I think progressives never thought about this because we banked on immigration and demographic change allowing us to win culturally and electorally but the issue is immigrants tend to be overwhelmingly male, that is how Trump won actually he won over a lot of Hispanic,Black,Asian and indigenous men who feel humiliated by a new culture, economy and world.
So what can we do rhetorically and policy wise to win more young men over ?
Legit I think it’s to shift the focus away from helping other people for the sake of being nice and onto uniting together to fight a common enemy - the bosses, corporations, etc. Dale the machinist from Alabama isn’t going to go to the protest to protect trans latinx PoC out of the kidness of his own heart but he might if he realizes it’s part of a larger project to go out to take back his rights from the people fucking him over, and fuck over his boss. Young men are drawn to masculinity and militaristic language right now, and left wing politics can be easily framed in those terms. Yes, being good to other people should be good in its own right but a lot of people don’t see it that way and we need to get them on our side too.
My idea, as dumb and probably ineffective as it is, would be one of the tools I hate ( AI ) to start a mass disinformation campaign that claims all the people like Joe Rogan or any of these other bad apples are weaklings that sexually prey on little kids. That, alongside any other way to make them look weak
If they play dirty, I see no reason not to do the same.
- Stop dismissing that men have problems which require addressing
A lot of people say things like “men have it the best, they don’t need help!” That’s nonsense. Everyone who is dealing with problems and is suffering needs help. Helping men doesn’t mean you stop helping women, we should help everyone who needs help.
- Stop purity tests and infighting
Progressive today are truly awful when it comes to this. I’m not talking about including nazis, I’m talking about attacking people who agree with you on 90% of topics. Like if someone thinks trans people should be totally treated as the gender they express in every facet of society, except they shouldn’t be allowed to compete in women’s physical sports competitions.
- Messaging needs HUGE improvement
This is another one that progressives have a terrible problem with. They do a terrible job of letting people know how they’re being helped, and they also use language that gives the impression that they’re against you. For example “the patriarchy” is a terrible term that makes men feel attacked, even though that’s not what it’s about at all. What most people actually mean to refer to is “gender norms”, meaning concepts like ‘men should fuck a lot of women and not express their emotions’. “Gender norms” is a much more accurate term and it doesn’t make men feel like they’re being attacked.
Look at what men are missing and how the right is selling it to them.
Men aren’t doing so hot right now, emotionally and mentally. They feel like they are not manly, and criticized for trying to be manly or liking manly things. There’s a lack of transitions into manhood, and the bar that is seen as a successful man with a good career is pretty much impossible.
If you have a poor paying job, you’re not manly. If you have a well paying job but it’s blue collar you’re not manly because you’re a dumb working stiff. If you have a white collar job you’re not manly because you’re not doing anything tough with your body. Maybe if you’re a CEO who owns the company but also does rock climbing and bear fighting are you seen as manly enough, maybe.
Then you have these guys, your Andrew Tates and so on, who act very manly and tell you it’s ok to be a man and then spout off some of the most toxic, asinine shit saying that’s how you be a man. And young guys fall for it because they aren’t shown any alternative.
Then on the left you have people who speak ill of men as a whole, and manliness as a whole. Sometimes the criticisms are correct, but a lot of times it’s presented as men overall. If you try to say that it’s not every man out there who’s a monster, you get blasted with criticism for saying “not all men”. They also don’t provide anything positive or solutions for feeling manly, with the best they can be offered is to be more like women.
So young men, especially young cishet men, are actively pushed away from leftist spaces, leaving them feeling demonized by those spaces, and actively pandered to by the right which are offering mind poison dressed up as solutions.
So what do we do? There’s a few things to fix.
-
leftist media has to stop demonizing men and start demonizing actions. Instead of saying “men are rapists” start saying “rapists are bad”. When people start to say things like “cis people are shit” other people need to call them out of it, because if you’re supposed to be the side that accepts people’s gender identity, it should be for all gender identities. It can feel cathartic to rail against the majority demographic, especially when people of that demographic have hurt you, but if you feel that it’s unfair to rail against a group because of the actions of a few members of it, that should apply to all groups. Things like “what’s wrong with the straights” doesn’t help build bonds with allies, and it turns young men away from leftist spaces.
