Why Single Men And Women Are More Politically Extreme

They say the personal is political. One look at the news – or the comments section on this blog – and it would be hard to deny. Which is why I found this article on How Single Men and Women Are Making Politics More Extreme so insightful.

“As we become freer, and our lives more complex, most people tend to become less gender fluid, not more: So the more liberal a country, the greater the difference between the sexes in their choice of professions, while more gender liberal countries also have larger sex difference in their math scores.

The more freedom we have, the more there will be very feminine and masculine subcultures too, and this might explain a great deal of recent political developments — in particular, the campus identity politics movement and the alt-right. The former is heavily female, while the latter is overwhelmingly male — in fact, not just male, but populated by men who seem to have difficulties with women.”

No disagreements so far. A lot of folks are surprised to find out that liberal countries have greater gender differences in their choice of professions. But it’s the result of free choice. Think of a coal miner’s gender. Think of a kindergarten teacher’s gender. That’s what happens when you allow people to choose their careers.

At the same time, the modern world is self-segregating. I hang out with all upper-middle-class suburban people. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if single men and single women also spent most of their time with similar folks.

“So what happens when fewer people get married and, indeed, spend time with the opposite sex? Gender-segregated politics it seems.

In recent years there has been a steep rise in the proportion of female students, especially in the humanities, to such an extent that the imbalance has led to a shortage of marriageable men. It would seem logical, therefore, that already heavily left-leaning institutions filled with single women would be the perfect breeding ground for a forceful progressive movement, one in which members are in competition to display their political zeal.

In contrast, increasing numbers of men are moving into all-male worlds by dropping out of dating altogether. So while compared to Generation X, a larger proportion of millennials are engaging in more promiscuous sex, a larger number of them are also having no sex at all.

Freedom leads to sexual divergence — even in political movements.

Freedom leads to sexual divergence — even in political movements.

And that’s how we end up with Jezebel for women and the MGTOW movement for men. These are spaces for women to talk to other women (and not listen to men) and spaces for men to talk to other men (and not listen to women).

If I can say anything about the community we’ve created on this blog, it’s that people like that don’t last very long here. I’m very proud of the readers who offer their insights – usually to speak their minds, but also to recognize that there’s always a man or woman on the opposite side of the aisle whose feelings are equally legitimate.

Your thoughts, below, are greatly appreciated.