The Walz-Vance debate highlights two versions of masculinity

Few people expected that the campaign to elect the primary woman president would trigger a referendum on masculinity, but what it means to be a person has develop into.”probably the dominant theme of this 12 months's electionssaid MSNBC's Ja'han Jones.

The debate between vice presidential nominee, Democrat Tim Walz, and Republican JD Vance on October 1, 2024 featured two candidates who not only had different debate styles, but additionally competing views on the autonomy of men and women.

As Political communication scientistI've written about how gender shaped the dynamics of presidential and vice-presidential debates involving opponents of various genders. The 2024 Walz-Vance debate showed how gender can develop into central in a debate between two men.

Trust was a distinguished theme throughout the talk, revealing, perhaps surprisingly, a key difference between Walz, Vance and their respective political parties.

During a lengthy discussion about abortion rights, Vance reiterated his Vice President Donald Trump's assertion that girls make reproductive health decisions needs to be made by the state legislature. Vance then introduced a brand new argument, suggesting that the GOP should deal with winning women's trust by proving that the party can by some means make it more palatable for girls to… not have an abortion.

Later in the talk, Vance said he supports “a family care model that allows for choice,” but that alternative refers to child care options, not decisions about whether to have children.

Walz, then again, urged that girls must have the liberty and confidence to make their very own decisions about reproduction and childcare.

Throughout the talk, Vance subtly suggested that authority and autonomy are the purview of men, underscoring how patriarchy shapes Republican strategy.

Masculinity within the election campaign

Both the Republican and Democratic parties have emphasized masculinity of their campaigns for the White House.

Although Vance and Walz each introduced themselves as typical “Midwest guys”.“They have different opinions about what meaning.

Walz has nicknamed himself “America's father“in a way that’s each recognizable and revolutionary.

esquire reported that it inspired “thousands of social media posts” that “imagined Walz doing nice things reminiscent of a Midwestern father.”

Using the hashtag “BigDadEnergy,” Walz supporters presented“Tim Walz will take your little league team to Dairy Queen even after you lose a game because damn, you did your best” and “Tim Walz also brushed the snow off your car since you were next to him and him “We were parked.” I already had the rattling brush out.”

But he also expanded that stereotype by giving up his status as a patriarch to develop into Kamala Harris's dutiful vice chairman and proving it Pheasant hunting Football coaches can do this too Gay advocate and trans Children.

Vance showed his father's credentials in his speech on the 2024 Republican National Convention, but his status as distinguished member the “Manosphere” – an unofficial network of reactionary men’s groups that promote the supremacy of patriarchy – has given his masculine persona a harsh and harsh edge sometimes extreme Edge.

Independent political groups have also made masculinity a central concern of the presidential campaign. The Lincoln Project — a company made up of current and former Republicans who oppose Donald Trump — recently released one Campaign ad was geared toward moderate swing voters and featured the iconography of the American heartland made famous by President Ronald Reagan's “1984.”“Morning in America” re-election campaign ad.

The ad is voiced by actor Sam Elliott, a frequent on-screen cowboy with a deep bass line, who asks voters, “So what the hell are you waiting for?” Because in the case of women's business, it's time to recover from it . … It’s time to be a person and select a lady.”

The group “White guys for Harris“took a different approach to the same pitch, place an ad with a sassy male narrator who notes that men are “pretty sick of hearing how much we suck,” but claims that “Trump and all his MAGA friends are on the market making every part worse by “Screaming nonsense with their stupid red hats and acting like they're talking to us when they don't.”

The narrator then says that Harris and Walz are “actually talking to people like us” and “offering real solutions that protect our freedoms and help us take care of the people we care about.” The ad concludes: “Ultimately, you are your own boss. It's your decision. “But if someone gives you nonsense, tell them it’s none of their business,” echoing certainly one of Walz’s hottest lyrics Applause lines.

The debate placed Walz and Vance's competing views on masculinity in direct competition as they made their election proposals to draw voters.

Deference and doubling during debate

Before the talk, Washington Post political reporter Ashley Parker wondered if Walz's “flannel-wearing, gutter-clearing, football-coach-everyman-type” might do higher in front of a “friendly rally crowd” than “against an attack-dog opponent.”

Vance, then again, does took on the vice presidential candidate's traditional role of “attack dog.”.” He campaigns by “adopting his boss's playbook of openly engaging with the media and infrequently, if ever, apologizes for what he saysAs Vivian Salama of the Wall Street Journal reports.

But Vance took a distinct tack throughout the debate, making confident but heartfelt claims while magnanimously agreeing that he and Walz shared good intentions for the American people.

He was less magnanimous when talking to women or about women.

Twenty-eight minutes after the talk began, Vance's microphone was turned off after explaining immigration law to presenter Margaret Brennan.

Brennan notably corrected Vance's claim that illegal immigration was harming the residents of Springfield, Ohio, by declaring that the influx of Haitian migrants to Springfield was a product of legal immigration.

After Vance continued speaking beyond his allotted time, producers turned off his microphone. Significantly, Vance broke the foundations of debate as moderator corrected him.

Vance also repeatedly identified that Walz could possibly be trusted, but Kamala Harris couldn’t.

Of course, it's not unusual for a vice presidential candidate to attack the opposing party. Traditionally, this can be a vice presidential candidate's top priority within the vice presidential debate.

But Vance was particularly careful to defer to his white, male counterpart and demand that the black woman leading the Democratic Party was the true problem.

For example, when responding to an issue about housing prices, Walz argued that immigrants shouldn’t be blamed for rising housing costs and responded to a Claim made by Vance about housing in Springfield, Ohio.

Instead of objecting to Walz's fact-checking — as he had previously done with Brennan — Vance said, “Tim just said something that I agree with. We don’t want accountable immigrants for higher housing prices, but we do want accountable Kamala Harris for letting hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants into this country, driving up costs, Tim.”

Vance was careful to defer to his white male opponent, but at the identical time he escalated criticism of immigrants and the black woman running for president.

It's a subtle strategy, but one that might potentially be effective with swing voters who’ve responded positively to Walz's “Big Dad Energy” but, consciously or unconsciously, are likely to be skeptical about voting for a female candidate black woman to vote.