The growing shift to the right among young men is hard to ignore. In the US and Germany, women aged 18-30 are now 30 percentage points more liberal than men, and the gap is 25 points in the UK.
On one hand, this is a typical case of fragile masculinity: a misconstrued perception that the feminist movement has led to a drop in social standing, and a defensive backlash in response, when, in reality, it has merely narrowed the gap between men and women.
Yet, a set of statistics complicate this picture. Men are falling behind in both secondary school and higher education. They are four times more likely to commit suicide than women – an unprecedented mental health crisis – and as with all intersectional issues, racial minorities and men of poorer socio-economic backgrounds are more at risk as well. Further, growing discourse highlights how men are struggling to find purpose in our rapidly changing world.
The truth likely lies somewhere in between life somewhere on this spectrum, although this isn’t an issue of feminism as an ideology or movement itself, but the marketing of feminism. Far-right social media discourse is defined by a group of famous figureheads that have set a specific agenda – think Joe Rogan, Ben Shapiro, Andrew Tate – resulting in effective messaging that brands the far right as a home for all things masculine. This is no doubt exacerbated by online echo chambers and algorithms that are designed to push inflammatory or polarising content – “rage bait” – which pushes us away from the middle ground.
It is understandable why someone would not support a movement they believe to be actively working against their interests but this ideological divide not only reflects our deeply fractured society, but is a significant barrier to progress for gender equality and feminism. If feminism becomes a zero-sum game – a battle of the sexes – how are we to build the broad coalition we need to change mindsets and enact meaningful change?
I appreciate the irony in the title. The notion of “helping men”, in a world historically skewed toward male privilege, is almost laughable, and reinforces the very issue that feminism seeks to dismantle: a society which has prioritised men’s needs. Yet, this conflates addressing the needs of different segments of society to pandering to fragile egos at the expense of feminist goals. By addressing the root causes of young men’s alienation, specifically by recognising the unique set of challenges they face, we are in no way diminishing the challenges or systematic discrimination faced by women.
Feminism requires allies, and working towards reducing societal polarisation isn’t conceding to the patriarchy, but is dismantling the social conditions that allows it to thrive, making it our collective duty. A strong starting point is to begin exercising healthy scepticism to culture wars online, and to begin engaging in conversations to help defuse hostility and build bridges. So if we want to live in a more equitable world, we must begin to face uncomfortable truths. And sometimes, to help women, we must help men too.
