Last week I came across a Substack article entitled “Women Across America Just fell in Love With JD Vance”. I’m relatively new to Substack (I know – late to the party!) and a pretty infrequent user, so don’t fall into the same algorithm-generated echo chamber that dominates all my other forms of social media. In the post, Jessica Reed Kraus claims that “After the debate, my texts and DMs flooded with messages from suburban moms across the country newly smitten.” It’s a rave review. If you had asked me before reading this who the words “one of the most sensible figures in modern politics with Liz Taylor lashes as an added perk” would be written about, I think Vance would have been the last person to come to mind. A quick scroll through the comments proved that she wasn’t the only one to experience this brief lapse in sanity. (Although I did appreciate one user introducing some BBC-style balance with the comment “Cute? I don’t get it. He looks like a troll under the bridge.”)

 

 

This opinion surely only belongs to a very small minority, but even such a niche group can prove important in an election which is panning out to be the most divided along gender lines in history. The October 2024 New York Times/Siena poll put Trump at an 11-point lead among men, and Harris at a 16-point lead among women. When it comes to personal popularity, Trump’s lead amongst men increases to 13 and Harris’s rating with women remains the same.

 

 

Although worrying, none of this is really news. For a long time, we’ve known about Trump’s appeal to a certain type of male voter. Swept up in his anger at immigration and the woke brigade, America’s discontented men flock to their orange beacon of populism. But the real battle has always lain in the swing states and the mythical “middle America”. A few months ago, this was why JD Vance seemed like such a ridiculous choice of running mate. An, albeit recently converted, ardent Trump supporter from Ohio didn’t seem the obvious candidate to bring undecided voters to the Republican campaign. However, despite his blatant misogyny, Vance and his smooth-talking poise might prove to be more popular with women and traditionally conservative sections of America, who are possibly put off by Trump’s tirades.

 

 

Of course, I doubt that women will vote Republican because of a crush. Their bodies are, after all, on the line in this election. We’ve come beyond the Sex and the City days of women being painted as incapable of voting with anything but their heart – or rather eyes –, and I’d avoid taking (the otherwise iconic) Samantha Jones’ comment “I always vote for candidates based on their looks” to reflect real voting habits amongst women.

 

 

On the flipside, it is undeniable that beauty pays in politics, and numerous studies have linked attractiveness to electability, especially in the US where the worlds of celebrity and politics have long been intertwined. However, the politician-as-crush seems a curiously gender-specific phenomenon: a male politician with a female following. I mean, Hugh Grant was cast as the Prime Minister in Love Actually – you don’t do that if it’s an unsexy job. I wonder if it’s a product of celebrity crush culture. The para-social bonding of teen girls lifted up and replicated in a more “grown up” sphere. Your boy band posters can be directly replaced by a calendar of Putin or Trudeau, if that’s your thing.

 

 

Female politicians are, of course, sexualised, but this seems more to take the form of online harassment than fan mail posted into a ballot box. Political power is equated with masculinity.  For women, this means trouser suits and voice deepening classes à la Thatcher. In the above New York Times/Siena poll, when men were asked which of the two candidates they view as a ‘strong leader’, Trump came out 20 points ahead. Those words still don’t seem to conjure up an image of a woman in most people’s minds.

 

 

A crush is about power dynamics. It’s unserious, fun. I’d be lying – and a poor example of a French student – if I didn’t say that I have at times had a somewhat guilty crush on Macron. But the opposite is the case when it comes to how female politicians are treated. When we giggle over finding a male politician attractive, we leave their authority intact. Feminine sexuality, however, is still seen as incompatible with political power.

 

 

But let’s remember who we’re dealing with here. JD Vance is a man who has called for a rollback of abortion rights (“100% pro-life”), endorsed an anti-IVF report, and time and time again, vilified childless women. His place on the ticket may make Trumpism more palatable for some voters, but I would place bets on Vance doing nothing to put the brakes on the Republican party’s headlong rush into populism. A Trump-Vance victory in November is not only a horrifying prospect for American women, but for the whole world. Maybe a crush is not a laughing matter anymore.

 

Words by Tilda Walker. Images courtesy of Gage Skidmore.