As predicted long before voting closed, this shift was driven primarily by young men with around 56% of 18- to 19-year-olds voting for Trump while just 40% of their female peers did so.
Early estimates indicated that only 42% of young people turned out to vote, even less than the 2020 election.
This gender divide is a direct reflection of the key concerns of young voters. While studies are still underway, surveys suggest that for young men, their swing towards Donald Trump was by large influenced by the economy. Whereas young women were far more concerned by Trump's misogynistic patterns. Early in the campaign, polling indicated that abortion was the top issue for women under 30, causing many young women to veer to the left, becoming, by several measures, the most progressive cohort in US history. Despite this, many did not vote left, or even vote at all. Early estimates indicated that only 42% of young people turned out to vote, even less than the 2020 election.
Still, the gender split was more prominent than ever in this election for several reasons. Many of the young women who voted against Trump came of voting age during the Trump presidency, in what is known as the "impressionable years". This is the time in which most people develop their political orientations. Therefore, their witnessing the election of Trump who is openly misogynistic, and faces a slew of sexual harassment allegations alongside his infamous Access Hollywood tape in which he brags about sexual assault, has made this generation far less likely to embrace him as a candidate choice.
When an accused rapist and proud misogynist can become the president of the United States, there is very little left to discourage violence towards women and girls and instead encourages men to proudly persecute them.
A more poignant explanation for this gender gap, however, has been developing on the internet for some time through the popularity of fascist male figures like Andrew Tate. Through male podcasts, and the rapid normalisation and projection of misogyny, boys and men are being radicalised by right-wing content that is being fed to them through the internet. When an accused rapist and proud misogynist can become the president of the United States, there is very little left to discourage violence towards women and girls and instead encourages men to proudly persecute them. Throughout his past eight years of campaigning, Trump has facilitated environments that intend to punish women simply because of their gender and will continue to do so throughout his time in power.
If as a society, we don’t acknowledge the most public forms of gender-based violence, harassment, and cruelty and instead reward it with success, how are everyday women supposed to call out ‘lower’ levels of harassment such as locker room banter and catcalling as part of the pyramid of violence against women. The simple answer is they can’t, at least not without backlash and repercussions, leaving nowhere for women in America to be safe.
The election was a shock in many ways but most significantly, it proved that even the young generations may not be able to save us from a shift towards far-right fascism, motivated and fuelled by sexism.
