On Boys Podcast, Democrats Regret Ignoring Men, and Progress in the UK

Election Fallout Continues

While boys don’t get a vote, they are impacted by politics. And soon they reach 18 years of age and have a voice at the ballot box. This year, first-time male voters cast their ballot for Trump a majority of the time, a shift to the right. So why has this happened?

I sat down with Jennifer L.W. Fink, the host of the On Boys Podcast to talk about how the Democrats could have better appealed to men in the 2024 election and included both boys and men in policy goals. We discussed how the ideas in my book How Democrats Can Win Back Men played out during the campaign and the mindset that needs to change for Democrats to serve all constituents and improve their chances at the ballot box by supporting everyone — including our boys. Listen to the full episode below.

A health professional that has long supported women’s health issues, Jennifer shared how she learned of issues that boys and men face while raising her sons. She writes the Building Boys Bulletin on Substack, and is the author of the book Building Boys: Raising Great Guys in a World That Misunderstands Males.

More Post-election Regret on Democrats’ Attitude Toward Men

Numerous articles and interviews have looked at the fact that Democrats performed poorly among men in 2024. This was true for the male voting bloc as a whole and also specific subgroups including Latino, Black, and young men. This is exactly what I warned about in my book How Democrats Can Win Back Men. Here are a few noteworthy examples:

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, New York Times Interview, Nov. 27, 2024

Why do you think Democrats have struggled with men?

It’s already migrated. In 2016, I was doing an event with the steel workers, across the street where I live, and I was noticing different kind of energy with this, with Trump. It was clear at that time that people were voting for Trump. And the Democrats’ response was, “Aren’t they smart enough to realize they’re voting against their interests?” And that’s insulting, and that’s, I mean, that’s, that’s just not helpful. It’s condescending. And if anything, that reinforces that kind of stereotype.

Telling them that “I know better than you do,” that’s not helpful.

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy on X/Twitter:

7/ Meanwhile, men tumble into a different kind of identity crisis, as the patriarchy, society's primary organizing paradigm for centuries, rightly crashes. The right pushes an alluring dial back. The left says "get over it". Again, a refusal to listen/offer responsible solutions.

6:19 AM · Nov 10, 2024

James Carville, Politicon, “James Carville: Post Election Message - part 1” Youtube.

9:52 “We’ve got to figure out a way to do something with our male problem that we have. It’s really significant, and it’s really significant among non-white males and lower income males…It’s a huge problem.”

UK Plans First Men’s Health Strategy

I am often asked what can Democrats do to help men, and the first answer and least controversial is to support men’s health. There was already a bill proposed by the Congressional Men’s Health Caucus to create an Office of Men’s Health, but it didn’t get very far.

In the UK, Wes Streeting of the Labour Party (roughly equivalent to the Democrats in the US, the party of the political left) has announced plans to create a men’s health strategy — so at least it’s a “concept of a plan” as we Americans now like to say.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting announced plans at a Men’s Health Summit with Movember and the Premier League.

A couple things that I like about this proposal — it is a all males of all ages (yes, including boys!) and demographics, and it includes support for prevention by screening for diseases like prostate cancer. Also, the measure has support from a number of institutions: Movember, the Premier League, the UK Men’s Sheds Association, Prostate Cancer UK, and the African Advocacy Foundation.

Another interesting note: The article states that in the UK, “men die nearly 4 years earlier than women.” They’re actually doing much better than in the US, where men die 5.9 years earlier than women.

If the UK can do it, we can do it here in the US, as well!

You can read the press release here.