Horseshoe theory - gender/ sexual identity

For those who don't know, the horseshoe theory hypothesizes that the far left and the far right are actually closer to each other, than each are to the center.

This is propagated by the polarization of social media echo chambers. These days, you are either liberal or conservative. Things are very binary now. Because if you are liberal biased, for example, TikTok and YT will keep recommending you liberal content, with all the top comments being liberal. This pushes the population into the far ends of both camps. This curves things further more, until they form a horseshoe.

About gender identity, it's conventionally a liberal idea. But I thought, isn't the notion, fundamentally a conservative philosophy as well? You choose who you want to be. Our choices, far more than our abilities or the hand we were dealt, make us who we are. For the LGBT community, the fundamental notion is that they're not bound to what life and society deemed them to be. They are who they CHOOSE to be - a woman who chooses to be a man, for example.

Painting with very broad strokes here, we'd think that LGBT tends to be associated with liberal and progressive ideologies. Same goes with the diversity gang. But, consistent with horseshoe theory, the fearless LGBT (and diversity) philosophy is actually a very conservative ideology at its heart.

10 Comments
 
"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Not arguing for this - want to clarify that. Just thought of this passingly and thought of how the far right and far left, and LGBT and anti-LGBT, might actually be standing for the same things, as per horseshoe theory. Just wanted to see what people thought.

 

The elephant in the room that you are missing is government enforcement of these ideas.

I'm a libertarian conservative and you're right, people should be whatever they want to be. That's great. More power to them.

Now what I'm against is forcing my kids to learn about the 42 genders in 2nd grade public school. Forced use of pronouns and treating every derivative of the 42 genders as a special protected class. That is the very very wide gap between conservatives and liberals on this issue.

 
trying_my_best

First of all there's not even a scientific consensus on the multiple gender concept

Yup, the science is very bad on this stuff, especially anything regarding trans people. You could argue horseshoe here as well right? The Left loves science on climate change. Surely, they're not so far apart on trans issues, gender, and abortion right? Nope, the gap between conservatives is as wide as the Pacific on those issues - science only matters when it backs your issues apparently.

 
Most Helpful

Just a side note. I don't think the horseshoe theory is really true for almost anything. One reason that we have the Right and Left split across the world (in roughly 50/50 splits almost always) is that there are distinct genetic personality differences between people who identify as right wing versus those who identify as left wing.

Right wing tends to be more rules based with strict definitions of right and wrong. Left wing tends to be personalities with greater degrees of openess and willingness to see things from different points of view and fluid ideas of right and wrong depending on the person's circumstances.

These are key psychology differences way deeper than any political issue and they will always result in a butting of heads.

 

Repudiandae excepturi aliquam hic distinctio atque consectetur voluptatem ducimus. Nemo dolores neque et omnis soluta eos. Velit molestiae sed perspiciatis quis non voluptatum. Et id eos quidem sint. Provident aut ut deserunt pariatur saepe qui doloribus nobis.

Porro asperiores est ipsam fuga ut eum aut. Quos facilis nemo cupiditate omnis rerum voluptas laboriosam. Corporis sed vel non facilis. Sint hic magni quos quod incidunt. Corrupti est voluptatem numquam cumque. Hic autem id consequatur facilis non similique. Perferendis nobis consectetur minima labore odio molestias.

Id animi atque eum placeat voluptates. Nesciunt possimus nostrum excepturi maxime alias.

Deleniti magnam nesciunt occaecati maiores. Sint doloribus voluptatem iusto delectus culpa debitis repellat. Id et nihil architecto qui esse est et excepturi.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”