump is handling the COVID-19 pandemic and who voted for Trump

Although Herr Trump does not fit my definition of a “masculine man,” he considers himself to be one and has managed to convince his followers that he is a “manly man.” And numerous polls have shown that men who believe themselves to be masculine are among his biggest supporters. These men also identify with Trump’s “just ignore it” attitude toward the pandemic and that only “pussies wear masks.” These men are also less likely to take the recommended precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In reality, a study has shown that men who were considered to be sexist were more likely to report having contracted COVID-19.

Studies have also shown that “more masculine men” who reject COVID-19 precautions also tend to ignore other health recommendations, such as wearing seat-belts and getting routine health checkups. Tough guys don’t get sick! Right?

Men who self-identify as “completely masculine” are disproportionately likely to be Republican and consistently less likely to report feeling worried about the pandemic and less likely to support public health restrictions on businesses or individuals. Americans’ views on gender are intertwined with their partisan political identity.

Data shows that women were more likely than men to lose their jobs due to the pandemic. Still, the very prospect of being unemployed may have been unsettling to men with stronger masculine identities and oppose business restrictions.

The “hyper-masculine” men loved Trumps’ bravado in rejecting masks and repeatedly calling for removing restrictions on businesses, schools, churches, sporting events, etc., despite the objections of public health experts. Likewise, they perceived Joe Biden as the less-masculine option because he wore a mask and practiced social distancing, and followed public health guidelines while campaigning. And to the testosterone junkies, Trump was strong, like them, and Biden was an old, weak pussy!

Now that Biden is the President-Elect and (fingers-crossed) becoming President of the United States on January 20, 2021, these gun-toting, testosterone-laden, hyper-masculine assholes are the very Americans most likely to resist Biden’s strategy for getting COVID-19 under control. Sad!