- Why are Gen Z views splitting by gender? Complex answer;
- Why are Republicans more likely to suffer hearing loss? Simple answer;
- Shorter items: Trump doesn’t understand NATO; about that Super Bowl commercial fueled by the Christian right; whether there’s a difference between Christian groups and hate groups, in the modern world; how Republicans might view immigration differently if it were Brits and Swedes banging at our borders; how Republicans are increasingly open with bigoted attacks on political foes.
First today a couple items whose headlines made me think, Really? Why Would That Be?
OnlySky, Jonathan MS Pearce, 6 Feb 2024: Gen Z views are rapidly splitting in half by gender—and the gap is not small
Overview:
Today’s young people are going through a rather significant shift. Young women appeared to be more concerned with and aligned to progressive values and issues, while young men are moving in a more conservative direction.
This isn’t just happening in the US. It appears to be a global phenomenon.
So why would this be? Some effect of increasing authoritarianism?
Traditionally speaking, males and females would be spread roughly equally across political worldviews. But according to Gallup data, US women aged between 18 and 30 are now 30 percentage points more liberal than their male counterparts. The same can be said about Germany, with the UK showing a 25 percentage points difference. And men in Poland are far more inclined to support hard-right political parties. This new phenomenon is a very recent occurrence, taking a mere six years to manifest.
The essay does not give any single simplistic answer. But, yes, it has to do with politics, and social media. One approach at an answer:
- Men and women tend to think alike in societies where there is
- Close-knit interdependence, religiosity, and authoritarianism, or
- Shared cultural production and mixed-gendered offline socializing.
- Gendered ideological polarization appears encouraged by:
- Feminized public culture
- Economic resentment
- Social media filter bubbles
- Cultural entrepreneurs
The article goes with narrative about how these factors play out. For example,
Across the European Union, younger men are most likely to claim that “Advancing women’s and girls’ rights has gone too far because it threatens men’s and boys’ opportunities.” This viewpoint is strongest in regions with rising unemployment and strong competition for jobs. Where men struggle to get ahead, they take their resentment out on women’s gains. For example, where unemployment has been high in Britain, you’re more likely to hear the phrase, “Husband should earn, wife stay at home”.
As has been well documented, xenophobia and the rise of the far right emerge in tandem with economic downturns. Evans explains this connection:
Xenophobia and sexist resentment both reflect men’s unmet desire for status. A fundamental feature of patriarchy is that men want to have high status. When men feel like they’re falling behind, unable to gain pre-eminence, forever ghosted by women on dating apps, they may react aggressively and endorse hostile sexism. This is a global trend, which I summarised here.
These ideas are exacerbated by zero-sum thinking where your success is my loss. Such a heuristic often breeds resentment and jealousy, which can prosper in times and places of economic stagnation.
The piece goes on with discussion of social media filter bubbles… and discussion of Andrew Tate, a popular right-wing provocateur in Britain.
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In contrast…
Washington Post, Andrew Van Dam, 9 Feb 2024: Why are Republicans more likely to suffer hearing loss?
This one has a simple answer.
… “those living in rural areas experience higher rates of [hearing loss], perhaps due to potential noise exposure from outdoor work and recreation such as forestry, all-terrain vehicles, and recreational firearms.”
And the article goes through testimony and data that validates this suspicion. Lots of interesting maps. There’s also an adjacent correlation:
In keeping with the partisan divide in gun ownership, we found that firearm suicides are almost four times as common in areas with the highest Republican support as they are in Democratic strongholds.
Freedom, right?
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Shorter items.
NY Times, Jamelle Bouie, 13 Feb 2024: Trump Is Losing It
Trump doesn’t understand NATO; he thinks it’s like a mafia protection racket.
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We watched patches of the Super Bowl on Sunday, but I missed this commercial.
Salon, Amanda Marcotte, 13 Feb 2024: Hobby Lobby-funded Jesus Super Bowl ads can’t hide the hate that fuels the Christian right, subtitled “The ‘He Gets Us’ ads are an expensive bait-and-switch trying to trick people into believing in MAGA Jesus”
Sometimes I think these religious groups truly don’t understand that not everyone sees their ideology in the same way they do. Is that due to their insular psychology, or to their living in a bubble?
And:
Boing Boing, 12 Feb 2024: Super Bowl Jesus Ad funded by groups fostering “hateful Christian Nationalism”
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Is there a difference, in the modern world, between groups espousing Christian, conservative principles, and hate groups?
Hemant Mehta, Friendly Atheist, 13 Feb 2024: Christian hate group leader claims fellow hate group isn’t hate group, subtitled “Jerry Newcombe falsely claims Moms for Liberty is being attacked because they’re ‘parents with a conservative point of view'”
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Washington Post, Catherine Rampell, 13 Feb 2024: Opinion | The surge in immigration is a $7 trillion gift to the economy
Once again, the economic numbers say immigration is a benefit. Why do conservatives opposite it? Well, imagine this scenario: suppose for whatever reason millions of British and Swedes are banging at our borders wanting to be let in, to find jobs and raise their families and pay their taxes and grow the economy. Imagine.
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On the same theme:
NY Times, 13 Feb 2024: On Capitol Hill, Republicans Use Bigoted Attacks Against Political Foes, subtitled “House and Senate Republicans have denigrated fellow lawmakers, Biden administration officials and witnesses in racist ways, both in casual comments and in official settings.”
