Zohran Mamdani’s recent victory in the Democratic primary for the New York City mayoral election has sent a clear message to the national Democrats: stick to relentless messaging on economic issues that affect the working class. Mamdani himself in multiple interviews has backed this idea. Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represent the modern American progressive movement, have already begun a “Fighting Oligarchy Tour” to raise economic issues, including universal healthcare and wealth taxation. Many Democrats also attribute their losses in the 2016 and 2024 presidential elections to a lack of focus on issues of the working-class families, who have been traditional supporters of the party. But does this mean that the Democratic Party should abandon their push for civil rights, particularly women’s rights?
The stark gender divide between men and women in the 2016 and 2024 presidential elections has given the Democrats another reason to panic and attempt to bring back male voters to the party. However, it is not morally and strategically correct to win back men by solely focusing on economic issues and abandoning support for women’s rights. In 2016, Hillary Clinton emphasized addressing income inequality between men and women and urged the passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act. In 2024, Kamala Harris strongly campaigned on the reproductive rights of women, promising to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade through Congress. Both Clinton and Harris may have lost the elections because their messages presumably did not resonate with traditional Democratic male voters. But does this imply voicing support for women’s rights was a fatal mistake? No.
Recently, The View co-host Joy Behar criticized the idea of Democrats spending money to “talk to men” and said, “Maybe these guys should spend their money on teaching men to not be such sexists.” I strongly endorse what Behar said. A long-term solution to bring back male voters should be to introduce gender sensitization courses in the educational curriculum at the school and college level to combat sexism and mobilize young men to support equal rights. But a short-term solution for electoral success is to include men in the conversation about women’s rights and explain why issues such as the gender pay gap and reproductive rights have an impact on their lives too.
Data from the Pew Research Center found that in 2024, women between the ages of 25 and 34 earned an average of 95 cents for every dollar earned by a man in the same age group. For all workers above the age of 16, the gap was 15 cents. Men need to be explained that an act ensuring equal paychecks for women does not only benefit women alone. If a family has even one working woman who earns the same wages as her male counterparts, the overall household income increases. Eradicating systemic gender discrimination in wages will positively benefit all working families, children, and communities. On the other hand, a continuous increase in the gender pay gap will be detrimental to the economy. When women earn less, they have less money to spend, which reduces their overall purchasing power. This affects sales for businesses and contributions to taxes. In other words, a campaign for the economic well-being of working families is incomplete without a campaign against the gender pay gap. This rationale must not only feature in op-eds or campaign manifestos but also in town halls and speeches of Democratic presidential candidates if they are to win back men.
Similarly, reproductive rights is also an issue that concerns men. To begin with, it’s not rocket science to understand that women cannot become pregnant on their own. Men and boys are equally involved in pregnancies. Hence, when it comes to women having abortions, they cannot renounce their moral responsibility to support them. Moreover, when it comes to unwanted pregnancies, if women have the right to abortion, both they and their male partners can experience greater sexual freedom. Men must also support reproductive rights to prevent abortion-related deaths of their loved ones—whether their mothers, sisters, or spouses. Studies have shown how there are higher maternal mortality rates in states with more abortion restrictions in the United States. Most of this information is probably already known to male voters. But they would want to hear this from their presidential candidate. Michelle Obama aptly commented before the 2024 election that women become “collateral damage” to the rage of men who lean towards voting for Trump by ditching the Democratic Party.
It took years of struggle and protests for women to earn the right to vote in the United States. It was under Woodrow Wilson, a Democratic president, that the political balance shifted to reintroduce an amendment to grant women the right to vote, once Wilson had changed his position to support such an amendment. Madeleine Albright, the first female Secretary of State, was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1997. It was she who made women’s issues central to U.S. foreign policy by establishing the first Office of Global Women’s Issues within the State Department. Later, in 2011, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went a step further to declare that women’s rights and violence against women should be considered issues of national security. This makes it clear: the Democratic Party has always been a pro-women party and a platform for raising issues central to the empowerment of women. Although Democratic male voters seem to be ditching the party at the moment, a focus on only economic issues and abandoning the push for women’s rights cannot be viable solutions to the problem. Instead, such an approach would betray the core values and principles of the Democratic Party. To win back male voters, the answer lies in communication, not compromise.
