The Movement Away from Gender Equality is Real

Young men are at the center of furious debate this cycle. Polls show young men drifting to the right in terms of political party identity while largely remaining progressive on many policy issues (climate, abortion, health care, etc.). In the presidential election, young men have become a true swing group, right at 50/50. Some have asked whether young men are turning against gender equality and feminism, and wondered whether cultural debates (more than traditional policy issues) are driving them to the right. In response, some experts have argued that despite their apparent right-ward shift, young men are in fact still in favor of gender equality, but they simply don’t identify with the term “feminism”- essentially they argue it’s a lefty messaging problem. 

The data IS clear that fewer men identify as feminist, and that spans all ages, especially in the wake of #MeToo. In 2020, Pew found that 40 percent of adult men said the word “feminist” described them well, compared to only 25 percent found by the Survey Center on American Life in 2024.

However, in our analysis of the available polling data, we see a range of areas on which young men’s concern about gender equality has grown and in some cases they are less supportive of equality than older men. It is not just about the term “feminism.”

Young Men Support for Women’s Equality Has Declined: The Survey Center on American Life found that since 2017, the percent of young men believe that women’s equality has “Been About Right” or “Not Gone Far Enough” (ie supporters of the movement) has declined from 91% to 78%. Conversely, the percent of young men who say that equal rights for women have gone TOO FAR has increased from 8% to 19%. For all adult men, Pew found in 2017 and 2020, the number was fairly steady at 12/13 percent. But Blueprint found this year that 31 percent of adult men agreed that “We have gone too far in accommodating women.”

The Youngest Men Are More Skeptical Of Whether Feminism Has Made America Better: Equimundo found in 2023 that among the youngest men (18-23), only 47 percent said feminism had made America a better place, compared to 56 percent of 38-45 year olds

Young Men Believe Men Are Undervalued By Society Versus Older Men: The Southern Poverty Law Center found that 60 percent of younger (18-49) Democratic men agree that "men should be represented and valued more by our society," compared to 28 percent of older (50+) Democratic men 

Young Men Are Increasingly Moving Towards “Control”: Glocalities found that between 2014 and 2023, while older American men (and all age cohorts of women) moved toward “Freedom” on a scale of “liberalism,” younger men moved toward “Control.”

It is important to understand the long-term trend in the views and attitudes of young men and what is driving the change we are seeing. Young men’s view of gender equality don’t simply impact whether they vote for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris in 2024. This is about their opinions in the workplace, their romantic partners, the division of domestic labor, how they view policies that affect men and women differently, and, yes, how they view female candidates.  

There is ample evidence that young men have been falling behind in education, employment, civic engagement and in family formation. They have higher rates of deaths of all kinds (homicide, suicide, drug overdoses). It certainly seems plausible that young men are feeling frustrated and anxious about their declining economic outlook and social status, and are blaming women’s equality. However, it would be valuable to have greater research before we draw a clear causal link. Furthermore, while some research pulls out different groups of young men (by race, education, party, region, etc), it could be that certain segments of young men are driving these changes more than others. As an example, there are clear differences on these issues based on political party identification.

Republican Young Men Prefer a Male Boss: The Survey Center on American Life found that among Republican men age 18-29, 38 percent would prefer a male boss, compared with 27 percent of Republican men age 50 or older.

This is why YMRI plans to continue our work after the election. Regardless of who the next president is, addressing the backsliding of women’s equality among young men will have ramifications on our society and our politics for years to come. To address that slide, we first need to acknowledge it.