-
there needs to be validation and recognition from the left for problems men have, like suicide, workplace death and heavier prison sentencing. The left needs to show that they are trying to fix these problems, too, instead of telling young men to suck it up and be a man about it because they are the oppressor demographic.
-
there needs to be people who counter toxic masculinity, not with telling men to be more like women, but with positive masculinity. If a man is having emotional or mental problems, toxic masculinity says to push that down. Femininity says it’s ok to be soft and vulnerable. Positive masculinity would say that a real man is true to himself and his feelings and expresses then freely, even if others might ridicule him for it. There’s a subtle difference, and the end result of femininity’s and positive masculinity’s tactic might be the same, i.e. the man expresses those feelings, but the way that they get there is very different. The former makes the man feel less validated in his identity, while the latter uplifts it. The memes where they say stuff like “I always tell my homies I love them before they go to bed” actually work.
-
leftist influencers need to make fighting for the rights of minorities seem manly. Badass. Like a hero. Worthy of praise and celebration.
-
while they won’t get the financial and political backing that the toxic male influencers get, there needs to be positive male influencers who talk about masculinity in a positive way, while promoting the ideas above. There needs to be an alternative, who acts manly but in the fun, positive way, that validates young men’s feelings of inadequacy, frustration, and isolation, while promoting an egalitarian perspective.
-
there needs to be a cultural shift in what makes a man. A shift away from dying in battle or becoming a tycoon, and a resurgence of the working class hero. Mass media itself needs to change and promote positive male figures. It can work and be popular, like in Avatar the Last Airbender. We need to show men that they are still men, and still worthy of love, respect and adoration, even if they aren’t a super soldier or a wealthy elite. A lot of this is counter to capitalistic goals, so it may have to be subversive, but eventually it needs to be made the norm.
-
other men need to continue to step up and speak out about injustice towards minorities and against toxic masculinity behaviors in the day to day, and start decrying those behaviors as unmanly. People need to call Andrew Tate and the like unmanly.
-
ideally, the men’s rights movement should be absorbed by the left and the toxic incels kicked out. It should be done in the name of gender equality. Fixing only woman’s problems won’t solve the patriarchy (which could be changed to a different term so everyone feels like it’s less of an us vs them) and feminists should try to help solve men’s problems directly rather than indirectly. Young men would see feminism as more appealing if feminists actually focused on men’s problems as well, rather than ignoring or worse, demonizing them. Feminism could be rebranded as an egalitarian movement for all sexes and genders, maybe get a name change. If the patriarchy affects everyone, then the focus should be on everyone. Maybe it would have to be a whole new movement entirely.
So it’s a larger problem than just getting more leftist male influencers, and some of those problems are systematic. Some can get worked on today. Talking about masculinity in a positive way, promotive equity, stop both their side and your side from bigotry, and, probably the thing that would get young men on board the most:
Actually trying to solve the problems young men are going through.
-
Be nice and respectful to them and masculinity. Like “It’s masculine to protect the oppressed”
Don’t belittle anyone for that matter, such as based on race, gender or religions, even if you’re upset at that grouping.
That, or if they insist on being agressive shits, enlighten them to the time honored tradition of punching nazis.
Real men are woke
I like this actually
As a mom of men, it has always concerned me that, while we were supporting our girls, we left our boys to flounder a bit. We spent so much time telling girls that they could do anything and they could be ‘just as good as the boys’ and talking to women about glass ceilings and ‘don’t let the man keep you down.’ What did we tell our boys or rather what did they hear?
I was at a college graduation last month, and at least 90% of the awards announced from the podium (significant accomplishments for a graduating class of hundreds) were given to women. The graduating class itself is probably 55% women or so. Women of course still face many barriers, but men are falling behind at some levels.
Thanks I agree and this is a valuable perspective
Male stereotypes have to be culturally broken first. Men are being taught that showing any emotions other than anger and hate is effeminate. They’re being taught that empathy is weakness, that education is stupidity, that freedom is slavery.
Everything that makes men human is being stripped away, leaving a husk of burning hate awaiting marching orders. They need to reconnect to humanity.
Frankly, I was going to say almost the opposite. Conservatives are appealing to young men by decrying the “woke” process of breaking down those stereotypes. It’s a reaction to those “traditional” masculine traits being challenged by a more enlightened society.
