Where many Americans place themselves on the spectrum of masculinity and femininity corresponds to their preferences in the 2024 election.
Americans are more likely to place themselves at one end of the spectrum but many say they are in between completely masculine and completely feminine. While about half of Americans (53%) view themselves as either completely masculine (25%) or completely feminine (28%), 29% view themselves as mostly masculine or feminine (14% each), and 12% view themselves as only slightly masculine or feminine (6% each), according to an August poll.
While Americans overall are almost narrowly split between voting for Harris or Trump, Trump leads among Americans who say they view themselves as completely masculine (57% vs. 36%). (The result is based on the poll from late August and may have shifted slightly since then though the overall race has been quite stable.) By smaller margins, Trump also beats Harris among Americans who say they view themselves as mostly masculine and those who say they view themselves as completely feminine. By contrast, Harris leads among Americans who consider themselves mostly feminine, as well as those who place themselves near the middle of the spectrum, as either slightly masculine or slightly feminine. (Respondents weren't given the option of equally masculine or feminine; 7% of Americans are unsure of where they place themselves.)
Gender and self-placement between completely masculine and completely feminine are very highly correlated. Almost all of the Americans who identify as more masculine than feminine — slightly, mostly, or completely — are men (96%). And 95% of those who identify more as feminine are women. But differences in how masculine or feminine men and women say they are can translate into big differences in candidate preference.
These patterns are also mirrored in Americans’ responses based on how they say other people perceive their masculinity and femininity. That is partly because how people view themselves and how they think others view them is highly correlated, especially at each end of the spectrum. However, the gap between support for Harris and Trump is narrower among Americans who say others perceive them as mostly masculine than it is among Americans who perceive themselves as mostly masculine.
Where Americans place themselves between completely masculine and completely feminine also differ by party identification, which is highly correlated with vote intent. Republicans are more likely to say they are completely feminine or completely masculine (67%) than Democrats (48%) and Independents (45%) are.
— David Montgomery and Carl Bialik contributed to this article
Related:
See the results for this YouGov poll
Methodology: This YouGov poll was conducted online on August 23 - 25, 2024 among 1,065 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
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