Are young men working to undo recent advances in women’s rights?

GOTHENBURG, Sweden — Young men under age 30 are increasingly adopting “modern sexist” beliefs, particularly that gender equality has allowed women to land leading jobs at their expense, according to a new study.

New research examining 32,469 people across 27 countries shows younger men, as opposed to older generations, are more likely to believe in the “zero-sum game” notion — that feminism has hurt their livelihoods and chance at a stable life. University of Gothenburg researchers say distrust in corrupt social institutions and a rise in young male unemployment is giving rise to “modern sexism” among men under 30. Such beliefs are most common in areas where unemployment has gone up in recent years. Inversely, modern sexist notions have fallen in regions like Northern Italy where unemployment rates have fallen.

Researchers explain that the zero-sum game reasoning, which underlies modern sexism among young men, is the perception that one group’s progress, in this case women, only occurs at the expense of another.

The researchers claim young men are increasingly working against women’s rights and that a perceived sense of injustice and competition between men and women is directly affecting political attitudes. The study authors cite previous research claiming radical right-wing parties benefit from such anti-feminist beliefs.

“Some people believe that increased gender equality only benefits women and do not see the benefits for society as a whole. Some research suggests that this feeling of injustice can even motivate citizens to vote for right-wing radical parties who are against feminism and sexual freedom,” says Gefjon Off, a doctoral student in political science, in a university release.

Older generations are not the problem

This latest analysis of modern sexist beliefs appears to contradict some previous studies which point to older men as the root of conservative, anti-equality efforts. Researchers say younger men are more likely than older men to agree with the idea that women have undermined their ability to find work. The team also points to zero-sum game reasoning, with young men feeling more slighted than their more established and wealthy male elders.

“The results show that young men aged 18 to 29 most often agree with this statement in our survey. The older the men are, the less they agree with this statement. Some women agree with the statement, but to a far lesser extent than men of all ages. The results contradict previous research claiming that the older generation are the ones who are the most conservative and opposed to advances in women’s rights,” Off adds.

Sweden particularly shows the widest gap between young women and men’s views, the researchers note. Young men have not been able to find a stable job or have not progressed as far in their careers as older men, leading them to blame women for this workplace inequality.

“Possibly, young men who believe that women are outcompeting them in the labor market experience advances in women’s rights as unjust and a threat. We need to get better at communicating the benefits of gender equality. Fathers get to spend more time with their children and the burden of being the family’s breadwinner is lightened when mothers in families also advance in their careers,” Off concludes.

The findings are published in the journal Frontiers in Political Science.

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Benjamin Fearnow

Mr. Fearnow has written for Newsweek, The Atlantic & CBS during his New York City-based journalism career. He discusses tech and social media topics on cable news networks.

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Comments

  1. Problems stemming from economic insecurity, which in turn stems from the ever-increasing competitiveness among young people, which, again, in turn is caused by the crisis of higher education among young men, when their number in universities is increasingly close to a third, and columnists, activists, school programs, coaches, teachers, the Ministry of Education do not undertake to solve the problem, complaining about the “radicalization of an evil young man”, it is proposed to solve it by planting therapy for ignoring the problems of men – a heart-to-heart talk with a father in an apron about the career achievements of mother, sister, girls from a class, a university, a prestigious job. Gender equality, bahah. Annoys.
    By the way, I’m 20, I’m watching how women “take the peak” of the world, while I myself don’t even have the opportunity to complain, because men used to be a privileged class, and women weren’t, so shut up young man, otherwise you will receive a pile of accusations in belonging to incel cultures, right-wing radical, supporters, lol, Andrew Tate, whom I did not even look at, but after hatred and contempt.
    You have a visual aid for understanding the reasons for the dissatisfaction of modern young men in my face.

    1. Absolutely spot on, don’t forgot the future is female and everything a man does has a feminist buzzword attached to it. I started voting right wing and have no interest in the lunacy that the left has become.

  2. A guy submitted his resume for specific type of job. He used his own name. He then submitted the same resume for these jobs using a female name. He got a response of 88 out of 100, using the female name. Only 9 out of a 100 using his own name. The utter bigotry of these western societies. Everyone knows America is going down. I am laughing at America’s decline. Better start learning Mandarin.

    1. Bbbbut fathers get to spend more time with the kiddies!! That’s the rationale for gender equality helping women AND men? I’m glad there’s a backlash (and there should be). I am so sick of arrogant, entitled women. Flexing their arms like they’re heroines, when they are for the most part weak as water. Everything is women-only, because they can’t compete with men in sports. I am one of the oldsters — but I can see what’s happening to young men and I don’t like it. No amount of feminist lies will change my mind. They spout “The Future is Female”, while out of the other side of their mouth how Feminism is good for everyone. Then in the same breath calling men misogynists and incels if you disagree.

      1. “The future is female” part really takes the cake. That was the slogan of feminist nutjob, Sally Miller Gearhart, who said as part of the speech, “The proportion of men must be reduced to and maintained at approximately 10% of the human race.”

        She was advocating for male genocide through murder and eugenics; proposing the eradication of 3+ billion people.

  3. Remember also that online dating has left even average-looking women entitled and arrogant with absurdly high standards. Something like 2% of the male population is 6-foot-plus making 6 figures but every Erica Average thinks she “deserves” one. IT IS TO LAUGH.

    1. So all of you believe that women are a) beating the pants off you and b) must be returned to domestic prison because (waaaah) they’re beating the pants off you. How about men upping their game? How about going to college, learning skills, learning manners, learning the game? How about growing up?

      1. It is ironic that no one here has voiced an opinion that agrees with the belief that female empowerment has indeed taken the systematic rejection of young men by various institutions and forms of relationships, men only allow themselves to begin to notice the rapidly deteriorating situation of their younger colleagues, but you you are already hysterically imputing to them the desire to put you on a chain.
        You don’t have to go back to the kitchen to simply acknowledge the crisis of boys and young men, to acknowledge that the politics of obsession with women’s issues is increasingly and radically ignoring those of the opposite sex, portraying them as “non-existent”, “insignificant”, “bloated”, ” seeking to draw attention to themselves in order to minimize the achievement of girls and women” and simply “a consequence of the irrational and stupid behavior of young men”. No, instead you invite them to close their mouths, bow their heads guiltily and mutter: “I deserve this, I’m bad, I’m a man”, – no, Esmeralda, every person deserves concern and coverage of his/her problems.
        How about trying to offer real solutions to a reported problem by getting into an argument, instead of snobbishly and caustically telling the affected group to “grow up” or “cheer up”. Do you really think that a conventional 8-12-year-old boy or 13-19-years old young man should solve the root problems of the economy and society? Grow up.

      2. When men and boys raise concerns this is exactly the tripe that they are met with. This is exactly why feminism is losing ground.

      3. No I think noone would care if we get rid of all government benefits based on the subjective category known as gender. I think you’re more angry that noone is dumb enough anymore to actually believe this primitive narrative even most young women who support it know deep down they have an advantage based on the government or university segregating based on genitals. I remember an extra credit assignment where I had to listen to feminists preach all their talking points total lies women have lack of access to education lie, wage gap lie, lack of representation. These people haven’t updated their talking points in 50+ years.

      4. Young men absolutely blame women for everything these days instead of looking inward and asking what they can do to improve the quality of men’s lives. The body positivity movement is a great example of this; rather than emulating women’s success men find reasons to continue berating and shaming women. MRAs pose right at the edge of the reactionary veil, threatening to tear it off while conservatives and fascists more broadly are trying to roll back women’s liberation completely.

  4. 1. Told boys from young age that they are the problem, society turned its back on young men
    2. Every young man knows at least one young man that is/was falsely accused as revenge
    3. Most young men raised by single mothers that were great examples of how to use the police, courts, domestic violence accusations to ruin and harass the boy’s father
    4. Expectations that they are undatable if they are not model handsome, make top 10 percent, rich, and can provide an uneducated, lazy, woman the lifestyle of a rich woman
    5. Colleges 60 percent woman and the repeating media chorus of women discriminated against in college
    6. Women self selecting career choices – education and not STEM, blamed on men,
    7. Women – doctors particularly the 40% dropping out of the medical profession within 10 years
    8. And most of all, women getting a choice (working, working part time, non working house wife, full time stay at home mom) and men getting the same number of choices (working and providing for wife and children,
    working and providing for wife and children,
    working and providing for wife and children,
    working and providing for wife and children)
    all the same or eternally shamed for not being able to “stand on their own two legs” – translated as (“able to support a non working wife and children and give them expensive rich lifestyle”)

    Yes. Continually shaming and demonizing boys and men makes them rational decide to not play and not want to overwork just to provide for women.

    1. Not until the next crisi. Then we are all stuffed when generations of young me refuse to die for your freedom.

  5. Refer Eleanor Williams and the racial attacks, riots, months innocent men spent in jail from the default believing her story without any proof.

    My body my choice , but 1 out of three baby boys had part of their body cut off at birth without consent . Where is the my body my choice protesters?

    Boys grew up with the full on negativity and demonizing since birth. They aren’t going to work hard to pay for the social services they don’t use, not going to work hard and consume to prop up the economy, not going to settle for a near 30 year old so that person can have children then divorce.

    Boys have seen society and government only our responsibility on them while 50 percent of people don’t get the responsibility.

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