Two versions of masculinity are on the 2024 ballot
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Donald Trump and J.D. Vance at the RNC on July 16. Doug Emhoff and Tim Walz at the DNC on Aug. 19. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images and Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
This week's Democratic National Convention made clear that not only is 2024 the boys vs. girls election — it's also a clash between two visions of manhood.
Why it matters: The increasingly stark gender divide in American politics is reflected in how leading men in both parties position themselves in relation to women, and talk about themselves as fathers and male role models.
The big picture: President Trump and his advisers have long viewed their candidate's masculinity as an edge — particularly after his "fight, fight, fight" cry following the assassination attempt against him.
- But now rather than an aging President Biden, he's running against the potential first woman president.
- Vice President Kamala Harris rarely mentions her gender, but the men at her side have embraced their second-fiddle roles in supporting a woman's rise to power.
- At the DNC this week, Gov. Tim Walz and Harris' husband Doug Emhoff — who paused his legal career when she was elected VP — have projected tenderness more than toughness.
Zoom in: In his speech, Walz spoke about he and his wife Gwen's struggles with infertility and became visibly emotional as he said his wife and children — sobbing in the audience — were "my entire world."
- Walz carries the trappings of traditional masculinity — as a former National Guardsman and football coach, but at one DNC event on Monday Walz said a "trick" he'd learned in life was to "surround yourself with smart women and listen to them, and you'll do just fine."
- One favorite anecdote from the Harris-Walz barnstorming tour is how "Coach Walz" became the faculty sponsor when a student told him he wanted to found a gay-straight alliance.
- "It is a tonic masculinity, the antidote to toxic masculinity," gender equity researcher and author Amy Diehl told Axios, describing Walz and Emhoff.
The other side: Trump, by contrast, entered the RNC to the tune of "A Man's Man's Man's World."
- The entire spectacle was "staged as the big man who's going to be in charge and he's the one who can get the job done," said Lori Marso, a political scientist at Union College.
- The speaker list included figures like Hulk Hogan and UFC CEO Dana White — icons to a certain, overwhelmingly male, segment of the electorate. Both have also been accused of domestic abuse. (Hogan denies the claim. White apologized last year for slapping his wife).
- Another RNC headliner, Tucker Carlson, has been decrying a decline in manliness for years. He also once referred to women as "extremely primitive."
- Between "childless cat ladies" and "grab 'em by the p---y," Sen. JD Vance and Trump have both drawn backlash for past comments about women. Trump also said in 2005 that men who take a hands-on approach to childcare were acting "like the wife."
Yes, but: While it's hard to envision Trump speaking as Walz did about the more emotional aspects of parenthood, the former president has made his children an integral part of his business ventures and political career.
- There was at least one attempt to show his softer side at the RNC, when Trump's granddaughter Kai Trump described him as a "very caring and loving" and a "just a normal grandpa."
- "President Trump has been surrounded by many strong women and has empowered many strong women throughout his entire career as a businessman and, particularly, since he's been in politics," campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Axios.
- "Unlike Kamala Harris and Tim Walz who support policies that erode women's rights and the nature of womanhood," Leavitt said, "President Trump believes men and women are inherently different but equal."
- The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
What to watch: The partisan divide over the question of masculinity is likely to extend far beyond the 2024 cycle.
- The Democrats have positioned themselves as the party of women's rights, particularly when it comes to abortion.
- Meanwhile, there's a growing movement in the GOP to embrace the "traditional family" and halt a supposed decline in masculinity.
- Carlson put out a 2022 documentary entitled "The End of Men," while Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) published a book last year about the need to restore "masculine virtues."
Axios' Erica Pandey contributed reporting.
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