OPINION | The Rise Of The Strongman: How Young Men Shaped The 2024 US Presidential Election
Photo Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images via Puck
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article contained an inaccurate statistic regarding young women earning on average more than young men. This article was updated on Mar. 6, 2025. The Nest apologizes to readers for this oversight.
Prior to the election, Michelle Obama had a warning for male voters: “Your rage does not exist in a vacuum. If we don’t get this election right, your wife, your daughter, your mother, we as women will become collateral damage to your rage,” which is exactly what happened. The 2024 United States presidential election was supposed to be greatly impacted by women, and their voices. They were going to bring change to the political landscape, rally for their rights and autonomy, and elect the first female president. If history is any indication, no one should be surprised that it was in fact young men that defined this election cycle, and elected Donald Trump to be the next president.
According to AP news, 53 per cent of men aged 18—44 voted for Trump, a demographic that Joe Biden won by seven points (52 to 45) in 2020. This systematic shift led many pundits to describe the 2024 US presidential election as the “Manosphere” election.
According to The Cambridge Dictionary, the Manosphere is a collection of “websites and internet discussion groups that are concerned with men's interests and rights as opposed to women's, often connected with opposition to feminism or dislike of women.” Even if you’ve never heard of the “Manosphere,” you’re most certainly familiar with one of its biggest champions, Andrew Tate, who was indicted on charges of rape, human trafficking, and forming an organised crime group to sexually exploit women in 2022, and yet is still trusted by 20 per cent of Gen Z men, according to a 2023 research report from Equimundo.
According to the Economic Times, Trump’s victory came from his ability to “capitalize… on youth masculinity.” Trump did this by tapping into the Manosphere, and made it an integral part of his campaign. If any single moment during the election was indication of this, it was when Donald Trump went on The Joe Rogan Experience, as part of his “bro podcast tour,” where he targeted young male low-propensity voters. Of Joe Rogan listeners, 81 per cent are male, according to a study from YouGov Business. The conversation lasted almost three hours, garnered over 40 million views in just three days and covered topics like the debunked 2020 election fraud, wind turbines, eliminating the income tax, and life on Mars. One thing’s for sure: the bros were listening. Young men are least likely to vote compared to all major demographics, but turned out en masse for Trump. Why did this happen, and what does this election reveal about the political gender divide?
While there are many factors that played into this, they come down to lack of security, stability, and relevance. Ronald Levant, the author of the book The Problem with Men, told USA Today that “the last half century has seen a dramatic improvement in the status of women in America, whereas men have been static.” When a demographic feels unempowered or disenfranchised, they tend to support the “underdog” or change candidate, and although this is what Kamala Harris tried to present herself as, for these young men, Trump represented the change they felt was necessary. In the past, young people have tended to favor countercultural candidates who were typically Democrats, but in this election young men saw MAGA candidates as those who would bring necessary change to society.
Jill Filipovic wrote in an opinion published in Slate that “Trump offered virtually nothing in the way of actual policy... He offered instead the promise of masculine strength… He talked to men who are frustrated and men who are adrift.” Although men still remain hierarchically dominant, young women are making significant gains at unprecedented levels. According to Pew Research Center, women now represent the majority of the college-educated workforce and post-secondary education rates and employment rates among women are at an all-time high, overtaking men in many developed countries. Of the nearly 35.2 million homes owned by unmarried Americans, single women own 58 per cent. This growth is combined with a rise in the number of young men who are not pursuing education or employment according to the Financial Times.
When women first entered higher education and the workforce, they had to work harder than their male counterparts for recognition. This, coupled with the gender pay gap, has resulted in women overtaking certain male dominated areas in a systemic over-correction. Now that young men are looking to the future with less certainty, voting in candidates that can bring periods of stability is a priority. According to NBC exit polls, of those who said the economy was their top issue, 80 per cent voted for Trump. But, for many men, this election was about more than just the economy.
The rise of fourth-wave feminism, which began in the early 2010’s, focused on sexual harassment, misogyny, online hate, and female empowerment; it resulted in radical changes for women around the world. For many men, an increase in female autonomy equals a loss of male power. Shwar Chhikara, a 36-year-old investment officer, told The Guardian’s Rose Hackman that these feelings of deprivation come from “this sense of entitlement.” He states that “if you are brought up understanding there is an inherent favorable bias towards men, and that is taken away, it isn’t easy.”
Many young men inherited antiqued ideas of privilege from past generations, who embodied traditional masculinity. Societal changes in the allocation of power and privilege are creating a subconscious feeling of discontent among young men, where they feel like they are at a disadvantage. This causes many to view female empowerment as a demotion for men.
A Pew Research study found that of young male Trump supporters, 40 per cent believe that “the gains women have made in society have come at the expense of men,” while 84 per cent agreed with the statement “the obstacles that once made it harder for women than men to get ahead are now largely gone.” Beyond feelings of lack, men also feel like female gains are causing an infringement on male rights. According to the American Survey Center, 45 per cent of surveyed men aged 18—29 in 2023 said that men face discrimination.
