Donald Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance and Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential pick Tim Walz — set to debate each other Tuesday, embody different versions of masculinity in an election that is dividing American men and women like never before.
Vance, on the Republican ticket, has a conservative definition of family.
The Ohio senator has been criticized for denouncing “childless cat ladies” who have no “direct interest” in the welfare of the country, he alleged, because they have no children.
As a former soldier from a lower-class family, Vance sees himself as the spokesman for the downtrodden Americans with whom he grew up.
On the other side, Democrat Tim Walz strives to project a different image of the good family man — one who does not hesitate to show a more vulnerable side of himself, like when discussing the fertility problems he faced with his wife Gwen.
The Minnesota governor, a former teacher, also frequently retells the story of how he helped create the first LGBTQ student club at the high school where he taught, long before gay rights were widely socially accepted.
