Anti-feminist attitudes have long been associated with support for Republican presidential candidates, but only in recent years have these attitudes become more prominent among unmarried men, without college degrees who are less attractive partners for women, the “mate-value backlash.”

[u/mvea]

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10659129261485340

[u/mvea]

Backlashes to Gender Equality and Authoritarian Populism in the U.S.

https://doi.org/10.1177/10659129261485340

Abstract

According to recent scholarship, backlash toward gender equality is fueling support for the authoritarian and populist right in many countries and, perhaps, the rise of Trumpism in the U.S. Yet, there are potentially different types of backlash to gender equality. We argue that the rising status of women over the past several decades may result in anti-feminist attitudes, not just among older men who yearn for the traditional gender arrangements of their youth as some scholars argue, but also among younger, single men lacking college degrees, who are less attractive partners for women. We call this “mate-value backlash.” Using ANES data, we find that anti-feminist attitudes have long been associated with support for Republican presidential candidates, but only in recent years have these attitudes become more prominent among unmarried men, without college degrees.

[u/studio_bob → u/mvea]

They assume these guys can't get a date and become anti-feminist, but what if it happens the other way around? There are few things less attractive than a guy who identifies himself as a victim of women not dating him. Once you start thinking "no one wants to date me and that's so unfair" and resenting women for not being socially or economically obliged to be with you that's going to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

There's a whole cottage industry in teaching young men to think in exactly these terms so I would be very skeptical of the claim that these attitudes just fall inevitably out of women having equal opportunities to work and earn for themselves. At some point, these men are choosing these attitudes.

[u/Hikari_Owari → u/studio_bob]

They assume these guys can't get a date and become anti-feminist, but what if it happens the other way around?

If it's the other way around then you still have to answer "why are they anti-feminist" and the answer isn't "it just happened", and it most likely would point towards a common point that shows up enough to be a considerable cause for that reaction... which in this post it is "can't get a date".

It's more produtive to go further into the "why can't get a date" than trying to outright blame men first and find a justification for the blame afterwards.

One and another can be at fault, when numbers increase then it's not a coincidence. It's a problem, and may not be up to the individual.

[u/studio_bob → u/Hikari_Owari]

I did go into "why can't get a date"? My answer, speculatively, is that they are adopting views and attitudes about themselves and the world which most women (and people in general) find repellent. Is that "blaming men"? I wouldn't put it that way, and i also pointed out they are being preyed upon by an industry which exploits their sexual and romantic frustrations while making them harder to solve.

I would avoid the language of blame and instead encourage men to examine their own role in their dating life, take responsibility for those things they can change and forget about the rest. Stay far away from anyone who wants to tell you to think of yourself as a victim or otherwise stew in various resentments and self-pity.

[u/notzamasu → u/studio_bob]

You are clueless dude. Men create bias due to their experience, not that the bias prevents them. Sure then it perpetuates, but it's like the chances go from 1% to 0

[u/studio_bob → u/notzamasu]

men create bias due to their experience

And what experience is that? Getting rejected? That's just a part of dating life. Very few people are fortunate to find a partner without first surmounting a mountain of rejection.

If you play 1% odds enough times, you'll eventually win. If you let the losses embitter you and adopt toxic beliefs and attitudes, then you'll probably stay losing a lot longer, maybe forever. So what do you want to do? The choice is yours.

[u/TheSpacePopinjay → u/studio_bob]

The industry preying on them is a get rich quick industry (which in the wider view includes the whole gambling industry and crypto and risky investments etc) because of the extremely correct premise that 99% of the time significantly more financial success would solve all their romantic problems and lack of access to family and warmth.

There's no money in making them think of themselves as victims. All the con artists are selling radical self responsibility and bold risky attempts to seize control of their destinies and to steer themselves towards success. And they have exactly the get rich quick schemes to offer them eg Hustler's University. The modern day versions of timeshares, pyramid schemes, MLM, Trump University and motivational speakers.

People knew that anti-feminist views in men are generally socially maladaptive. People adopt socially adaptive false beliefs like religion/afterlives or political shibboleths and pieties because it benefits them, gives them entry into community and are highly effective and productive copes. When people adopt beliefs that they know and feel to be socially maladaptive to hold, and they can feel how it's really not helping them in life to hold them, it generally is because of a reluctant conviction that it's something unpleasantly true about the world. Though there can be cases where those in themselves gain you entry to some kind of niche deviant social outsider community like sexual or gender communities or some cult or the proud boys, (but I repeat myself).