In a recent interview, California Gov. Gavin Newsom stated an obvious truth: The Democratic Party has abandoned boys and men. This has been apparent for some time, but it has not been addressed by those on the Left because of ignorance or partisan flippancy. Newsom is right to be concerned.
This crisis is a broad problem that touches every race and economic class. It’s far more important than its impact on politics. But Newsom’s No. 1 reason for the worry? It’s hurting Democrats’ electoral prospects.
There is a wealth of data on the current crisis of masculinity in the United States. In terms of education, women currently dominate. There are more female college students than male college students. Young men feel bereft of purpose as they look at their present and contemplate their future.
The mental health crisis is real. Young men overdose at a much higher rate than their female counterparts. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “the suicide rate among males in 2023 was approximately four times higher than the rate among females.” Among federal inmates, men are 93.4% of the population. And those who perpetrate mass shootings are overwhelmingly male.
It’s a good thing that Newsom recognizes the Democratic Party’s deficit in this matter. The party has done almost everything to turn boys and men away from joining its ranks, and it has done so with glee. For years, the Left has focused on women in a way that sidelines men. It is the Left that chants “the future is female,” as if a society where boys and men are constantly maligned is better. It is the Left that routinely labels all masculinity as toxic. And it is the Left that simultaneously promotes third-wave feminism while embracing transgenderism. To them, biological reality means little, and inherent qualities are interchangeable.
In the interview, Newsom said of Democrats, “We need to own up to the fact that we ceded that ground. We walked away from this crisis of men and boys. Trump saw it as an electoral opportunity to exploit it, but he‘s done nothing to deliver in terms of results to address those anxieties, which are real.”
It’s fair to say that little is being done — by anyone — to address these anxieties. The problem is deep and wide-ranging. But Newsom believes President Donald Trump exploited the crisis. If anything, this sounds like an attempt to cope with the Democratic Party’s glaring failures. It takes no effort at all to see why the Republican Party does a better job of attracting men.
Only one side of the political aisle prizes marriage, family, traditional roles, and biological truths. One side clearly values the military and law enforcement, two fields dominated by men and defined by strength. One side supports hardworking rural and blue-collar folk and doesn’t measure worth by college degrees. Why would American men feel welcomed or understood by the Left?
The early- and mid-20th-century gains that women experienced morphed into radical ideas that pushed men out of the arena. The Left now feels that men should both sit down and listen more and feel bad about their own masculinity. It is destructive for a society that needs both men and women to function. Even with figures such as Newsom calling out their party, Democrats are still abysmal at talking to or about men (as evidenced by this recent piece in the New Yorker).
WHAT DO WOMEN GAIN BY HATING MEN?
Newsom seems desperate. His own party fails to speak properly to and include roughly one-half of the population. That’s not easily remedied. And given the stranglehold the woke crowd has on the Left, it’s not going to be fixed soon, or maybe ever.
As a politician, Newsom is chiefly propelled by election results. If Democrats make it a priority to gain male voters instead of just speaking to men as vital parts of our world, the party will continue to do poorly. Republicans do well with male voters because they speak of and to them as if they’re an essential part of our societal equation. Because they are.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a contributor to the Magnolia Tribune.
