AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Kamala Harris became only the second woman nominated for the presidency and also the first Black or Asian American woman. The last-minute change at the top of the ticket has put more of a focus on gender and how each party amplifies or subverts gender stereotypes and one of the biggest contrasts after this summer's political conventions - masculinity. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben is here to talk with us about this. Hi, Danielle.
DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, BYLINE: Hey, Ayesha.
RASCOE: We saw two very different versions of masculinity at these political conventions from Republicans and Democrats. How did they compare?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, let's start with Republicans. They, at their convention last month, put manhood very much front and center. Think about how they had Terry Bollea, better known as Hulk Hogan, speak at their convention. You had Dana White, the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship - guys who are loud, unapologetic, defiant, even dominating their approaches to being men. Here is a taste of Hulk Hogan in his speech.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
HULK HOGAN: So all you criminals, all you low-lifes, all you scumbags, all you drug dealers and all you crooked politicians need to answer one question, brother. What you going to do when Donald Trump and all the Trump-a-maniacs (ph) run wild on you, brother?
KURTZLEBEN: All of which really reflects Donald Trump's personality as well - I mean, he has made masculinity so central to his appeal to voters. Now, this week, Democrats had men taking a very different approach. Yes, they were talking about power and politics, but they were also often emphasizing their roles at home. You think about vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff - they all highlighted their families. They really talked about being dads and loving being dads. Furthermore, Doug Emhoff was very much a wife guy, I think you could say, just talking about how proud he is of Kamala Harris and of playing a supporting role to her.
RASCOE: You mentioned Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. He's a former football coach, a hunter, a veteran, but he's also presented this kind of nice-guy figure.
KURTZLEBEN: Right.
RASCOE: How has he driven this discussion around manhood?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, that's why I think this is so fascinating because you look at him, and you have to wonder, what makes him so unique that he's driven this? - because after all, nice guys aren't new in American politics. You can think of all sorts of men in politics who have reputations for being nice. You know, think about Mitt Romney or Barack Obama and, by the way, our current president himself, Joe Biden. He is known very much for being warm with voters, being the consoler-in-chief when he needs to be, that sort of thing.
But the important thing here is that Walz has so many markers of traditional American masculinity. Like you said, he's a coach, he's a hunter, veteran, dad, husband. And he's straight. He's white. He has rural roots. And all of this comes at a time when the GOP has spent years cultivating guys who look and sound like Walz as their voters.
RASCOE: Is that why there's a broader discussion about gender, just Democrats being excited to have Walz in particular as the face of the party?
KURTZLEBEN: I think that that's one very big part of it, but, of course, that's not all. This is also a reaction to Donald Trump. He has relied on male voters and especially white, blue-collar men in the elections he's run in, and he has made that blatant version of masculinity so central to his political career. Well, Walz, on the flip side, has this resume of dude things in his life. And therefore, you could argue he's not being blatant about his masculinity. He has some leeway in how he acts. And so he's doing things that aren't super alpha male. He's talking about his emotions, about trying to have a kid. He's happily supporting the woman of color at the top of the ticket, and he's talking about reproductive rights.
RASCOE: How is this different from other years?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, I would argue it is, and it isn't. Until 2016, presidential elections were always about two men running against each other. And therefore, they were always about competing versions of manhood. And candidates did that differently. Think about George W. Bush or Ronald Reagan being sort of cowboys, Barack Obama playing basketball, Joe Biden with his classic cars. There were so often these attempts to prove that these candidates were guys' guys.
But this year, of course, there are a lot of factors that complicate manhood in this election. You have a woman of color as one candidate. She's running against Trump. And finally, the American public has now seen multiple women run for president already. They've been through #MeToo. They've seen the end of national protections for reproductive rights. And take all that together, and I think Americans are thinking harder about gender, both genders, in politics than they ever have before.
RASCOE: That's NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben. Thank you so much for joining us.
KURTZLEBEN: Thank you, Ayesha. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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