The problem with the battle of the sexes, according to the old joke, is that neither side can ever win because so many of us are fraternising with the enemy. It’s a light-hearted and memorable allusion to the undoubted fact that, while there will always be disagreements and differences between men and women, fundamentally we do need each other, and there is something unique and indispensable about the bonds between us.
And yet there has been a great deal of commentary in recent times about the growing failure of men and women to come together to form relationships. Some analysts blame this on political polarisation between the sexes, because data on political affiliation appears to show that younger men increasingly favour parties of the Right – especially the so-called New Right, with its focus on national identity and opposition to “Woke” politics – while younger women are moving to the Left. In the US election, for example, Donald Trump scored 56 per cent of male voters under 30, but only 40 per cent of women in that age group.
