# Why are Libertarians more Manly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 18, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604 "2013-10-18T20:38:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/1 "2013-10-18T20:38:52Z")
University of Virginia’s Jonathan Haidt has shown that libertarians are the most masculine among conservatives and liberals and that liberals care more about a “generic other” than even members of their own families. > [@](#): > > “Libertarians had the most ‘masculine’ psychological profile,” they claimed, “while liberals had the most feminine.” > **[StockBot by Examiner.com - Stock Examiner bot by Examiner.com](https://examiner.com)** > > Discover Stock Examiner, the AI-powered chatbot delivering instant, interactive stock charts, real-time financials, breaking news, stock screeners, and more—all in one seamless experience. Why is this so? Also it appears that libertarians are less disgusted by gross things than even liberals, and that libertarians rely more on reason as opposed to conservatives and liberals. Are libertarians a subset of the human species - a more perfect and ideal form? Are libertarians the Platonic form of homo sapien sapien? ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/2 "2013-10-18T20:50:57Z")
It’s possible there’s a certain amount of whooshing. From the same site: Extraterrestrials: NASA rover shows Mars rodent ---
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/3 "2013-10-18T20:53:15Z")
The same points were published on [reason.com](http://reason.com) ---
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/4 "2013-10-18T20:54:46Z")
And the WSJ > **[Matt Ridley on Libertarians | Mind & Matter](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390444358804578016291138331904)** > > In the wake of Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind and other research, a look at the psychology of those who often call themselves economically conservative but socially liberal. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/5 "2013-10-18T20:56:24Z")
If the Libertarian media thinks the study praising Libertarians is solid, then yeah, I guess I’m sold: Libertarians are the Platonic form of _homo sapien sapien_. All bow before Nozick! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/6 "2013-10-18T20:56:40Z")
> [@IceQube](#): > > Are libertarians a subset of the human species - a more perfect and ideal form? Are libertarians the Platonic form of homo sapien sapien? What, libertarians are Aryans? Er, I’m pretty sure ‘species’ in this case is referring to ‘species of political belief’ rather than another form of primate. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/7 "2013-10-18T20:59:56Z")
> [@IceQube](#): > > And the WSJ > > [http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444358804578016291138331904](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444358804578016291138331904) That’s actually the source cited in the article from the OP: > [@](#): > > In a Wall Street Journal article laughably titled “Inside the Cold, Calculating Libertarian Mind” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/8 "2013-10-18T21:00:46Z")
> [@IceQube](#): > > Also it appears that libertarians are less disgusted by gross things than even liberals I doubt that libertarians score anywhere nearly as high as Dopers on the non-gross-outable scale, and we know this place is chock full of left-leaning socioanarchists, not to mention lumberjacks, IT specialists and other manly men. So that theory goes right down the dumper. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/9 "2013-10-18T21:00:54Z")
> [@IceQube](#): > > Are libertarians a subset of the human species - a more perfect and ideal form? Are libertarians the Platonic form of homo sapien sapien? Rather than get as sarcastic as I’d like to - this is some pompous stuff, **IceQube** - let’s discuss why you think a commitment to reason and reason alone would make libertarians superior. ---
**Author:** ![Karrius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71c47a/32.png) [@Karrius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karrius)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/10 "2013-10-18T21:03:17Z")
It’s pretty amazing how fast “more masculine, less feminine” became “more perfect, more ideal”. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/11 "2013-10-18T21:04:20Z")
> [@Karrius](#): > > It’s pretty amazing how fast “more masculine, less feminine” became “more perfect, more ideal”. The full arc is even more enlightening. It goes emotional –\> feminine –\> inferior. ---
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/12 "2013-10-18T21:04:29Z")
I never said reason alone. I said reading comprehension, masculinity, individualism, and the ability to suppress feelings of grossness, which I suppose would be a subset of reason. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/13 "2013-10-18T21:06:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Why is this so? The factual answer to this is…cock size. Libertarians have larger hands, and that’s been shown, definitively, to be directly related to larger gloves. > [@](#): > > Also it appears that libertarians are less disgusted by gross things than even liberals, and that libertarians rely more on reason as opposed to conservatives and liberals. Are libertarians a subset of the human species - a more perfect and ideal form? Are libertarians the Platonic form of homo sapien sapien? No, they aren’t homo sapien sapien at all. To paraphrase Yoda, that is why you fail… ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/14 "2013-10-18T21:07:27Z")
