In the last election phase, an analysis of was carried out Newsweek suggests a significant gender gap, with female voters strongly favoring Kamala Harris over Donald Trump while men strongly favor Trump.

Newsweek examined national polls since Oct. 28 that provide a breakdown of voting intentions by gender and found that, on average, women vote for Harris by 8 points while men vote for Trump by 10 points. This corresponds to an average gender difference of 9 points.

Accordingly Newsweeks Polls show Harris is supported by an average of 52 percent of female voters and 43 percent of male voters. Meanwhile, 53 percent of male voters support Trump, compared to 44 percent of female voters.

The gender gap is not a new phenomenon. Since the 1980s, women have been more likely to support Democrats and men have been more likely to support Republicans, and this political divide has only grown larger over time. But this year, the gap could have a significant impact on the election outcome because the race is currently so close.

With only a few days until the election, the polls are closer than ever. FiveThirtyEight's tracker shows Kamala Harris leading by one point, while every swing state is within a 2-point margin. Meanwhile, the Cook Political Report released its final projections Friday, showing the election is too close to call.

Carrie Baker, a professor of women, gender and sexuality at Smith College in Massachusetts, said Newsweek: “However this election goes, gender will be a determining factor in the outcome.”

Newsweek emailed the Harris and Trump campaigns seeking comment.

A recent JL Partners poll conducted between Oct. 26 and Oct. 29 found that male voters are 22 points more likely to support the former president than women. Meanwhile, the women were ahead by 14 points for Harris. This corresponds to an average gender difference of 18 points.

Other polls have also shown that Trump is well ahead of Harris among men. For example, a poll conducted by Quantus Insights between October 27 and 30 found that Trump had a 13-point lead over Harris among men and an 11-point lead over Harris among women. This corresponds to an average gender difference of 12 points.

However, some surveys have shown that the gender gap is much smaller. An AtlasIntel poll conducted between Oct. 25 and Oct. 29 found that men favored Trump by just four points, while he and Harris were tied among women at 49 percent each. Meanwhile, a SoCal Strategies poll conducted between Oct. 30 and Oct. 31 found that men scored just 5 points for Trump, while women scored just 3 points for Harris.

While the polls do not make clear the true nature of the gender gap, polls from this year's election suggest that the gender gap may be particularly wide among young voters.

An average of three current ones New York Times/Siena College polls conducted from September to October show Trump leading Harris by 21 points among young men (58 percent to 37 percent), while Harris has a lead of 39 points among young women (67 percent to 28 Percent). A Harvard Kennedy School poll of 18- to 29-year-olds in September also found a 10 percent gender gap: Trump received 38 percent support among young men, compared to 28 percent among young women, while Harris' support was 49 percent among men and 59 percent for women.

Additionally, an Alliance for Black Equality poll conducted Oct. 15-19 found that 35 percent of Black Gen Z men support Trump — the highest among Black voters surveyed. The survey, which had a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percent, included nearly 1,500 respondents.

“The gender gap in voting, which began in 1980 and has grown steadily over the years, is likely to be wider than ever this year, particularly among young people. “MAGA Republicans have targeted young men and focused their messages on hypermasculinity and injustice,” Baker said Newsweek.

Elisabeth Clemens, a professor of sociology at the University of Chicago, explained that the right's use of populist rhetoric is crucial to understanding what is causing the gender gap.

“From Hannah Arendt to Arlie Hochschild, scholars have recognized that populism appeals to those who are experiencing or anticipating a loss of status, whether in the form of an erosion of racial or gender privilege or the loss of a job or standing in the community. In response, the Trump campaign has promised a restoration of male privilege and traditional family roles; Democrats are focused on creating good-paying manufacturing jobs and home ownership,” she said Newsweek.

A 2020 Pew Research Center survey found that 23 percent of men — and 33 percent of men who supported Trump — believed that promoting women was at their expense.

Financially, young women are gaining independence more quickly than in the 1980s, and many young men earn more than others and live alone. Pew's research also shows that 39 percent of men agree that men today have more difficulty than women securing well-paying jobs – an opinion that is particularly prevalent among young Republican men.

And according to Blueprint, these men are often pessimistic and disillusioned with America and its political system – something that Trump has exploited by positioning himself as an anti-establishment figure who is bullied by Washington's political elite.

Nowhere in this election was this more evident than in Trump's use of podcasts – an unconventional form of media – to appeal to young, particularly male, voters. The former president appeared The Joe Rogan ExperienceThe Shawn Ryan Showas well as Theo Von's podcast and Lex Fridman's show. All four podcasts attract a predominantly young, male audience and millions of viewers. Meanwhile, Harris declined to appear on the Joe Rogan Experience.

For Jackson Katz, co-founder of the Young Men's Research Initiative, this was a disappointing step in her campaign.

“I was hoping she would carry on Joe Rogan experiencebecause I think that would have been a very powerful statement to young men,” he said Newsweek.

But there is still hope for Harris' campaign. Early voting data shows Democrats ahead by two points. However, it is unclear what this means for the election, as the data only shows whether voters are registered with a party, not who they are voting for. Nonetheless, the data suggests that the Democrats' lead is party-driven, with women voting for Harris in large numbers. 54 percent of all early voters identify as women, while 43 percent are men. If this trend continues, Katz says Harris could pull out a win.

“I think part of the challenge in the Trump campaign was to motivate more young men to come out than is normally the case, because they know they're going to lose big with women,” he said.

He added that young men could even sway the election in Harris's favor if they “see through” Trump.

“If enough young men can see through the Trump campaign’s efforts to exploit their susceptibility to cartoonish appeals to masculinity, it could make all the difference,” he said.