Where do different ideas of masculinity fit into the presidential election?

The writer Richard Reeves is an expert on the challenges facing boys and men. Two years ago, he published a book called Of Boys and Men and founded the American Institute for Boys and Men, a think tank. Reeves recently spoke with Morning Edition’s Steve Inskeep about how different ideas of masculinity fit into a potential presidential contest between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“The irony is that this was supposed to be an election about women and about women's rights. And of course, it still is.” Reeves says, “But it's striking to me how much of the debate and so much of the performance, almost of the election so far, has actually been about competing views about masculinity and manhood.”

This summer, philanthropist Melinda French Gates distributed $1 billion to causes supporting women and girls. Reeves was surprised when his institute received some of that money.

“What she's come to realize is that a world of floundering men is not likely to be a world of flourishing women, and that we do have to rise together. And that actually, if men really start struggling to do their bit on the home front or in the labor market, it's not like that women end up unscathed from that,” he told Morning Edition.

According to the American Psychological Association, boys tend to perform worse in school than girls, statistically, and are now less likely than girls to attend college. Reeves, in his analysis, says that boys go on to live unhealthier lives as well.

Republican masculinity and Democratic masculinity

Reeves says Republican demonstrations of masculinity have become more performative, with increased bravado and machismo. This shift is evident in who has introduced Trump at past Republican