In 2004, George W. Bush won reelection by mitigating the loss of the women’s vote to Democrat John Kerry to less than 10 percentage points. He did this, in part, by scaring “security moms” not to change horses mid-war. In 2016, Donald Trump is employing a similar strategy with women, on steroids.

Trump’s approach to female voters is one of hyper-masculinization: he portrays himself as strong and his opponents weak, particularly on national security, and he pledges to protect women from rape or murder by illegal immigrants, invoking the murder of Californian Kathryn Steinle by an undocumented man early and often on the campaign trail.

“Trump uses masculinity to prove he can be the tough, strong protector of the nation, something that could resonate with women and men alike who are most concerned about the country’s—and their family’s—vulnerability,” says Kelly Dittmar, a researcher at Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics.