Boys and men from generation Z are more likely than older baby boomers to believe that feminism has done more harm than good, according to research that shows a “real risk of fractious division among this coming generation”.

On feminism, 16% of gen Z males felt it had done more harm than good. Among over-60s the figure was 13%.

The figures emerged from Ipsos polling for King’s College London’s Policy Institute and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership. The research also found that 37% of men aged 16 to 29 consider “toxic masculinity” an unhelpful phrase, roughly double the number of young women who don’t like it.

“This is a new and unusual generational pattern,” said Prof Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute. “Normally, it tends to be the case that younger generations are consistently more comfortable with emerging social norms, as they grew up with these as a natural part of their lives.”

Link to study: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/masculinity-and-womens-equality-study-finds-emerging-gender-divide-in-young-peoples-attitudes

  • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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    10 months ago

    Feminism has a branding problem. The name itself makes it sound like it’s about putting women above men. People who don’t know better—the kind of people who are disproportionately young—will judge feminism based on the name.

    Calling it feminism made sense when everyone “knew” women were generally inferior to men, but since gender equality has become the mainstream view, the name had lost the context that made it work. Combined with the scope creep of feminism that causes it to encompass issues like disability rights and economic inequality, I think feminism is becoming indistinguishable from leftism.

    • nicetriangle@kbin.social
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      10 months ago

      I think feminism is becoming indistinguishable from leftism.

      There might be a reason for that. Where on the right are you hearing strong advocacy for women’s rights and equality?

      • agitatedpotato@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        People in politics are painting infrastructure bills as progressive these days, so feminism is one of those leftisms just like repaving roads and fixing bridges that are years out of spec. The overton window must be the window on a plane because it wont stop moving.

    • lone_faerie@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      10 months ago

      Feminism is leftism and leftism is feminism. It’s always been that way because it’s all about the same issue, equality. Women’s rights, civil rights, trans rights, they’re all fighting for the same thing. One of my favorite quotes comes from Fannie Lou Hamer, civil rights and women’s rights activist, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free”

      • ccdfa@lemm.ee
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        10 months ago

        “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free”

        This is like a main tenet of existentialisme, at least as it’s described by Sartre and De Beauvoir. To anyone reading, check out the very easy reads of Ethics of Ambiguity by De Beauvoir and Existentialism is a Humanism by Sartre.

    • johannesvanderwhales@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I think it’s important to remember that feminism is as much a political movement as a philosophical one. How things should be versus how to fix things are different.

        • smileyhead@discuss.tchncs.de
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          10 months ago

          Egalitarianism is saying about all lifes being treated equally by default regardless of gender, race. It does not say if any life matters or not, here you can add another terms.

          It’s basically a base on which you can build. Feminism on the other hand is specifically targettet at woman’s problems and social inequalities, not saying it’s a bad move, just that it won’t ever mean equality overall. It is a subset of egalitarianism and also it will be much easier for feminist to also become egalitatian or the other way around.

    • Muyal_Hix@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      “the scope creep of feminism that causes it to encompass issues like disability rights and economic inequality, I think feminism is becoming indistinguishable from leftism.”

      Why do you say that like it’s a bad thing?

      • calcopiritus@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Because not everyone is a leftist.

        If movement A wants to achieve B and C, then people who don’t want C won’t support movement A (probably), even if they want B. If A just wants B, then everyone that wants B will support A, which makes B way more likely to happen at the cost of C being slightly less likely.

    • eatthecake@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Isn’t this the same rationale for ‘All Lives Matter’? You want to remove the history of oppression and pretend we’re equal, despite trump and tate and the incels. Feminism was and is necessary, the US is removing womens right to bodily autonomy and you’re pretending it’s all over.

        • eatthecake@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Nope. Feminism is no more about putting women above men than BLM is about putting black lives above others. By removing women from the name you remove the history of oppression, a history that should’nt be hushed uo, and in a world with trump and tate feminism is sorely needed.

          • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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            10 months ago

            So why are you “responding” to a bunch of things I never said or even remotely suggested?

    • spujb@lemmy.cafe
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      10 months ago

      edit: Replacing what I said, still trying to figure out the best way to word this sorry yall.

      The branding problem was intentionally created. Leaders in the manosphere profit off of young men subscribing to misogynistic beliefs. While movement PR is important, I would not be so quick to assign blame because this this has been an attack decades in the making, bolstered by social media algorithms.

      • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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        10 months ago

        The only conclusion I can take from your screed is that you completely misunderstood everything I said. I’m not defending assholes like Peterson and Tate in any way.

        • spujb@lemmy.cafe
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          10 months ago

          Rereading what I wrote and I get why you thought I misunderstood. I edited my original response as well. Sorry about that.