Young men are leaning Right, but most are apolitical: Survey
Briana Oser
A recent survey shows that more high school senior boys identify as conservative than liberal, but the vast majority of them consider themselves moderate or apolitical. This is not indicative of anything new. The hostile Left, in its hateful perception and treatment of masculinity, is hindering young men from comfortably entering the political atmosphere. It is successfully shutting men up, and it is successfully losing them.
The survey was taken in 2022 by Monitoring the Future, a research group from the University of Michigan that has been tracking 8th, 10th, and 12th graders annually since the 1970s. Thirty-six percent of the senior boys who participated identified as either liberal or conservative. Almost twice as many of them identified as conservative, hence the hype over the survey among right-wingers on social media.
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But the majority of the young men who were surveyed decided to keep their noses out of politics entirely. The largest group of them, more than two-fifths, answered “I don’t know” or “none of the above” when asked if they were liberal or conservative. Nearly one-fifth claimed to be “moderate.” Only a minority, though a substantially larger group than the self-identifying liberals, admitted to their conservative leanings.
It is probable that some of the seniors refused to pick a side because of a general disinterest in politics. Most high school upperclassmen are more concerned with their grades, college, sports, and girls than with deciding their political affiliations.
But, seeing that we are in one of the most polarizing eras of political history, why did so many of these seniors claim neutrality?
The Left’s attack on traditional values is keeping young men from revealing their conservatism, but its attack on masculinity is pushing them away from liberalism. Thus, they think their safest bet is to remain politically neutral.
High school boys know that they will in some way be ostracized if they are openly conservative. Most liberals view traditional ideals as oppressive, so they shut down people with traditionalist views. The Monitoring the Future survey shows that 30% of senior girls identify as liberal and only 12% identify as conservative. If young men admit to having conservative values, they will be subject to alienation by their peers.
Their silence reflects the trend in colleges. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression asked 45,000 students across 203 colleges in 2023 about their ability to speak freely on campus. According to their report, “Conservative students are most likely to feel they cannot express their opinions freely, with 42% reporting that they ‘often’ feel uncomfortable speaking freely, compared to 13% of liberal students.”
So, conservative young men are keeping quiet about their views. But if young men identify more with liberal ideas, they associate themselves with people who hate masculinity.
The Left constantly bashes the patriarchy and traditional gender roles. The left-leaning American Psychological Association, the largest organization of psychologists in the United States, promotes a negative view of traditional masculinity. The Left holds that only toxic men are dominant and assertive. It has even associated (to an extent) exercise with fascism. If the Left so strongly discourages men from becoming better versions of themselves, why would they want anything to do with it?
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But young men should not worry. The Left is aware of this issue and it is seeking solutions. Christine Emba of the Washington Post recently wrote a piece exploring how the Left can reinvent masculinity: by promoting fatherhood, encouraging positive masculinity, and affirming the important roles men play in our society. Well, it looks like modern liberalism can only be friendly to men by upholding traditional values. Might as well just be a conservative.
It looks like most young men want to stay far, far away from the Left. The state of things is so polarizing that it is nearly impossible to choose a pole. Their only decisions are to either ally themselves with conservatives, or opt out of politics entirely. I suppose they could also choose to identify as liberals if they are open to lifelong derision and self-loathing.
Briana Oser is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.