The key is not breaking down those gender norms, but rechanneling that masculine energy and “gender pride” into something healthy and beneficial. We need to reframe the conversation, because when you attack, people instinctively defend. Instead, we should model the new masculinity, one where being tough means being confident enough to stand out or be yourself. Where being a bro means being a friend, not a douchebag. Real men have the strength to admit their faults and ask for help. Real power is punching up, not down, and real bravery is accepting people for who they are.
Contrast someone like Joe Rogan with Pedro Pascal. Which one is a “Real Man™”? Which one should we celebrate and focus on? Boys need role models, because we don’t know how to handle our hormones at an age when everything is confusing. If you tell them their instincts are wrong, they will retreat to a safe space where someone else will tell them that society is wrong and they should be as gross and misogynistic as they can be.
Real men are creative. Real men are kind. Real men are curious. Real men are sincere. Real men admit mistakes and accept consequences. Real men lift others up. Real men are able to ask for help. Real men are comfortable with their sexuality, and are not afraid of exploring their preferences.
All children are born selfish and frightened. We have to learn to be better through empathy. Without positive role models, we cannot learn to overcome those selfish impulses, and we cannot stand up to the bullies that will try to sell the red pill.
Because no matter what we do, there will always be conservative dipshits talking about how oppressed they are because they can’t insult people by calling them “girly” or “gay” or “retarded” anymore. There will always be angry gym rats who think big biceps and a fast car will fix their insecurities. There will always be bullies, and we should always stand up to them.
Also, every boy should watch Ted Lasso. Seriously, there has never been a better breakdown of male stereotypes than that show.
40 something male that has struggled to overcome toxic masculinity. I mean I was literally slapped silly by my parents and grandparents for crying when I was 5 and told “boys dont cry”. I mean I’ve cried 3 times in my life before coming to terms with needing to change. Eventalking to my wife it’s taken years for her to accept that Im allowed to feel more emotions than anger and laughter.
Im a foster parent now and it’s been a lot of work to internalize my stuff but damn im supportive if the boys we have want to feel their feelings. 3 year old wanted a rainbow shirt and I got it for him but his dickehad machismo father called him a faggot. Oh boy I made sure he wore his favorite shirt for every visit.
I am going to be honest, I think women need to be a a part of this. We are used to being right in regards to gender conflict because usually we are but one thing I agree with men on is that every woman says they want men to share their feelings more but many women lose respect for a man they see as weak.
Bell Hooks talks a lot about this so you can go read her.
I do not find that to be the case at all in my circles, it’s usually the guys giving shit to other guys for expressing emotion and the emotionally expressive people (including women) riffing them for back for being assholes. There’s certainly a song and dance to doing this effectively.
I don’t really think it should be a gendered expectation but rather an everyone expectation. If someone is being vulnerable with you that wouldn’t otherwise, don’t be an asshole. If someone needs to be called out for exhibiting rude behaviour to someone else, do so in the way that works for your circumstances.
Who is “teaching” them this?
Start by no longer telling men who have done nothing wrong they are responsible for the misdeeds of others. It breeds resentment and closes people to anything else you have to say.
Rich old dudes fuck every everyone over…
21 years old kid gets the blame…
US “liberals” are a useful tools of the regime who are too smug to figure out that they are part of the problem
This comes up a lot, and I really don’t know where it comes from. Who is telling you that you’re responsible for the misdeeds of others? Seriously, point that out, because I’m in my mid forties, I’m a white cishet American man, and I’ve never felt like I was being blamed for the sins of people who look and fuck like me. Really, it just sounds like a conservative strawman talking point, because nobody does this.
I don’t know. How do you teach empathy?
You got to beat it into people
/s, right? … right?
No, I don’t actually believe that beating people would make them more empathetic. sigh
Keep using sarcasm and satire. People need to recognize it when it’s obvious. Your reply was too on point to be anything else.
Thank you. I thought I was pretty on point when I wrote it. I really can’t stand the /s tag
This is proof that the current progressive agenda causes the same kind of brain rot MAGA does.
Check the other replies. He was sarcastic.
Yes, Poe’s Law is a bitch.
That doesn’t really change my position since I’ve seen many unironically and seriously advocate for being the aggressors. And like I said elsewhere, current progressive agenda doesn’t make a lot of sense because its whole identity is being the opposite of MAGA with a whiff of the ideals that once were core to it.