Look at Trump’s leading message: “Make America Great Again” (MAGA). This insinuates a return to the patriarchal systems of the past, when the male ruling body perceived America as “great”. Men felt like their lives were better under Trump — and they were. Society awarded men more ease and privilege, and they reaped more benefits from the economy that they dominated. So, this movement towards conservatism is directly tied to a loss of perceived privilege.
The rise of female empowerment also ushered in a new era of sensitivity and awareness, which MAGA Republicans describe as “wokeism.” This has resulted in a societal condemnation of “locker room talk,” unwanted sexual advances — specifically in the workplace, sexual harassment, and systemic misogyny. According to Micheal Kimmel, a Sociology and Gender professor at the State University of New York, and the Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of Men and Masculinities, “we could say what we wanted with complete impunity. Now a lot of guys have to watch what they say.” This creates a nature of defensiveness, where men feel like they have to be overly-conscious of their actions in order to make sure their behavior isn’t misconstrued.
Men have felt persecuted, and Trump has shown that he is above alleged persecution against him, both cultural and legal. His sentencing on 34 felony counts in the New York hush money payments trial has been postponed indefinitely, and special counsel Jack Smith dropped both the January 6 election interference case and the classified documents case against Trump.
Judy Chu, author of “When Boys Become Boys,” told the Los Angeles Times that, “We say we value emotional expressivity in men, but we tend to devalue men who express their emotions, so that kind of hypocrisy makes it really hard for boys and men to take that leap.” Gender norms dictate that emotional vulnerability is associated with femininity and therefore devalues one’s masculinity, which restricts men from having deep interpersonal relationships and hinders the development of social safety nets.
Traditional masculinity also affects the structure and depth of male friendships, which are highly transactional, built around shared activities, and lack emotional intimacy. This differs from women, whose friendships are built on connection, intimacy, and mutual support systems. While some of this variability in friendship may be due to hormonal differences between men and women, male vulnerability is stigmatized in a way that diminishes emotional gratification in male friendships, which can severely affect young men. According to Eqimundo, two-thirds of young men feel that “no one really knows” them, and a study from the American Survey centre found that 1 in 4 men under the age of 30 have no close social connections.
What has been coined “the male loneliness epidemic,” is primarily fueled by this lack of meaningful connection, and can have serious physical and mental health impacts. Nearly one in ten men experience some form of depression or anxiety, yet less than half seek treatment, and are nearly four times more likely than women to commit suicide, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.
Young men who are unable to foster deep emotional relationships and find themselves lacking a sense of connectivity, often retreat into isolation and onto the internet. According to a study on gender differences online, conducted by psychiatrists from the University of Sherbrooke, the University of Montreal, and the University of Quebec, found that young men spend 19.65 hours on the internet each week, compared to young women who spend 16.68 hours. This defies stereotypes of teenagers and young adults, where young women are often presented as having more intense internet addictions.
A report conducted by two researchers from the Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Concurrent Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders found that young men tend to gravitate towards gaming online, while young women’s online use is primarily focused on social media. Again, we see male and female patterns of socialization, where women use the internet to foster connections and gain social status, while men use the internet to engage in activities where they socialize with others who possess similar interests. Online interactions, specifically when playing video games, are not as impactful or meaningful as in-person ones. They do not help youth develop emotional nuance, empathy or vulnerability — so the feelings of loneliness and disconnection persist.
We live in a time where young men who feel unseen, rejected, and fail to find meaning in their interpersonal relationships, turn to the Manosphere to help them cultivate a sense of place and purpose. They look up to figures like Andrew Tate, Joe Rogan and yes, Donald Trump, as representations of the strength and power they wish they could embody.
They find comfort and understanding in the words of these figures, despite the fact that their messages of traditional masculinity do nothing to solve young men’s real world problems. Instead of concrete solutions, like increasing men’s mental health awareness and investing in young men’s educations, these Manosphere missionaries project strength and foster entitlement, which creates grievances among young men towards society, and towards women. This is weaponization of masculinity, and it can have a real world effect, exhibited nowhere as clearly than the reelection of Donald Trump.
When young men look to the Manosphere to solve their problems, they find answers in blame, hatred, and misogyny. Donald Trump projects himself as a strongman, a warrior for those who have been wronged by liberal overcorrection, but we know from his previous term that he is only in office to serve his own interests. In four years, young men’s problems will still be unresolved. They will still feel lonely, unseen, and misunderstood, because liberalism and progress is not to blame.
Instead, traditional masculinity and male entitlement have restricted young men from feeling fully part of society. Idrees Kahloon, the Washington bureau chief for The Economist, wrote in the New Yorker that “Masculinity is fragile… and malleable. The shapes it will assume in the future have consequences.” Electing a strongman will not make men feel stronger, and perhaps after another four years, they’ll see that.