05/18/2026
“Masculinism” is uniting an unlikely constellation of pastors, posters, senators, preachers, influencers, podcasters, and fanboys who are pushing back against the advances of feminism, Helen Lewis reports in our June cover story. https://theatln.tc/7b8wCpWb
“In the past decade, one of the New Right’s major challenges has been to retrofit a consistent ideology onto the electoral power of Donald Trump,” Lewis writes. “Masculinism has been a great gift, because factions with different views on, say, protectionism or Israel or Big Tech can all agree on the overreach of feminism and the need for a return to traditional gender roles. Far from being a fringe belief system, masculinism has become the single most important force uniting the American right.”
“This is a movement with real policy goals,” Lewis writes. “The rollback of no-fault divorce. Tax breaks to reward male breadwinners and female homemakers. An end to anything with a whiff of DEI, even leadership programs for women in the military,” like one cut by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “A return to the workplace culture of the 1970s, where sexual harassment was normalized. An open preference for male employees in hiring, promotion, and pay awards—in other words, affirmative action for men.”
“A growing number of powerful allies are sincere in these beliefs, and would want to enact them if given the chance,” Lewis continues. “Masculinism is both serious and silly, sometimes camp and sometimes chilling, an attention-grabbing performance and a genuine proposition.”
Read The Atlantic’s June cover story at the link.
🎨: Liz Hart
