Men who feel insecure in their masculinity were more likely to vote for Donald Trump in 2016, according to a study by The Washington Post.
The Post collected search data from Google on how often people in the U.S. searched for topics like “erectile dysfunction,” “how to get girls,” and “penis enlargement,” among others. The list of topics was compiled by asking a sample of 300 men whether they have or would search for these things. Those who said yes were more likely to feel less masculine than their male friends.’
Many of the same parts of the country where support for Trump was highest also displayed the greatest sense of fragile masculinity.
This correlation continued in 2018, when these same regions were still more likely to vote for Republican candidates, The Post adds.
The masculine overcompensation theory provides some insight into these results. Researcher Robb Willer conducted a series of experiments with Cornell undergrads in 2004, where students were first randomly placed on a scale showing how masculine or feminine they were.
In subsequent surveys, men who’d been told they were more feminine overcompensated by displaying more homophobic attitudes and more support for the Iraq war. They were also more likely to want to purchase a large SUV, and for a higher price, than other respondents.
“Masculinity-threatened men also reported feeling more ashamed, guilty, upset and hostile than did masculinity-confirmed men,” Willer told the Cornell Chronicle.
This seems to fit with The Post’s results. Trump is bombastic, over-confident, and aggressive, traits that men who feel insecure in their masculinity may strive to channel in themselves.
Because dominant masculinity has such rigid standards —n the U.S., it means straight, white, wealthy, and attractive —there are likely a lot of men who feel like they aren’t masculine enough.
These findings may have some majorly dark ramifications: Studies also show that men who feel their masculinity is being threatened are more likely to commit sexual assault or harassment, as a way to assert their dominance over women. Fragile masculinity is also implicated in many mass shootings.
Society cannot be a safe place for everyone until men are no longer punished, by themselves or by others, for failing to meet the impossible standards set by idealized masculinity.