When Did "Men" -- M E N -- Become a Four Letter Word?

Smearing men is not a good way to win them over.

Editor’s note: Today’s column is free to all. For access to exclusive weekly content from Bernie, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

---

You don’t need a Ph.D. in sociology to know there’s one group in American culture you can mock, smear, and stereotype with impunity—and no, you won’t face cancellation, outrage, or any serious blowback.

That group? Men.

For years now, we’ve been told that men suffer from “toxic masculinity.” We’re accused of “mansplaining,” assumed to be “racists,” “sexists,” and God knows what else. At some point, “man” became a four-letter word.

I bring this up because Democrats are now planning to spend $20 million trying to win back male voters they lost in 2024. The initiative is called SAM—short for “Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan.”

Here’s a free tip for the strategists: If you want to win back men, maybe start by telling your cultural allies to stop calling them bigots. Case in point: On “The View,” Joy Behar suggested that instead of spending $20 million to win back male voters, Democrats should use the money to “teach men not to be such sexists.”

Imagine if a man had said something like that about women? You can’t even tell a lame joke about women drivers anymore without risking cancellation. But label men “sexists” on national television? No problem.

Then there’s the DNC’s own website, with its long list of “Who We Serve.” It includes: African Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Latinos, LGBTQ+ folks, seniors, veterans, union members, women. You get the picture, right? There’s a group for everyone—except … men.

Let’s get this straight: Democrats want to win back men, but won’t even acknowledge them on a list of who they serve? Brilliant strategy.

Do men hold power in this country? Sure, some do. But what kind of power does a white, working-class coal miner in West Virginia have—just because he’s a man? Or the blue-collar guy living paycheck to paycheck. How is he powerful? Memo to the cultural elite: Not all men are running Fortune 500 companies. A lot of them are just trying to keep the lights on.

If Democrats truly want men back in the fold, they might want to stop treating them like a nasty virus nobody wants to get close to. Because right now, it sure doesn’t look like men are welcome.

Aaron Solis, writing on Medium, nailed it: “Society — and feminists in particular — have decided it’s perfectly acceptable to generalize men, but not women… If the roles were reversed, and men created equally negative, subjective terms to generalize women, the backlash would be overwhelming.”

That’s the kind of insight Democrats could’ve gotten for free—no need to spend $20 million.

According to Fox Digital, more than half of male voters under 30 backed Trump over Harris. That includes about 60% of white male voters, roughly one-third of Black male voters, and about half of young Latino men. That’s not a fluke. That’s a warning sign.

Yes, there are many reasons voters switch parties. It’s never just one thing. But the way Democratic elites talk about men—the sneering, the stereotyping—definitely plays a role. And until they face up to that, no slick $20 million campaign is going to change the outcome.

And if that sounds like “mansplaining” — too bad!