An inescapable presence has been lurking in the sidelines of UFC fights and the inner sanctum of dudefluencers like Adin Ross and Logan Paul. The current most in-demand entity in the so-called manosphere—a Cybertruck-shaped constellation of bro-y gurus like Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson—is . . . 78-year-old presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Throughout his campaign, Trump has feverishly courted a young male demographic, carving out a man cave in the house built by right-wing pundits and politicians like Josh Hawley, who have long tried to paint the GOP as the pinnacle of masculinity. That wasn’t sitting right with Creatives for Harris, a grassroots collective of ad execs, TV writers, and comedians who support the vice president. In response, the group is now offering a counterargument with a just-launched campaign that presents the act of supporting women as manlier than a diorama of the Roman Empire made from chest hair.
The “Man Enough” campaign kicks off with a cornucopia of traditionally masculine signifiers: a cowboy, a yoked gym rat, a biker and his hog. Each beacon of machismo takes turns talking direct-to-camera about the testosterrific activities that get their motor running, such as consuming raw steak or barrel-proof whiskey. Things take a turn, though, after the gym rat declares himself “man enough to deadlift 500 and braid the shit out of my daughter’s hair.”
Here’s where the real message kicks in: that the established stratification of gender roles in society is a thing of the past, and clinging to it is ridiculous.
The video then goes a step further, pitching a new model for masculinity where supporting women is the status quo. (“I’m sick of so-called men domineering, belittling, and controlling women, just so they can feel more powerful,” says one dusty rancher.) The ad also saves room to take swipes at JD Vance’s animosity towards childless cat ladies, and give men permission to cry during Predator, presumably at the part when Carl Weathers loses an arm.
The ad campaign, which also comes in three shorter versions, is tonally consistent with previous Creatives for Harris initiatives like merch based on Trump insults and a dedicated site with a “weird button” that users can push to receive some of Trump’s more puzzling quotables. The “Man Enough” concept was born while Jacob Reed, a comedic director who has worked with Funny or Die and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, was watching the Democratic National Convention. He felt inspired by the way Barack Obama spoke of Michelle Obama when introducing her onstage, and the way second gentleman Doug Emhoff gazed up proudly at Kamala Harris during her speech. He also admired the way Tim Walz talked about his wife, Gwen, and her experience of IVF treatment. All this support struck him as a form of masculinity that hadn’t been talked about enough in the election cycle. It was, to him, the polar opposite of the alternative.
“It almost feels like Trump and JD Vance and all the MAGA-world people are afraid of women,” Reed says. “Like, there’s this subtext that if you’re trying to control women this much, there’s something about your masculinity that must feel challenged.”
Reed articulated his thoughts to the greater Creatives for Harris team, which meets regularly on Slack to brainstorm ideas. The message quickly met with a robust gallery of upward-thumbs, smiley faces, and double-exclamation points. Buoyed by the encouragement, Reed tapped into his network of talented filmmakers, actors, and casting directors, and put together the video on a shoestring budget.
The original version was a bit more scolding. It included lines like, “I’m not afraid of a woman having rights because what kind of creep would I be then?” After marinating on the concept a bit further, Reed realized the last thing he wanted to do was condescend to his potential audience, whom he saw as both people already on board the Harris train and people on the fence. Ultimately, he decided viewers would be savvy enough to intuit the negative implications of the opposing viewpoint without having it spelled out.
It’s exactly the kind of consideration Reed thinks is missing from recent conversations on the left aimed at young men—and part of the reason Gen Z is so politically divided along gender lines. (According to the New York Times, women ages 18 to 29 lean toward Harris by 38 points, while men in the same age group favor Trump by 13 points—a 51 point gap in total.) There is a loneliness epidemic and identity crisis currently unfolding among young men, a group that has seen rising suicide rates. One side of the ideological spectrum appears to have taken it seriously sooner than the other.
Rather than despair over young men drifting into the MAGA zone, though, Reed wants to see a partywide effort to weigh in on the masculinity conversation without preaching or demonizing.
“When no one is talking to someone about an issue, they’re gonna go wherever they feel seen, and if that happens to be a toxic place, they’ll go down that rabbit hole without even realizing it,” he says. “That’s why it’s important to talk about masculinity in a different way.”