A surprising variety of the younger generation believe women’s rights have gone too far, and a recent study reveals that progress on gender equality could also be vulnerable to stalling.
A recent study by Ipsos UK and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London has found that greater than half of the younger generation believe that the push for equality is currently having a negative impact on men and are expected to do ‘too much many” to support progress.
The survey collected responses from over 22,500 people aged 16 to 74 from 32 countries, including around 1,000 from Australia.
In line with the outcomes, 52 percent of Gen Z and 53 percent of Millennials agree that “we have gone so far in promoting women’s equality that we discriminate against men.”
This compares to 46 percent of Generation X and 40 percent of Baby Boomers.
In truth, most of the questions showed that younger generations were less supportive of efforts to advertise gender equality than Boomers.
In Australia, 51 percent strongly or partially agreed with the above statement, compared with 41 percent who disagreed with 60 percent of those that agreed with men.
Regarding the claim that things have “gone far enough” in giving women equal rights with men, 55% of Gen Z and 57% of Millennials agreed.
This compares to 53 percent of Generation X and 47 percent of Generation Boomers.
There have been more Australians who disagreed with this comment than agreed with it, but a better proportion of men agreed with the statement than women.
Nearly all of Gen Z, Millennial and Gen X respondents also agreed that men are “expected to do too much to support equality”, 55, 57 and 54 percent respectively.
Nevertheless, lower than half of Boomers agreed with this statement.
For Australia, 42 percent somewhat or strongly disagreed and 46 percent somewhat or strongly disagreed. Breaking down the outcomes further, 50 per cent of Australian men agreed with the statement, compared with just 36 per cent of ladies.
The report noted that the outcomes indicated “warnings about backlash against the movement for greater equality” and that “progress on gender equality stays vulnerable to stalling”.
“In comparison with pre-Covid-19, more people think things have gone far enough and more people think too much is being asked of men,” the report said.
“Half also believe that moves towards equality for ladies result in discrimination against men, and more broadly, there’s barely less certainty that today’s life is healthier for young men than for young women.”
In one other surprising result, Generation Z and Millennials were the generations that most thought a father who stayed home to take care of his children was “less masculine,” with 30 percent of each groups agreeing.
For Generation X, that percentage fell to 22 percent, and for Generation Boomers to 14 percent.
After we break this right down to Australian responses, 76 per cent disagree, with more men (23 per cent) agreeing with statesmen than women (15 per cent).
Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, said despite the progress made in recent a long time, “high-profile examples of misogyny are still prevalent”.
“There are worrying signs from these studies that such views are usually not only gaining traction with the general public, but in addition deterring people from standing up for women’s rights,” she said.
“Nobody ought to be afraid to advertise equality and we’d like to do significantly better to support people to call for injustice wherever they see it.”
Nevertheless, Ms Gillard said it was also necessary to discover the positives where they lie, including that people increasingly discover as feminists and believe there are things they will do to enhance gender equality.
“Nevertheless, we must not be complacent. That younger generations will almost certainly say that a person who stays home to care for youngsters is less of a person is a disturbing reminder that there continues to be a protracted option to go and that future progress is just not guaranteed,” she said.
While among the younger generations’ responses could also be worrying, there are other points of gender equality to which they’re more receptive than other generations.
For instance, 45 percent of Gen Z and 44 percent of Millennials discover themselves as feminists, in comparison with 37 percent of Gen X and 35 percent of Baby Boomers.
Gen Z can also be the almost certainly to say they have spoken out when a friend or member of the family made a sexist comment within the last yr, with 27% agreeing with this statement in comparison with 16% of Boomers.
The bulk, 68 percent, also say they have taken at the very least one motion to advertise gender equality within the last yr, in comparison with 41 percent of Boomers.
Ipsos UK & Ireland chief executive Kelly Beaver MBE said research shows significant progress has been made on gender equality, but there continues to be a protracted option to go.
“There are signs that the general public is beginning to backtrack from the progress made so far, which is potentially worrying, however it may be an indication that real changes are happening in society that often make people uncomfortable and resist,” she said. .
Ms Beaver hopes that in the approaching years this discomfort will translate into acceptance of the achievement of gender equality, which is important for progress.