Thomas Edsall had a guest essay in the New York Times Wednesday on the growing gap between the political leanings of men and women. He notes a 2016 survey showing that while 41% of first-year college women identified as “liberal or far left” (an all-time high), just 29% of men identified the same way. He also points to Pew Research data showing that most Democrats are female (56% to 42%), but most Republicans are male (52% to 48%).
Edsall then goes on to talk with a number of social scientists who suggest men are more confrontational and violent than women, who generally seek more peaceful and indirect ways of managing conflict.
All this is true, and it is refreshing to see an article in the New York Times that actually acknowledges differences between men and women. I just wish he had gone a little further to acknowledge the large differences between married and unmarried men and women.
Looking at the most recent presidential election, we see some of that same large gender gap that Edsall identified. Majorities of both unmarried men and unmarried women voted for Democrats, but just 52% of unmarried men voted Democratic, compared to 63% of unmarried women.
This gender gap shrinks to almost nothing when married men are compared to married women. In 2020, 55% of married men voted Republican, as did 51% of married women. Marriage seems to get men and women on the same page. As marriage declines, the gender gap grows. And there will be other changes, too.
There are huge behavioral differences between married and unmarried men and between societies with several unmarried men and those who don’t.
Unmarried men are far more likely than married men to commit rape or murder. They are also more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. The differences between married and unmarried men do not just come from genetics or social background. The institution itself helps men’s behavior.
A long-term study of men’s lives, including when they were and were not married, found the same men were far less likely to commit crimes when they were married. Marriage was shown to decrease by half the violent and property crimes committed by men.
On a societal level, communities with more unmarried men have higher rates of violent crime and are more likely to go to war than communities dominated by married men.
Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker indirectly explained why unmarried men are so different from married men in an email to Edsall:
For most of human history, polygamy was the norm, not monogamy. The shift to monogamy marked progress — widespread monogamous marriage makes societies better by mitigating men’s violent and dominant tendencies.
Unfortunately, monogamous marriage is now becoming less widespread every day. And the New York Times seems to love cheering for its demise.
