Vance v Walz: in the struggle for gender equality it matters what powerful men think and whether they are allies – or not

Different on choice and on gender equality: JD Vance and Tim Walz.& AP Photo/Kayla Wolf/Bruce Cotler/ZUMA Press Wire by Ján Michalko, ODI When Kamala Harris picked Tim Walz as her vice-presidential running mate, the governor of Minnesota and former advisor to his school’s gay-straight alliance student club was instantly compared with his Republican counterpart, J.D. Vance. There are many differences between these two men. But against a backdrop of raging culture wars in the US, it has been their views on gender equality and women’s rights that have animated public discussions. Vance grabbed the headlines with statements about “childless cat ladies” not being fit for politics. He attacked Harris and other women and LGBTQ+ people without biological children, amplifying conservative gender norms that value women only as mothers. His statements built on a speech he gave in 2021 when he expressed his sympathies for the far-right politics of the Hungarian prime minister, Victor Orbán. In it he described childlessness as a “civilizational crisis” in the USA. Walz, on the other hand, has been spotlighted for his support for LGBTQ+ people and the right to abortion, which he cemented in Minnesota after the roll-back of Roe vs Wade. Opponents have attacked...