Does Gender Play a Role On Political Beliefs At Stuyvesant?

Stuyvesant’s vast student body holds a variety of political views, as documented through mock elections. In the 2024 fall semester mock election, for example, students voted overwhelmingly for progressive policies and campaigns. While the mock election shows a dominant trend towards left-wing politics, it also shows an existing minority of political views, with some students identifying with more conservative or moderate opinions. However, these results did not include statistics on participants’ gender identities—a category covering a vital piece of information that can heavily influence one’s political stance, especially in light of recent events. One’s understanding of equality and rights can be shaped by personal experiences, and as they form political stances, it is crucial to understand how their identity and gender can influence how they perceive current issues.

Certain issues may resonate with some gender identities more than others. One of the most relevant examples of this is seen with abortion rights, which affects bodily autonomy and has become a major point of legal, ethical, and moral contention in politics. With the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022, abortion rights are to be determined individually by states. Prior to the overturn of Roe v. Wade, abortion rights were protected under United States federal law, and abortion (and other female reproductive healthcare) was safer and more accessible. However, multiple legislative actions against abortion were still attempted prior to Roe v. Wade being overturned. Anonymous sophomore A, who identifies as female and chose to stay anonymous due to privacy concerns, stated “If I were a man, I wouldn’t care that much about abortion. But since I'm a woman [...] What will I do if there’s no abortion rights? I feel like that stuff is more relevant to me,” she explained. “First of all, abortion is about a woman having the right to make decisions about her own body without anyone else interfering. Being able to choose for yourself is really important for personal freedom and equality.” Roe v. Wade protected abortion as a fundamental right under the 14th Amendment, which prohibits states from creating or enforcing laws that are deemed to infringe on citizens’ fundamental rights provided by the Constitution. Anonymous sophomore A feels the effects of this legal decision as they specifically restrict women on their bodily autonomy.

Anonymous sophomore C, who identifies as male, chose to remain anonymous due to the mention of possibly controversial topics. He expressed more negative feelings toward abortion but still mentioned it as a necessity. “Abortions are not a good practice because the fetus is murdered whilst alive. This should not be considered a simple contraceptive nor a casual decision. I agree it should only be performed to save the mother’s life/health, but this decision should still be up to the mother and not a legal system as it adds unnecessary risk. And for that reason abortions should stay legal and accessible,” sophomore C wrote in an email interview. While sophomore C is generally against abortion, he believes that abortion should still be a decision made by a person herself because the consequences of allowing a courtroom to make this decision are dangerous. Observing the political climate raises concerns about the consequences of allowing politics and legislation to control healthcare.

Some individuals may feel pressured to think a certain way because of their gender, which creates stress when trying to navigate and understand their political identity. “I feel like a lot of identity politics are like, ‘oh, because of this, you should believe this.’ I think when it comes to socio-political stuff like transgender people or immigration or abortion, I’m told to have a specific view like ‘you should have an opinion on this because you’re a guy or you shouldn’t have an opinion on this because you’re a guy.’ For trans people, I’m told that I should have an opinion on that because I’m a guy and it affects me. But for abortion, I’m told that I shouldn’t have an opinion because I’m a guy and it doesn’t affect me,” stated sophomore Mace Elinson, who identifies as male. In Elinson’s case, identifying as male means society places less value on his opinions regarding abortion as oftentimes men are less affected by abortion and its implications on autonomy. Society can often encourage certain individuals to support ideas based on their background, leading people of different gender identities to different political identities.

Anonymous sophomore D, who is unsure of their gender and chose to stay anonymous due to privacy concerns, believes that issues that may be deemed gender specific often affect people of all gender identities. “Most topics relating to gender should be relevant to everyone equally because if a policy or movement affects one group of people, it’s likely to affect everyone in the society. What happens to one person will affect everyone else because of personal relationships, so everyone should care about issues even if they only affect a certain group of people,” they claimed.

One’s political opinions can also be determined by the gender identity of those who are important to them. “There’s a lot of abortion issues, there’s a lot of gender-based legislation going on right now, and obviously that’s going to be a factor, because I have a sister and a mom, and they could be negatively affected. People, like even friends, close friends, could be affected by these things,” sophomore Liam Wang, who identifies as male, added.

In addition to the issue of abortion, there are also other issues such as transgender rights that raise concerns for family and friends and can be potentially impacted by one’s gender identity. While this issue may affect people of all sexualities and gender identities, they may often feel especially worrying or important to people within that community. Sophomore Maheen Rahmen, who identifies as nonbinary, expressed concern about the personal effect of changing the status of LGBTQ+ rights. “I think all the political topics pertaining to transgender people hit me harder because I know the [administration] makes these policies as a distraction from the real goal because [transgender] people are the new scapegoat minority, I suppose. But it does feel bad to be in that minority, obviously. I have to keep up with the latest anti-trans thing they pass every two seconds,” they explained. 

As recent political events show, the fight for transgender rights is far from over. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, among other changes, states have placed healthcare barriers, censored curriculums, forced outing in schools, weakened civil rights legislation, and created barriers to accurate identification representing a person’s gender identity. Sophomore Kemal Cater, who identifies as genderfluid, worries about the effects of such legislation, emphasizing the following as examples of gender-specific political topics that are particularly important to them: “Especially gender-affirming care, regular old therapy, or being able to learn about the effects of whatever, like meds, for instance, or even just, ‘what’s it like being queer? Here's some experience from other people.’” Having these topics constantly in the contemporary political sphere makes it a crucial point of interest for Cater, as it directly impacts them. “It’s scary being out because I know that there’s a lot of people who won’t basically ever accept me for that. It's very scary.” Cater said.

Many people do not understand identities that fit outside of the traditional scope of male and female. “I’ve heard family members talk about not [understanding] nonbinary people. It’s been coming up in random conversations with people I knew more than once, [they would talk about] anything that’s within the LGBT range. It’s always boys. I think maybe that has something to do with boys in general, and the environment they grow up with,” anonymous sophomore D stated. In sophomore D’s analysis, oftentimes men grow up in a culture that subscribes to toxic masculinity and considers anything that doesn’t fit within a narrow definition of masculinity as emasculating. 

Sophomore D is not the only one to recognize this connection between people identifying as male and their political beliefs. Elinson provided a further observation on the difference between male and female conversation on politics and what their environment tells them to believe. “When I have female friends, they tend to talk about it more. For guys, they don’t talk about it that much because they care about it less and only with people they agree with. It’s a normalized disinterest in macroelements of life,” he stated. “Especially in the most recent election season, there’s been a lot of ‘oh, you gotta vote for Trump, you gotta believe this’ and I believe it’s coming from the fact that ‘oh, we’re men, we gotta protect our masculinity,’ and that’s a very gendered and unhealthy way of thinking. It works the other way, like ‘oh, you’re women, you gotta believe this’ but I think what I’ve experienced as a guy is the need, like ‘oh, you have to support this because they’re not looking out for you.’” When political thought is limited to binary choices, strict societal expectations limit the ability of men to engage in diverse political discussions or fully understand diverse political identities.

As Stuyvesant students expand their understanding of the world and develop their own perspectives, it is important to consider the intersection between one’s identity and political ideologies. It is evident that gender plays a major role in shaping opinions on significant societal issues. Understanding the intersection between gender identities and political identities not only emphasizes the diversity and voice of the student body but also recognizes the importance of creating a community where all people are respected regardless of their gender identity. Politics isn’t just divisive rhetoric, nor is it objective—it is also about one’s personal experiences and gender identity and how they affect one’s views.