I went to bed on November 6 not knowing I would wake up the next day to Donald Trump being re-elected. I wish I could say I saw it coming. I didn’t. Something I saw coming even less, however, was seeing that younger men voted decisively for Donald Trump. Not all, but a surprising and significant amount. Gen Z men. My peers. I feel betrayed.
I was under the impression that Gen Z was “woke” and would take us out of whatever state the world is currently in, to a better and brighter place. A place that was open to diversity and change, but the election results say otherwise. These men that are my age stopped that from happening. And I blame them for forming some of the most disturbing parasocial relationships with internet personas like Joe Rogan, Ben Shapiro, Charlie Kirk, Elon Musk, Theo Von, the Paul brothers, and more. All of these people getting together to endorse Trump was the beginning of the end. The internet was wrong to give these men a platform large enough for Gen Z men to place them on a pedestal comparable to politicians. How can we live in a world where Donald Trump goes on the Joe Rogan podcast? Or the horrid Jubilee interviews where Charlie Kirk debates 20 “woke” college kids? And the worst part is that young men tuning in are not listening so they can be informed on policy. They don’t actually want to watch people debate in a civilized manner. They just regurgitate what their favorite male podcasters and content creators are spitting out. It’s pathetic. And their vote for Trump was a testament to their male masculinity, or lack thereof.
I understand how draining it is to try and sit someone down to educate them, but if everyone has that mindset, nobody is going to put these boys in their place. And soon enough, they will be eligible to vote. And some of them already did, as we saw with the results of the election. They told us, through who they circled in their ballot, who they respect. And it’s not women. It’s not trans folk. It’s not minorities. It’s not immigrants. It’s not teachers. It’s not the poor. It’s not the middle-class.
Politics are personal. They will always be personal. We need to wake up. While it should not be up to us as women to correct these men, there is something really interesting about the 4B movement. We do not give anything to men if this is how they continue to see us.
The 4B movement originated in South Korea. It’s fairly simple. It’s a vow to swear off men. No dating, (biyeonae) no sex. (bisekseu) no heterosexual marriage, (bihon) and no childbirth. (bihon) Thanks to the movement, South Korea has been seeing a declining birth rate for years. We stop engaging with them. Their vote proved how they think of us. They don’t. We are not considered. We are not respected. And if we are not careful, soon we will not be tolerated.
I have seen far too many women in relationships with men make a joke about how they just went out and canceled out their partners’ vote. Frankly, I don’t find it very funny. I can’t even wrap my head around how this wasn’t discussed earlier. How do you not talk about the state of the world? Is it not a pressing issue until election day? Are you that privileged? Or do you just continue to let it slide.
I don’t want to find a way to make this somehow women’s fault. Because it’s not. But we cannot engage with men who do not respect us. We cannot give time to men who do not care if we live or die. It is up to us, through our role as girlfriends, sisters, partners, friends, bosses, co-workers, peers, acquaintances, and more, to hold these boys accountable. Watch who you date. Watch who you marry. Have hard conversations with your partners. Get to know how much they actually pay attention to politics. Take this stuff seriously. Stay safe.