adminMegyn Kelly’s latest show featuring Adam Carolla leaned into a provocative thesis: a cultural movement he and others are calling “gyno-fascism” is reshaping who the left elevates and why it’s alienating a lot of men. The segment wasn’t subtle — Kelly and Carolla argued that identity-first politics and performative victimhood now serve as a ladder for figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Kamala Harris to dominate the narrative.
The phrase “gyno-fascism” didn’t spring from thin air; it’s been floating in conservative and contrarian circles for years as a critique of progressive feminism run amok, and Carolla has been riffing on the idea on his own shows long before this Megyn Kelly appearance. That intellectual genealogy matters because it frames today’s debates as less about policy and more about fashioning power through grievance.
There’s no question AOC and Kamala are household names whose brands now carry political weight — AOC for reshaping progressive priorities and Harris for breaking historic barriers while pushing the Biden-Harris agenda. But prominence alone isn’t an argument; what conservatives are warning about is how identity appeals and theatrical moralizing substitute for competence and kitchen-table results.
What’s striking — and politically dangerous for the left — is that large swaths of men, especially younger men, are checking out of that rhetoric. Multiple analyses after the 2024 cycle showed a sharp gender split: young men trended sharply away from Democratic messaging even as young women doubled down, a real-world signal that identity-first politics can energize some groups while repelling others. Conservatives should note that being loud about “represented identity” does not automatically translate into broad-based support.
The fallout is predictable: a party that leans on performative cultural dominance risks becoming the party of the comfortable elite while abandoning the working men who build this country. Analysts who watch long-term trends warn that the Democrats’ future is fragile if they continue to prioritize symbolic victories and cultural signaling over bread-and-butter problems like jobs, safety, and small-business vitality. Voters notice when politicians prefer virtue signaling to solving real problems.
Conservatives should seize this moment not by gloating but by offering a clear, masculine-friendly alternative that celebrates work, responsibility, and common-sense patriotism. The GOP can win hearts and votes by speaking plainly about opportunity and security while exposing the hollowness of rhetoric that elevates style over substance. That’s a message hardworking Americans — fathers, sons, and brothers — can rally behind.
If Democrats keep treating politics as a stage for identity theater, they’ll clip their own wings. Smart conservatives will keep reminding the public that leadership is about producing results, not producing headlines, and that the future belongs to whoever offers dignity through work, not status through outrage.