Because they appear to largely define “manly” as “psychopathic”, and libertarianism is an ideological imitation of psychopathy. ---
**Author:** ![Karrius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71c47a/32.png) [@Karrius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karrius)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/15 "2013-10-18T21:07:30Z")
This can basically be debunked pretty easily - libertarians are less likely to have people who don’t care about politics, because they’re not one of the defaults. Thus, people who are libertarian are people who have put thought and care into politics more on average, even if that thought is bad. You’d need some sort of “how much into political and moral thought” slider in order to effectively judge how “rational” libertarians vs others are. Mind you, this study is pretty useful to help show libertarians are bigots, so it does have some use. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/16 "2013-10-18T21:07:36Z")
Homosexuals are the manliest men. They’re so manly they don’t need to pollute themselves with women and their irrational emotions. Once you’re that manly only other manly men will do. The Spartans had this all figured out. > [@IceQube](#): > > Are libertarians the Platonic form of homo sapien sapien? Almost. The actual answer would be the Cynics. Then maybe the Ascetics. Anti-natalists are pretty manly too, if you think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/17 "2013-10-18T21:09:56Z")
> [@IceQube](#): > > Also it appears that libertarians are less disgusted by gross things than even liberals, and that libertarians rely more on reason as opposed to conservatives and liberals. Are libertarians a subset of the human species - a more perfect and ideal form? Are libertarians the Platonic form of homo sapien sapien? For the sake of argument, taking the idea at face value, I think it’s just a matter of how our culture defines masculinity and feminitity. The cultural meme is that that women are emotional and men are rational, men who are emotional are sensitive or even sissies, and women who aren’t are tomboys or whatever. Running with this, this could easily explain why libertarians are more masculine, because the philosophy is essentially completely rational, which proponents would argue is it’s strength over other philosophies and opponents would argue is it’s greatest weakness. Even where libertarian philosophy agrees with others on policy, usually the arguments behind those differ in the motivation. This is why they can agree on something like gay marriage with liberals, with a rational “not my business, doesn’t hurt anyone” reason for libertarians, but then appear callous for using the same sort of approach in other areas. Ultimately, even if we associate certain ways of thinking with certain political associations and certain genders or other stereotypes, I don’t think either way is inherently better or worse than the others. It’s really not all that much different than the T and F in the MBTI. But, at the very least, I think it could be why this sort of thing would associate libertarianism with masculinity and liberalism with femininity. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/18 "2013-10-18T21:12:43Z")
> [@](#): > > After all these years, after all the attempts by both libertarians and detractors trying to explain libertarians, after battling stereotypes and pigeonholes and bogus straw man portrayals libertarians are finally identified as “distinct.” …The article that says libertarians are more manly begins with a dismissal of stereotypes and strawman before delivering them in horse doses. You have to give libertarians this: they’re way better at self-congratulation than liberals or conservatives. They’ve elevated it to an art. The WSJ piece is less laughable. I can believe that libertarians have different tendencies than conservatives and liberals, but if you’re going to say they make libertarians _homo superior_ or a Platonic ideal, you’re unlikely to get any response beyond derisive laughter. I’m not sure how you reach a “correct, rather than intuitive” answer to a math problem, but I’ll let that go. And I’d argue that we already knew libertarians are less likely to feel disgust: after all they’re not disgusted by Ayn Rand. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/19 "2013-10-18T21:14:39Z")
I really feel like 3+3 should be 8. I mean, just look at them! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604/20 "2013-10-18T21:17:39Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > The cultural meme is that that women are emotional and men are rational, men who are emotional are sensitive or even sissies, and women who aren’t are tomboys or whatever. And that “stereotypically masculine” things like aggressiveness, anger, lust and greed aren’t emotions. At least when a _man_ displays them; as the joke goes, “PMS is when a woman gets in trouble for acting like men do all the time”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-libertarians-more-manly/671604.md?page=2)