Wars of the Sexes

The struggle over social relations

I think that some cultural conflicts can be described as wars of the sexes. In these wars, not every male is lined up on one side, and not every female is lined up on the other. But one cultural stance may naturally appeal to more people of one sex than another. In the resulting conflict, perhaps males have to accommodate to females. Perhaps it will be the other way around. Or maybe some compromise will emerge.

Prohibition

For example, in the 19th century, two important female causes were women’s suffrage and temperance. These causes advanced in tandem, culminating in the 18th amendment banning the manufacturing and sale of alcoholic beverages and the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote (they previously had achieved voting rights in many individual states).

But Prohibition did not go smoothly, and by the time that Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933 the nation was ready for its repeal. In terms of the wars of the sexes, women eventually lost the battle for Prohibition.

Social Justice

Since the 1960s, women have increased their presence in important American institutions. These institutions have become more oriented toward social justice. In addition, women have altered the norms of discourse and decision-making within these institutions to conform to a more feminine approach. Below is a table that illustrates these differences in terms of pairs of expressions where males and females tend to differ in which expression they prefer.

Masculine Feminine

Competition | Equity

Merit | DEI

Free Speech | Safety from hate speech or misinformation

Elon | Fauci

Police | Social Workers

Innovation | Regulation

In recent decades, many institutions, especially academia, have been trending in the feminine direction. There was always some resistance, and some of the votes for Mr. Trump may be attributable to that resistance. But I would caution against interpreting the election itself as an indicator of the long term outlook for the choice between masculine and feminine approaches to approaching the challenges of human interdependence.

I think that the most recent war of the sexes is far from over. The outcome I would prefer is one in which there is less overt hostility between the masculine and the feminine. My ideal society would be on in which we are eager to include women in all of our institutions, but that women appreciate the value of some of the masculine ways of mediating social interactions.

Instead, I worry that women will continue to dismiss masculine values as “toxic.” If the war of the sexes continues to be fought as it has been for most of the past few decades, then women are likely to win, but the victory will be hollow.