Opinion – America 250 celebrations expose a significant Republican gender gap
Opinion
Opinion – America 250 celebrations expose a significant Republican gender gap
The highest-profile marking of America’s 250th anniversary thus far came last month, when the White House hosted an Ultimate Fighting Championship fight card on the South Lawn. It is no big surprise that three-quarters of Democrats found the spectacle inappropriate, versus less than a quarter of Republicans.
Now some states are displaying their partisan colors over the Trump administration’s Great American State Fair. At least 10 states led by Democratic governors have confirmed they won’t officially participate in the event, which began on Thursday on the National Mall. An Oregon spokesman said the event was “shaping up to be a more partisan affair than originally presented.”
But partisanship isn’t the only force dividing the country over how we should be celebrating America’s 250th. It turns out there is a gender divide as well.
Compared to men, women are less engaged with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. They also hold significantly different views on what events surrounding the historic occasion should emphasize: less founding fathers, more bringing people together.
Data from a national poll conducted by my university, Bowling Green State University, in conjunction with YouGov, makes the gender gap plain. We surveyed a sample of 1,200 U.S. registered voters in February. The poll has a 3.2 percent margin of error.
Interest in America’s 250th anniversary is 10 points lower among women than men: 60 percent versus 70 percent. Women are also significantly less likely than men to say they will participate in an activity marking the occasion: 45 percent versus 54 percent.
Asked to choose up to two possible emphases for the celebrations, nearly twice as many men as women select commemorating America’s founding fathers as a primary focus: 26 percent versus 14 percent.
The tables turned when we asked about bringing “”Americans together across differences. Nearly half of women, 48 percent, choose this as a focus for the semiquincentennial, versus 37 percent of men.
Might these differences stem from women’s general proclivity toward the Democratic Party and men’s toward the Republican? If so, partisan polarization may be the real culprit here.
If only it were that simple.
In one case, the overall gender gap is reflected within each party when we simply compare Democrats and Republicans in the sample. Asked about likely participation in a 250th event, women in both parties are less likely than men to say they’ll participate.
But in other cases, the gender gap is dramatic among Republicans while absent among Democrats once the party is controlled. In terms of a primary emphasis on commemorating the founding fathers, the gender gap among Republicans is 16 points, with Republican women less enamored than Republican men. Among Democrats? The gender gap is statistically insignificant.
The same goes for bringing Americans together across differences. While there is no gender gap among Democrats, it’s 19 points among Republicans. A majority of Republican women favor a bring-the-people-together focus for the festivities, versus just one-third of Republican men — 52 percent versus 33 percent.
The same pattern in gender reverse is evident when respondents are asked whether events marking the semiquincentennial should be “mostly celebratory.” Sixty percent of Republican men strongly agree, versus just under half of Republican women. A celebratory focus elicits no such divide among Democrats.
Skepticism among Republican women also manifested when we asked whether “America’s founding principles still provide a strong foundation for solving today’s challenges.” Less than half of Republican women, 46 percent, strongly agree, versus 59 percent of Republican men. Meanwhile, Democratic women and men are statistically indistinguishable.
On one key item an overall gender gap vanished among Republicans, but not Democrats, once partisanship was controlled.
Asked whether the principles of fairness, justice and equality espoused in the Declaration of Independence remain true today, there is a 10-point gender gap overall, with women more likely to disagree than men: 42 percent versus 32 percent. Among Democrats the difference is eight points, while among Republicans gender differences are statistically indistinguishable.
Mindful of this exception, the Republican gender gap over America’s historic anniversary remains noteworthy. Democrats might want to take note. Low turnout among Republican women could make the difference in close House and Senate races this fall.
Cue the clips of cage fighting on the White House lawn.
There were no women on the card. They were hard to spot in the audience as well.
Melissa K. Miller, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Bowling Green State University.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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