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Nicole Penn /

What Thomas Hardy Knew About Modern Love

As the sexes drift further apart, a Victorian novel reminds us why friendship between men and women matters.
A Farm at Bettws-y-Coed
'A Farm at Betws-y-Coed' by David Cox. (Photo by: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Are the gender wars back? With viral TikToks of tearful millennials lamenting the “total nightmare” of modern dating, polls throughout the election season showing Gen Z men and women diverging politically, and reports of women embracing the abstinent 4B movement in response to Donald Trump’s presidential win, it sure seems so.

Nicole Penn is assistant director for social, cultural, and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute. She is also a doctoral student in American history at George Mason University.

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