Donald Trump recently said he would protect women, whether they like it or not. What did he mean by this? What is implied by this? It is an important statement and, unfortunately, tells us a great deal about why Trump won the election and his priorities as president.
For the last several years, leading Republicans have warned that there is a war on masculinity in America. Indeed, manly men are being replaced, they say, by effeminate men or gay men or -- even worse -- by men who want to become women.
Tucker Carlson featured a special report on “The End of Men,” where he discussed the feminization of men in America and lamented the decline of genuinely manly men. A Pew Research Center poll from October found that 45 percent of Republicans think society has a negative view of masculine men.
What really is a masculine man?
Men, and especially young men, are uneasy about feminism, and more than half of men from 18 to 29 voted for Trump. They don’t like competing with women in college, in the workplace or the home. They feel uncomfortable around strong women who want to be independent. A growing number of men want to reclaim what they believe should be their proper role in society.
Trump has offered these men hope by presenting himself as a man’s man. He insults women for the way they look. He brags that he could not possibly have sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll because “she isn’t my type.” This, of course, suggests that sexual assault makes sense if a man does find a woman attractive. He praises how Arnold Palmer looks in the shower for being “all man.” He makes fun of Kamala Harris’ laugh and calls her a “b----.” Trump is a role model for sexism. He promotes misogyny. And all too many men love it.
Many were confused by the appeal of Trump’s meandering comments on the campaign trail. They didn’t seem to have anything to do with the election issues. These remarks were actually central to Trump’s appeal. His supporters loved hearing him say crude things. Insulting women. Praising toxic masculinity. He was appealing to insecure men, promising to help them. If they elected him, they wouldn’t have to worry about strong assertive women.
The 2024 election was about many things, including the economy, but it was primarily a culture war, and Trump clearly won. His talk about making America great again was his way of promising men that he would turn the clock back and put them in charge again.
The Republican plan for women is to diminish them. They should submit to their husbands and have children. JD Vance emphasized this when he said that “childless cat ladies” ran the country. This is the core reason Republicans have launched a campaign to eliminate abortion rights in the country.
While it cannot be denied that many Republicans care deeply about the unborn, the driving force behind the assault on reproductive rights is anti-feminism. Unfortunately, many Republican women have bought into this attack on feminism. They cheerfully look forward to having men in charge again.
Birth control may be next. In June, Republicans blocked the Right to Contraception Act. The Supreme Court has already ruled that there is no right to an abortion. Will the Supreme Court follow this up with the elimination of a right to contraception?
We are looking at a possible future where women cannot obtain contraception and cannot get an abortion. This will leave women little opportunity to play a leading role in society. They will be forced into the background and under the control of men.
And this is just what insecure men want. They are comforted by the promise that women will have to live their lives under the authority of men. As Xochitl Gonzalez recently said in The Atlantic, “Misogyny helps disempowered men feel empowered.“ After Trump’s victory, the right-wing activist Nick Fuentes tweeted: “Your body, my choice. Forever.” It really is a man’s world now.
When Trump said he would protect women, whether or not they like it, he was saying that he -- and men in general -- know what is good for women and that he will take it upon himself to put women in their place. His goal is to reestablish patriarchy in America, and the insecurity of many men in America has played a significant role in giving him the chance to do just that.
Solomon D. Stevens
Solomon D. Stevens is the author of “Religion, Politics, and the Law” (co-authored with Peter Schotten) and “Challenges to Peace in the Middle East.” He wrote this for InsideSources.com. The views expressed here are the writer‘s own. -- Ed.
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