Chris Williamson Discusses the Political Divide Between Young Men and Women

Chris Williamson asks his guest how much politics matters to the relationship between young men and women. The guest, who says his background is in political science and sociology, recalls examining Gallup data in 2022 and noticing a widening ideological gap around 2016.

The guest says his team found a persistent gap across surveys on politics, culture and feminist identity. In his description, feminist identification among men and women was relatively close within older generations, while the difference among Gen Z was substantially larger. He gives approximate percentages rather than a full account of the survey.

Williamson recalls a widely shared graph of political ideology and suggests that young women moved left while young men remained comparatively stable. The guest agrees with that characterization of the data he examined and points to changing attitudes on abortion, especially after Roe v. Wade was overturned.

The guest argues that political leaders can make gender divisions worse when they present the interests of men and women as a contest in which one side can win only if the other loses. He also sees a shift in Democratic politics from class and economic issues toward cultural questions.

As an example, he recalls examining a Democratic Party webpage listing groups it represented and noticing no separate category for men. He interprets that omission as a sign of priorities. He also argues that many young women see Donald Trump as unsympathetic to their concerns, leaving each group feeling unwelcome in the other party.

The guest says some young men have also lost trust in both major parties. Williamson suggests that a flood of conflicting information can leave people uncertain and receptive to a person who speaks with apparent certainty. He worries that confidence can become a substitute for expertise.

Williamson argues that the Democrats had more room to address men than Republicans had to change their presidential candidate. Both speakers criticize what they see as an avoidable failure to speak to men’s concerns, while acknowledging that voters’ reactions to candidates vary.

The guest argues that working-class men have faced economic difficulties and that employment growth in sectors such as services and health care has favored women in some communities. He sees working-class concerns as a possible point of common interest across race and religion.

Asked why Democrats have not adopted that approach, the guest points to changes in the party’s composition. He says women and college graduates make up a larger share of Democratic identifiers, and emphasizes the role of college-educated women in shaping policy preferences and campaign staffing.

He argues that differences on abortion, climate and transgender issues can affect which priorities are emphasized within the party. These are the speakers’ interpretations of a political divide; the clip does not establish a single cause for differences between men and women.