Gen-Z men as young as high school age are trending more conservative. Young men are looking up to Trump as an influence and resonate with his humor. The women are slowly coming around to the traditional values of the men. The “soft girl era” is trending and these women want to quit girl-bossing and stay home.
In today’s mainstream media, we see a lot of feminine-presenting men and women who are hustling. But this does not seem to be the real desire of the Gen-Z population. In a study conducted by Daniel de Vise, a writer for The Hill, he explores Gen-Z conservative men in high school. With a conservative son of his own, he wanted to see why many young boys lean conservative.
De Vise found, in a study conducted by the University of Michigan, that this conservatism appears to be true. 23% of high school boys in the 12th grade said they were conservative compared to their female counterparts at 13%. Young men have more traditional values than their female peers who have not yet discovered their “soft girl era.”
Through De Vise’s research, he discovered most young guys are not very political. The small group of these guys that are political are twice as likely to be conservative. A lot of this influence doesn’t come from home: it comes from viewing Trump on the internet.
Conservative Men Vote For Trump
Donald Trump’s messaging came across loud and clear to young men. Trump’s message and his comedic delivery resonates with young men. They view Trump as their president and will let you know loud and clear and are quick to defend him. Young conservative men that are college age are influences to high school boys as well.
In a video by Christian Halstead, he outlines “3 reasons why young people should vote for Trump” for the younger Gen-Z to view. Outlining that voting for Trump for a second term would help with peace, the border, and the debt crisis.
According to Vox in countries like the U.S. Germany and others, some data shows that 18-to-29-year-old men are more conservative than women. This gives the chance for high school-age boys to use Trump’s trolling on the internet to irritate the girls they go to school with.
In a News Nation clip titled “High school boys trending more conservative than girls,” they discuss how there are usually two common souvenirs in gift shops in Washington D.C. One may say “D.C is a nice place to visit” while the other option is M.A.G.A apparel. High school boys tend to buy the M.A.G.A merchandise as they resonate with it but know it will also irritate their female peers.
There is a battle of the sexes when it comes to politics. The conservative men in high school view the Liberal Party as having an issue with masculinity. So much of the left is about gender equality that young men are not on board with labeling themselves liberal. This signifies weakness to them. This explains why the young men who do pay attention to politics are labeling themselves conservative rather than liberal.
Soft Girl Era
Some young women are Liberal and enjoy the hustling and girl-bossing. They typically don’t have conservative values of the young men. They find fulfillment in going to work and meeting corporate goals. Other women appreciate that feminism has fought for them to work but want to stay at home.
This trend is called the “soft girl era.” A “soft girl” doesn’t find fulfillment in the hustle and getting ahead. She’d rather stay in tune with her feminine side and live a slow life. For some soft girls, this includes excessive amounts of self-care. This also includes looking after their nutritional health and preparing an Instagram-worthy breakfast. They may also trade in cardio for yoga to be in tune with their emotions.
Long-term, the soft girl dreams of being a wife (or even a stay-at-home girlfriend) and if she’s able to have children, being a stay-at-home mom is becoming more appealing. This type of soft girl holds traditional values that would work well with the young conservative men. In a world full of girl bosses, some women are afraid to say that they rather stay at home as this is not the norm anymore.
Influencer Erica Stolman Dowdy expresses her desire in a TikTok video to be in her soft girl era. She explains in a TikTok titled “bake a blueberry pie with me while I talk about my anti-girl boss era” that her recent vacation to Europe has changed her outlook on life. Since her trip, she feels that the idea of girl-bossing is “cheugy” and not something that she wants to take part in anymore.
She wants to pursue a slow life, make her little blueberry pies, and live until she’s 100 years old. She says we can girl boss if we want to but she’s out!
Desiring Conservative Values
Living in the soft girl era and having traditional values is appealing to a lot of women once they become burnt out in their day jobs. A lot of women are now desiring to be at home for the family. Although being a traditional wife and mom is still hard work, it’s more appealing than fast-paced life. It’s also nurturing the feminine side that the soft girl aims to achieve.
With the right balance of work and self-care, holding the traditional values of a housewife can be rewarding. Some women find that, although this role comes with sacrifices, it’s worth it. TikTok creator Shawtgal49 (whose real name is Sam) is a prime example of a Gen-Z individual who is making sacrifices to stay at home and fill that traditional role.
She gives you an idea of what her cooking and cleaning looks like. She shows you what you can do for fun on a very tight budget. She reveals the reality of being a stay-at-home wife and mom that few people let you see.
This lifestyle is not commonly shown in mainstream media by Gen-Z. But a good portion of Gen-Z is craving conservative values, and this percentage is increasing. With Gen-Z becoming increasingly more open to conservative and traditional values, it leaves the question of whether we will see more young people feeling comfortable to make the change for themselves as well.
