The Gender Wars to World War III / Forever Wars Pipeline

An often missed aspect of the increasing association between masculinity and the right

Much has been said about the supposed gender wars of our times, and its effects on politics, as seen in the unprecedented gender gap in support between left-of-center and right-of-center politics. I was not really going to talk about this topic in too much detail, because I feel like it's not something that's going to stick long-term. Recently however, I'm beginning to feel that I do have to address it, because I fear there might be some dire implications for the future of world peace, that people are not talking enough about. Let me explain.

Many people say that the political gender gap started when the center-left began to alienate men, particularly young men. I think it happened because of two factors: firstly, the deliberate mainstreaming of oppressor vs. oppressed-based postmodern critical theory by far-left activists, as part of their wide-ranging revolutionary agenda. Secondly, the increasing strategic use of identity politics by mainstream liberals, especially around the time of Hillary Clinton's campaign for the 2016 US Presidential election, which provided the perfect opportunity for identity-based critical theory to have influence further and wider than previously imagined. This meant that mainstream feminism suddenly became unnecessarily divisive in many ways, as seen in the use of essentially meaningless terms like 'mansplaining' and 'manspreading'. Many men began to feel like they were unwelcome in 'progressive' circles. 

The right, particularly the new 'populist right' and the far-right, took this opportunity by trying to recruit young men feeling lost and frustrated in this political landscape to their cause. All this resulted in the rise of the 'manosphere', and likely helped Trump win men of all ages in 2024. What we need to remember here is that, the fact that Trump performed so well among young men was perhaps the most shocking thing from that election. Back in 2004, President Bush won re-election with a stronger popular vote, and he also did pretty well with Latinos and Black voters. What Bush couldn't do however, and what Trump was able to do, was winning young men under 30. This shocking result, combined with poll after poll showing a wide political gender gap between young men and young women in Gen Z in most Western countries, finally provided the necessary wake-up call to mainstream liberals, to end the divisive identity politics influence.

This story has been told so many times that it is indeed very old news by now. However, many commentators only see the 'gender wars' angle here. I see the far-right playing another game altogether. You see, the far-right and the manosphere are not only praising men and masculinity in general, but rather promoting a specific form of masculinity, and encouraging young men to adopt it. This version of masculinity celebrates aggression over patient consensus-building, tribalism over universal concern for humanity, anger over rationality, and sees compassion as weakness rather than strength. It is also implicitly pro-authority, pro-conformity, anti-intellectual query, and not too keen on individual freedoms. In short, these characteristics, being packaged as 'real masculinity' by the far-right, are actually things that make war more likely, and/or make it harder for people to oppose war. This is very bad news for those of us who want to see world peace. Now, you might imagine why some people would want to push these values onto our young men. Many people actually profit from war. The tech-bros are the latest to join this category, with AI and robotics fast becoming valuable assets to have in wars. Not coincidentally, we are seeing the kind of people who would profit from war, tech-bros included, cozying up to the populist right across the Western world in recent years.

I think the solution to this is twofold: firstly, we need to end the political gender gap. We need mainstream liberals to stop sending young men to the pro-war right, and they can do that if they stop alienating them. As I often say, we need to put an end to all this oppressor vs. oppressed madness. Secondly, we equally need to call out and take a stand against those who are essentially deliberately pushing society towards a pro-war mindset. While many people have rightfully pointed out the faults of the 'manosphere' movement, relatively few have addressed the war and peace angle. We need to be talking about this more. I think we also need to actively promote pro-peace values, as an antidote to pro-war values flooding our cultural conversation. Values like objectivity, rationality, querying authority, compassion, consensus-building, universal concern for humanity, and the Moral Libertarian principle of upholding equal and maximum moral agency for every individual. In the current moment, those who believe in ending the forever wars are facing challenges like we haven't been for a long time. But if we keep the faith, and work hard for peace, I believe there's still a chance that peace will win out.