In honor of International Women’s Day, researchers at Ipsos U.K. and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s Business School, King’s College London, surveyed men and women from different generations to discover what their attitudes were about gender roles. The results were … troubling, to say the least.
Research has shown that today’s young men seem to be leaning more conservative. Additionally, a report from Equimundo found that a majority of American men actually think they are worse off than women. These factors have all coalesced into a regression in the fight for gender equality, with Gen Z men in the King’s College study showing that they are actually less progressive than older generations of men in some concerning ways.
Here are 5 things Gen Z men believe that even boomers roll their eyes at:
1. Wives should obey their husbands
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The study, which included 23,000 participants, found that 31% of male Gen Zers actually believe that wives should be obedient and subservient to their husbands. By contrast, just 13% of boomer men agreed with this statement.
This is pretty interesting because conventional wisdom says that older generations are more traditional than younger ones. However, a study from the University of Chicago refuted this idea. Researchers noted, “Folk wisdom has long held that people become more politically conservative as they grow older, although several empirical studies suggest political attitudes are stable across time.”
The idea that a woman should show obedience to a man just because she’s married to him is about as traditional as it gets, but in a concerning turn of events, it’s young men who are embracing this idea and teaching their own children to do the same.
2. Husbands should get the final say in decision-making
Similarly, 33% of Gen Z men felt like it was perfectly reasonable for husbands to have the final say when making important decisions. Just 17% of boomer men felt the same.
An article from Lean In, the organization dedicated to promoting women’s equality, founded by Sheryl Sandberg, said that the best way a man can fight inequality is to “approach your relationship as a true partner.” If a husband is making all of the decisions for himself and his wife, they can’t possibly have a true partnership. The most successful couples know how to work together.
3. Women should not be overly independent
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Gen Z men’s opinion about this concept seems to be a bit split. 24% said they didn’t think a woman should be too self-sufficient, but another 41% said they also found women who were successful professionally to be more attractive. These two ideas are basically the antithesis of each other, so this sends an utterly confusing message.
Relationships journalist Beth Ashley explained why this dichotomy might exist. It’s her belief that men have a tendency to look for successful, thriving women, but then act in a way that oppresses them once they’re actually in a committed relationship. It’s possible that young men really do find women with stable careers attractive, but they don’t want them to maintain that once they’re together.
4. Men don’t need to do so much to support equality
Over half of Gen Z men, 59%, said that men are actually being expected to do too much to create a more equitable society. Interestingly, the numbers for boomer men weren’t terribly far off for this one, with 45% agreeing.
Women have been fighting for equal rights for decades now, and it is possible that men have simply grown tired of this. It’s also possible that with the strides women have made, men think equality has actually been achieved, or come close enough, so anyone who continues to talk about it is just beating a dead horse.
As any logical thinker can see, society has not reached true gender equality yet. And, if there is more work to be done, it would certainly be helpful if men would get on board, since they are typically much more powerful. But with statistics like these, it looks like women may be on their own.
5. Men must follow the model of traditional masculinity
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An interesting series of data points supported this idea. 30% of Gen Z men said it was wrong for a man to tell a friend they loved them, while 20% of boomer men thought the same. Additionally, 43% of male Gen Zers thought that men need to be “physically tough,” even if they’re not large in stature, compared to 25% of boomer men. And, finally, 31% of Gen Z men felt like participating in childcare duties makes a man less masculine, but only 8% of boomer men agree.
Despite the commonly held belief that traditional masculinity is a good thing, the American Psychological Association said these standards can actually be harmful for men. If men subscribe to the idea that they must act with “stoicism, competitiveness, dominance, and aggression” at all times, they’ll never learn how to express their emotions and work through hard things in a healthy way.
There’s nothing wrong with a man who is tougher or more masculine, but they don’t have to fit the stereotypical image of a bodybuilder or absent father to do so. There has to be a happy medium where men can still live fulfilling lives without always aspiring to an impossible standard.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
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