Contributed by: kellyseal on Thursday, December 12 2024 @ 02:45 pm
Last modified on Thursday, December 12 2024 @ 02:53 pm
The 2024 election has created rifts among the American population, and it is already shifting dating behavior along political lines.
After Trump’s victory, people are not keen to state who they voted for or what their politics are for fear of turning potential love interests away, but app users are still searching for coded messaging on the platforms. According to USA Today[*1] , if someone lists their politics as moderate or apolitical, or go to lengths to avoid stating where they stand on certain issues, potential matches identify them as “lowkey Republican,” or MAGA or Trump supporters.
Daters are also reading into profile pictures, and assuming that blue hair or blue clothing points to more liberal political opinions, and likely that person voted for Harris.
As the U.S. becomes increasingly divided, particularly after Trump’s victory (he ran on a platform of division), more singles are taking sides and would rather not engage with someone who doesn’t share their political beliefs. In a 2020 Pew Research report USA Today points out, 71 percent of Democrats said they probably wouldn’t date someone who voted for Trump, and 47 percent of Republicans said they wouldn’t date someone who voted for Biden.
Axios[*2] also reported that Democrat-leaning singles are flocking to apps like Lefty, which cater specifically to more liberal voters. Lefty saw a 453 percent surge in downloads in the two weeks after the election, according to founder and CEO Alex Felipelli.
"The surge in downloads since the recent Trump victory underscores a profound shift among progressives who are seeking like-minded partners in a deeply polarized political climate," Felipelli told Axios.
There is a growing ideological divide in the US, and these trends point to how it affects romantic relationships. Women ages 18 to 30 are 30 percent more liberal than men of the same ages, according to The Financial Times.
More young men under 30 voted for Trump than young women, a fact that has been discussed by pundits who assumed the younger generation was more progressive. But young women, especially since the aftermath of the #MeToo movement and the restrictions on abortion rights across the country, have started their own anti-man movement.
According to PBS[*3] , immediately after Trump was elected, searches for “4B” surged in the U.S. among women. The 4B movement became popular in South Korea in the 2010’s, “B” being shorthand in Korean for “no.” In the movement, there were 4 “nos” that the movement called for: No sex, No dating, No marrying men, and No children.
For now, the political and gender divide remains strong. Young women on TikTok were sharing the advice with each other, as a Trump presidency promised to continue the rollback of women’s bodily autonomy and the movement signals a protest against it.