I write periodically for this space, up until now about national security and foreign affairs. But for a journalism class I teach at Sul Ross State University I recently read the book She Said, an account of the New York Times investigation into the shocking abuse of young female employees by Miramax co-founder and convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein.

Authors Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, awarded the Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles on Weinstein that broke the story launching the MeToo movement and transformed workplace behavior, delivered a master class in investigative reporting. As a lifetime journalist, I stand in awe of their work.

But I realized something deeper in She Said, which also examines allegations of sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford in 2018 against Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. 

Those two episodes in American history were watersheds for another type of movement, one that altered the U.S. political landscape and gave rise to Donald Trump, Charlie Kirk, and the “bro” culture in which the flag bearers of hyper-masculinity include among many others podcast host Joe Rogan, right wing influencer Andrew Tate, and a host of tech oligarchs.

Whatever else one can say about Trump, at his most cunning he is a master at recognizing the political climate in America and capitalizing on it to his benefit. Trump calculated that his affinity for martial sports, his support of traditional religious values, and his tough-guy persona would capture a micro-slice of disenchanted young male voters. Roughly 10% of voters are undecided and unaligned going into an election. And it’s those “persuadables” that decide elections. Trump mined for them and struck gold.

During Kavanaugh’s 2018 confirmation hearing, Trump declared to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House that, “It’s a very scary time for young men in America, where you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of.” 

One could almost hear the crescendo of high-fives across the nation by a “manosphere” sick to death of political correctness—liberal media personalities like MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, and “libtard” politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

But it wasn’t only men. A subset of more traditional, pious women, equally weary of modern society and its stigmatization of their beliefs, found common ground with the manosphere. It suddenly became cool to be Christian, acceptable to stay at home, and admirable to “Stand By [Their] Man,” as country singer Tammy Wynette wrote in her hit 1975 song. One only needs to watch a few episodes of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives or The Hunting Wives to understand this phenomenon. They are obedient at the dining room table and vixens in the bedroom, at least that’s the myth popularized in the tsunami of social media content.

 “Men aren’t safe in America anymore,” Laura Loomer, far-right activist, influencer and informal Trump advisor said in 2018. “There is a war on men.”

Let me be crystal clear. This is not a diatribe against Trump—although his history of allegations relating to sexual improprieties and predatory behavior is long—MAGA, Charlie Kirk, or any citizen of the manosphere. As a long-time political observer, I am impressed by how sentient the Right has been in putting their finger in the air and determining with precision which way the political wind is blowing. The Left could learn a thing or two from it, and they’re catching on fast given rhetoric from the likes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Texas senatorial candidate James Talerico.

Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and Trump whisperer who was tragically murdered last year, was perhaps the most influential person in this movement to restore the manosphere and its coterie of “trad wives.” Kirk spoke to a segment of young people, persuadables who wanted something different from their leaders and tended to the right of center. In my view, supported by polling, they made enough difference to put Trump back in the White House.

But what’s lost in all this political alchemy is what’s at the heart of Kantor’s and Twohey’s book into the investigation of Harvey Weinstein.

Traditional beliefs are fine, even admirable for the most part, and a matter of choice enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Predatory behavior in the workplace or anywhere else is not. And to defend it based on the notion that it’s simply “locker room” behavior, female overreaction or victimization of men should be an insult to everyone.

Sidney Balman Jr. is a Pulitzer-nominated war correspondent, writer in residence at Sul Ross State University, and author of the recently released novel The Mural, based on the 2022 Uvalde school shooting. Sidbalman.com