(Hyper) Masculinity on the Ballot: Gender Identity Politics Appeals on the Right of the Political Spectrum and the 2024 U.S. Presidential Elections
摘要
The 2024 U.S. presidential election was marked by important changes in the voting attitudes and behaviors of certain blocks of voters. Among them include many men of all socio-demographic backgrounds (e.g., Latino men, Asian American men, Black men) who threw their support behind the Republican presidential contender Donald Trump, as evidenced by polling and voter turnout data. While many scholarly works have taken interest in uses and impact of identity appeals in the context of political campaigning on the left of the political spectrum, this chapter contributes to the academic literature on identity politics on the political right. Specifically, it adopts a political marketing lens to describe quantitatively and analyze the impact of gender-focused political appeals and brand image in the context of electioneering. While some politicians have leveraged this approach unsuccessfully in recent years, including conservative party leader Erin O’Toole during the 2021 Canadian federal election, others, like U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, have benefited from a surge in male voter support. This ultimately helped him secure more than 270 electoral votes and win the election. Building on Emerson College Polling survey data from state and national surveys conducted throughout the 2024 U.S. presidential election, this chapter offers an in-depth look at the marketing potency of hyper masculinity appeals for political campaigning. In doing so, it complements the existing academic literature on gender identity marketing on the right of the political spectrum and lays the groundwork for much-needed research to further understand these dynamics that are likely to gain in importance.