Why Antifeminism Is Spreading Among Gen Z

Are today’s young people more sexist? Are we on the brink of, or already experiencing, a backlash against feminist values? Can men’s problems be reduced to a crisis of masculinity? Many social scientists agree that an increasing number of young men are mired in discomfort, in a crisis that challenges their identity, self-esteem and the value of their interpersonal relationships.

Equality between the sexes is a historical novelty. The narrative about female oppression and gender inequality often looks to the past. Simone de Beauvoir wrote in The Second Sex, published in 1949, «Men’s economic privilege, their social value, the prestige of marriage, the usefulness of masculine support — all these encourage women to ardently want to please men. They are on the whole still in a state of serfdom. It follows that woman knows and chooses herself not as she exists for herself but as man defines her».

Antifeminism among Gen Z

Today, feminist consciousness has filtered into society through legislative changes, those laws that have been granting and recognizing women’s rights, such as the right to vote, to divorce or to not face discrimination in employment based on sex.

Society has advanced, and now, even for Barbie, the enemy is the patriarchy. But the incorporation of men into the fight for gender equality seems as unstable as the feminist movement itself.

Often, periods of fervor alternate with moments of stagnation or regression. Now, even when the most conventional publications, pop culture, the audiovisual industry or traditional political parties encourage feminism, more and more young men challenge its claims and social goals.

In one of its latest surveys, the Spain’s CIS public research institute reported that 52% of young people surveyed between 16 and 24 years old were «very» or «quite in agreement» with the following statement, «The promotion of gender equality has gone so far that now men are discriminated against».

Why are young men taking sides against feminism?

The same study also pointed out that women of all generations are more feminist than men, with the difference being greater in the aforementioned age group. Yet the CIS barometer for June revealed that the average voter of Se Acabó la Fiesta (SALF) — a political party led by elected agitator Luis Alvise Pérez that exhibits an evidently reactionary attitude toward feminist discourse — is a young male, from the lower-class and aligned with right-wing ideology.

Outside the Spanish context, this trend is also evident in other Western countries. Based on this data, it is surprising that it is not not gray-haired men who feel uncomfortable with feminism, but rather Gen Z boys who were born into democracy and around specific gender equality norms.

Why are young men, witnesses to global movements like the Women’s March or #MeToo, taking sides against feminism? Even while being in an environment where motherhood continues to penalize women’s professional careers, the care crisis is ever apparent, or there’s an increase in sexual violence, are they living in an illusion of equality?

Feminism’s failings

The feminist movement is quite divided; it is marked by internal struggles and positions that, regarding issues such as prostitution or the recognition of transsexuality, are irreconcilable. Yet there’s still hope for understanding and minimal agreements.

To argue that feminism’s internal crisis provokes hostility in young men is quite reductionist. Still we shouldn’t neglect how, in recent times, identity implications have conquered the feminist agenda and have led to a change of course in public demands and requirements.

Far from advocating for an anti-essentialist critique regarding the category of «woman», reconfiguring the social struggle, or offering an emancipatory policy, feminism’s fall into the identity scheme has individualized claims and reduced political action to a performance.

The problem with identity politics is not diversity or intersectionality, but their management and articulation, as intragroup differences are often ignored, thereby fueling tension between groups. Moreover, if feminism’s political project is universal in nature and involves all human beings, equality and social justice cannot be claimed exclusively, mobilizing minorities and marginalizing common interest.

Is it surprising that young men are demoralized?

Segregation should not be the answer to the fact that feminism is a sum of political, social, and ideological mixtures, which transcend Eurocentrism or sexual normativity.

When young men’s problems have no place in the identity rhetoric promoted by current feminism, how can faith in feminism’s ability to transform society not be lost? If feminism is not at the service of public interest, if its utopia does not value the problems of that other part of the population, if it seems to force people to choose an identity to be recognized and heard, is it surprising that young men are demoralized, believe that feminism is a catalyst for polarization, and seek new idols?

What about the boys?

Since its origins, feminism has strived to provide women and girls with opportunities and spaces outside patriarchal structures and ideals. In education, the entertainment industry and even advertising, girls today enjoy an alternative culture to the sexist status quo.

The public message encourages girls to study and break gender roles in their university careers, to participate in political life and lead the private sector, to break the silence when they suffer sexual violence or violence from a partner, to embrace body positivity against the tyranny of beauty standards, to freely live out their sexuality, and to avoid the stigma of being labeled a «slut». But what about the boys?

Forging a masculine identity requires going against everything that feminism has been questioning for centuries: the use of force and/or violence, competitiveness, male protection, emotional distance and/or toughness, independence, invulnerability, rationality, the repression of affectivity, self-sufficiency, the pursuit of achievement, hypersexuality, or the disdain for the feminine.

The alternative «manosphere»

Conversely, the new feminine identity assumes some traditional male values. Today, girls have to be strong, brave, independent and desiring — meaning they can no longer settle for being the object of someone else’s desire. The questioning of traditional male identity has generated guilt, confusion and signaling among young men. But instead of moving these reactions toward self-criticism, it has encouraged victimhood and an identity crisis.

Is connected misogyny a failure of the feminist movement?

In relation to the above, it is worth noting how state protection has also replaced Prince Charming, that gallant endowed with virility and sensitivity, the attentive gentleman. Women’s exercise of their right to sexual freedom is an obstacle for the «voluntary celibates», their massive incorporation into employment and greater economic autonomy has resulted in less familial and romantic dependence.

Laws protecting victims of sexual violence have contributed to the demystification of this crime, and to more women valuing their sexual and reproductive rights regardless of their marital status, sexual orientation or social class. In short, young men can no longer even be the good man of the story. The state and the law have taken that role from them.

It is evident that neoliberalism and neoconservatism have become the ideological engines for those who do not wish to abandon male privileges. But these ideals have also seduced those boys who find themselves lost. In the absence of a culture that embraces the reality of boyhood, they have found an alternative in the «manosphere», in that virtual prison where men share their values of masculinity and advise each other on how to be men.

Is connected misogyny a failure of the feminist movement? It no longer matters if what young men think about feminism is false or if they express themselves in a politically incorrect way. Feminism must pay attention to what, emotionally, these young men gain when misinformation guides their life projects.

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This content is part of a collaboration agreement of ‘WorldCrunch’, with the magazine ‘Ethic’. Read the original at this link.