CHARBONNEAU – Will Trump play the gender card?

I FIND IT HARD to understand, but patriarchy is still a substantial factor in American politics.

With former U.S. president Trump becoming more ballistic at the growing popularity of presidential nominee Kamala Harris, he could promote patriarchy.

The polling firm, Environics, has been tracking social values in the U.S. for decades. A good indicator of patriarchy can be found in response to the statement: “the father of the family must be master in his own house.”

A substantial number of Americans are favourable to patriarchy. Since polling on the question started in 1992, almost half of Americans are favourable to patriarchy. Yes, they say, the father should be master in his own house.

Canadians, of all political stripes, are less keen on patriarchy. Even with Canadian Conservatives, only 30 per cent believe the father must be master.

Among Republican voters, 60 per cent agreed in 2023 that the father must be master. And Democrats agree at 40 per cent. This finding makes Canadian Conservatives seem radically liberal.

American response cycles up and down. Support for patriarchy went up during the Bush presidencies and back down during the Obama years. The election of President Trump restored patriarchy to record highs.

Because values are clustered, response to the master-of-the-house statement reveals other values, says Environics pollster Michael Adams: “Patriarchy is only one of more than 50 values we track, but it is clearly among the most meaningful. It is also a value that is highly correlated with other values such as religiosity, parochialism and xenophobia, and views on issues such as abortion, guns and the death penalty.”

Trump’s choice for vice-president, J.D. Vance, has played the patriarchy card  with limited success. He criticized Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris for not having children.

His comments of “cat ladies” were treated as a joke by some but patriarchy is a serious matter; it’s baked into American culture. He tried to counter his statement by saying that he has nothing against cats.

Patriarchy even affects immigrants to the U.S. and Canada differently. Thirty-five per cent of Canadian immigrants agreed with the statement; not surprising when most immigrants come from male-dominated countries. In the U.S., substantially more immigrants agree with patriarchy at 56 per cent, even though they are from the same countries as in Canada.

The patriarchy card would not be a winning strategy in Canada for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.

The promotion religion and patriarchy as a winning ticket in Canadian politics would go over like a lead balloon –especially in Quebec where the overthrow of church dominance lead to a cultural revolution,

“Canadians have more confidence in their ability to make moral decisions without deferring to religious authority,” says Adams.  As a percentage, twice as many Americans go to church weekly as Canadians, twice as many believe the Bible is literally true, and twice as many say religion is important to them.

In America, the patriarchy card could make a difference for Trump. Evangelical supporters at his rallies wear T-shirts that proclaim “Jesus is my savior, Trump is my president.”

But even if Trump were to declare: “I’m the man for president,” his credibility is like a bubble ready to prick.

David Charbonneau is a retired TRU electronics instructor who hosts a blog at http://www.eyeviewkamloops.wordpress.com.