Young conservatives' anger at women is taking a nihilistic turn [View all]

For Gen Z Republican men, sex is solitary
Young conservatives' anger at women is taking a nihilistic turn

By Amanda Marcotte
Senior Writer
Published March 20, 2026 6:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) James Fishback is almost certainly not going to win the GOP nomination for governor of Florida this year, but he’s become an object of media fascination all the same. In part it’s because Fishback holds such bigoted views that he makes the frontrunner, Rep. Byron Donalds, look moderate by comparison, even though the congressman said Black families were more stable under Jim Crow. Fishback peddles antisemitic conspiracy theories and hurls racist taunts at Donalds.

But what is really drawing attention to the 31-year-old Fishback is how he, while running far behind with older Republican voters, generates real enthusiasm with young conservatives. Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times described the packed audience at a Fishback event as “very young,” writing, “several attendees told me they were in high school.” Vanity Fair’s Dan Adler wrote that the long-shot candidate “has captured the most extreme attitudinal aspects of the Gen Z online right.” Fishback is polling at 32% with GOP voters aged 18-32, and his campaign events are larger and growing.

While he is drawing huge crowds, his audience is mostly young men and boys. A key to Fishback’s appeal merits only a fleeting mention in most profiles: his proposal to pass a 50% “sin tax” on OnlyFans creators.

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“Say what you want about Saudi Arabia,” he added. “There are no women hoeing out on the internet in Saudi Arabia.”

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“Gooning” — slang for excessive masturbation — has colonized the discourse of Gen Z Republican men, and it’s a subculture so consumed by misogynist anger that their conception of sexuality has become onanistic. ................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/03/20/for-gen-z-republican-men-sex-is-solitary/