People gravitated twoards progressive policies after the great depression, before the cold war.
The cold war was the first time the US made it legal to use propaganda against its own citizens
So basically, people will support progressivism as long as they are educated and don’t have their brains raped by neo-religious and capitalist propaganda from childhood.
It would also help if men weren’t the “target” of every liberation movement.
When you grow up learning everyone thinks you are racist and sexist because of the way you look then that’s real bigotry.
Men don’t get sympathy, neither do whites from non whites.
Starting there would be easier than stopping the propaganda
“Real men take care of their neighbors and vulnerable people, not just themselves and their family”? Honestly I have no fucking idea lol. Not sure that sounds catchy enough though in comparison to the incel bullshit that youtube clowns are feeding young boys these days.
I think instead of focusing on how to sell this product, we focus on the product itself because it’s impossible to sell something that Democrats keep pulling off the shelf as “defective.” Like any other item that people buy, committing to something only to have the “company” do a 180 and stop supporting it immediately after your “purchase” is just going to drive people away.
Most Democrats only seem interested in pushing progressive policies right up until they get elected and then it’s always “not the right time” after the election.
Edit: also the product would sell itself if they actually implemented them and improved people’s lives. It’s kind of hard to deny things that exist right in front of your face, but we never seem able to get to that point because corporations and genocidal “allies” always take precedence over the American people regardless of which of these two parties hold office.
It’s not a rhetorical problem. It’s a propaganda problem. People aren’t being reasoned into right wing politics. It’s being beaten into their heads day and night by talk radio, cable news, local news, and YouTube; and this has been going on very deliberately for decades. The right wing powers-that-be have been busily, patiently, creating a massive, pervasive propaganda machine for a long time while the left sat on their hands. We’re now seeing the results: a world where the right can do and say literally anything they want without consequence. Their base is very literally brainwashed through brute force repeated messaging that nobody can compete with.
We needed the Democrats to do something about this propaganda machine before it became unstoppable. They already didn’t do that.
The best thing any of us can do is try to steer kids away from the propaganda before they get sucked in.
How do you do that, though? The rich and powerful aren’t going to suddenly start pouring their resources into progressive messaging, and there’s only so much you can do when you’re diametrically opposed to them.
this is the gordion knot that the “let’s respect the nazi’s viewpoint instead of mocking and ridiculing them” people have allowed us all to become tangled up in. fascists have been allowed to take over education, mass media, social media, news media, and every other possible channel of communication, making avoidance of their propaganda almost impossible, let alone keeping kids away. they’ve pretty much defeated public libraries, and next will be academic libraries and higher ed altogether. they don’t want anyone exploring any ideas that didn’t originate with the fascist regime
cult programming and mind control, after it’s already happened, is extremely difficult to reverse. used to be a team of people would have to involuntarily abduct a person and perform intense deprogramming methods over a course of days or weeks to get someone out of the cult mindset. and that was just for one single person. btw anyone who tries to tell you maga is not a full-blown textbook definition of cult is either part of the cult, or in denial of reality. same as the maga cult.
now we have millions of people simultaneously believing that they’re perpetual victims and also invincible and superior to their supposed “oppressors”-- anyone woke, women, mexicans, lgbtq…pretty much anyone who isn’t straight, white, male, evangelical, republican, nth generation citizens.
i wish i had a feasible answer, but the outlook is grim
As individuals, we can only influence our friends, family, and kids as best we can. Sometimes that’s not at all. We’re all now familiar with the trope of “Fox News ate my parents’ brains”.
This isn’t a game or a movie that necessarily has to have a happy ending. Sometimes shit’s just fucked. As long as the propaganda machine is in place, millions of people will be brainwashed.
Better marketing.
Drop policies that have been consistent long-term losers like expanded gun control.
Force through policies that improve their lives at the cost of others, for example, healthcare paid for by taxing billionaires
Drop policies that have been consistent long-term losers like expanded gun control.
Suppressors are a hearing safety device/noise pollution reducer and Democrat politicians describe them like they get all their information from a John Wick movie. It would be so easy for the party to drop the matter entirely and throw politically-homeless gun owners a bone by taking suppressors off the NFA.
Force through policies that improve their lives at the cost of others, for example, healthcare paid for by taxing billionaires
Yep! Follow that up with policies that improve people’s lives and we have a ticket that writes itself.