Bungacast /549/ Why Has Politics Genderised? ft. Ashley Frawley
May 12, 2026
Ashley Frawley, sociologist and senior editor studying youth political polarization, explores why young men and women are drifting apart politically. They discuss changing gender gaps, institutional feminization, rising pessimism, and how personal life choices become political. Short, sharp takes on cultural coding, negative solidarity, and the social forces shaping today’s gendered divides.
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Politics Is Becoming Gendered
- Politics today is becoming gendered: the radical right is masculinist while the liberal center is feminine coded.
- Alex Hochuli links this shift to changing meanings of left/right and a renewed gender gap among the young since the 2010s.
Moral Panic Targeted Young Men First
- Media attention focused early on young men as a problem, creating a moral panic about 'boys' and the manosphere.
- George Hoare points to 2010s onward coverage framing young males as needing intervention for extremism.
Childhood Rejection Of Motherhood As Sole Identity
- Ashley Frawley recalls childhood belief 'a boy can do what a girl can do' and rejecting motherhood as a sole role.
- She quotes a reporter's respondent saying 'I don't want to be just a mother' as a mirror of her 10-year-old view.