There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the growing political and cultural divide between men and women, particularly among young people. Of course, the top-line narrative is that young men are becoming more conservative and turning to faith, while young women are growing more secular and liberal.
It’s a generalization to be sure, but it stems from what our culture has done to boys and girls. Society teaches our girls to be “grrrrrrl bosses” and be powerful, but it erases boys, medicating them to oblivion if they exhibit any sign of boyishness and teaching them that they’re less than valuable.
Back in April, I wrote:
What are young men to do when society fails them this badly? Unfortunately, too many young men are checking out and refusing to grow up. Addictions to video games and drugs are sending too many guys down a path that will be nigh on impossible to recover from. I can’t imagine how hopeless young men have to be to give up on life like that.
Society’s treatment of boys and young men has played into the hands of the gender warriors. If this culture is treating boys like they’re less than acceptable the way they are, why wouldn’t they fall for the lies of the gender cult? As our entertainment industry and media highlight soft men who stand aside and let women do everything, we can’t help but expect our guys to be demoralized.
The result is a generation of boys and young men seeking strong examples. Some look to the dangerous hypermasculinity of Andrew Tate and the “manosphere,” while others lose themselves in Red Bull and video games. Fortunately, we see plenty of young men these days finding the examples they need in conservatism and Christianity.
I know, I know. That’s an awfully long intro to get where I’m going with this column, but a small nugget buried within a recent Pew poll that gives us an eye-opening example of this chasm between men and women.
The main point of the poll was to explore the differences in the attitudes toward marriage and children between LGBTQ adults under 50 and “non-LGBTQ” adults under 50. Why the pollsters couldn’t just say “heterosexual” is beyond me, but that’s beside the point. For the record, unmarried LGBTQ and heterosexual adults under 50 are equally likely to say that they want to get married someday. The 18-29 cohort is particularly eager to get married.
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When it comes to having children, unmarried heterosexual adults under 50 are more likely to want kids than LGBTQ adults are. And that brings us to the most revealing stat that Pew almost buried:
LGBTQ men and women are equally likely to say they want to have children someday (36% and 37%).
But among non-LGBTQ adults, 54% of men say they want to become parents someday, compared with 39% of women.
This gender difference is largely driven by the preferences of non-LGBTQ Republican men. Most in this group (66%) say they want children someday. Far fewer Republican women (42%), Democratic men (43%) and Democratic women (38%) say the same. (Republicans and Democrats include those who lean toward either party.)
It sounds like a generation of young, conservative men may have a better head on their shoulders than society tried to instill in them. Here’s hoping that these guys can find good conservative women to start families with.
“This society has left a generation of boys and young men out in the cold,” I wrote back in April. “They’re turning to so many different things, but if we can steer them to the good and worthwhile pursuits in this life, we can change the future.”
Maybe for some young men, we’re on the right track. More power to them.
Against a culture that’s tried to erase them, many young men are pushing back, choosing marriage, family, and faith over the hollow promises of the world.
At PJ Media, we’re fighting for the truth about what’s happening in our culture — and for the future of the next generation of men. We refuse to let the legacy media bury hopeful stories like this one.
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