Your Opinion: Gender, culture and leadership

Dear Editor:

Are American men different from men elsewhere? The Brits just elected their second woman prime minister. In Israel, Golda Meir was legendary. In India, Indira Ghandi was prime minister twice. Germany's Angela Merkel is Europe's most powerful politician. Faced with the prospect of the first American woman president, are men in America freaked out?

Public Religion Research Institute reports that 52 percent of American men have a very unfavorable view of Hillary Clinton. For comparison, in 2008, 24 percent of men had a very unfavorable view of Barrack Obama. In 2012 that number was 32 percent. Are American men sexist?

In 2008 John McCain selected Sara Palin as his vice president. Her skill? She talked the talk of religious conservatives. Conservatives approved of her. She was attractive. She did not remind you of a grandmother. Conservative men liked her. Some of the luster may be gone but, Donald Trump has been pleased with her endorsement and support.

Is this a political or cultural issue? I think cultural. White American men remain dominant in America but just barely. As a class they have lost some economic status in the past decade. Meanwhile women and minorities have made significant income gains.

What is the difference between a man losing his status as a "MAN" and that of a woman losing status as a "WOMAN"? When a man loses a job they often feel emasculated. In sports a "real man" never plays down to his opponents. He dominates. Losers feel less manly. Manhood is won while womanhood is a natural state. If manhood can be won, then it can be lost. A woman only loses her womanhood if she undergoes a sex change or loses her capacity to have children through a hysterectomy.

In America the biggest loss of manhood for many men is to be dominated by a woman. In religion and law, the traditional role of women is to be subservient to men. In some countries these roles have loosened. In America not so much.

With the election of the first Black president some say this has eliminated centuries of prejudice. The result actually seems to have produced resentment and prejudice. If a woman is elected president, it is easy to see how resentment and prejudice against a lady president will not easily go away.

American men may or may not be different than elsewhere, but we still can act like cavemen.