Culture and Society
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A third of Gen Z men believe the husband should have the final say on decision-making within a heterosexual marriage. According to a new global survey, coming just on the cusp of International Women’s Day (March 8), this is by no means the only traditional view that Gen Z men are espousing, and some of these views are far more widespread among this younger generation than in much older populations like Baby Boomers.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.Spend even a short time online and you’ll encounter The Discourse™ of generational warfare between Millennials, Gen Z, and more recently, Gen Alpha. For all their differences, one thing you might assume they would have in common is impatience for the more “traditional” worldviews they believe are espoused by their Baby Boomer ancestors.
But this research, from the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s Business School, King’s College London, suggests that a lot of Gen Z men – those born between 1997 and 2012, so roughly ages 14-29 – actually hold some fairly old-fashioned views on matters of gender.
For example, just 17 percent of Boomer men agreed that the husband should have the last word on big decisions in a marriage. Thirty-one percent of Gen Z men responded that a wife should always obey her husband, a view shared by just 13 percent of Boomer men.
The women of these respective generations were less enthused by these ideas: 18 percent of Gen Z women and just 6 percent of Boomer women – born between 1946 and 1964, roughly 62-80 years old – agreed with that last statement about wives obeying husbands.
Given that many Baby Boomers lived through the post-war cultural reckoning with gender roles and women’s rights in a way that probably hadn’t been seen since the fight for universal suffrage, it’s perhaps unsurprising they would have little patience for the idea of total subservience in marriage.
But it did not end there. Attitudes towards sex were prominently different, with 21 percent of Gen Z men claiming a “real woman” should not initiate sexual intercourse, versus only 7 percent of Boomer men. Child-rearing was up for discussion too, with 21 percent of Gen Z men expressing the belief that taking an active role in parenting was “less masculine” – just 8 percent of Boomer men and 14 percent of Gen Z women agreed.
Traditional norms around masculinity were in evidence elsewhere, too. Twelve percent of Boomer men agreed that women should not appear too independent, but this shot up to 24 percent among Gen Z men. Meanwhile, 43 percent of Gen Z men felt pressure to appear to be “physically tough”.
“It is deeply concerning to see traditional gender norms persisting today, and more troubling still that many people appear to be pressured by social expectations that do not actually reflect what most of us believe,” commented Professor Heejung Chung, Director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s Business School, in a statement.
The research included respondents from 29 different countries. As well as overall averages, some of the responses were divided up by nation, revealing some stark differences. For the statement, “Men are being expected to do too much to support equality,” 70 percent of respondents in Brazil and India agreed, versus just 33 percent in the Netherlands and 31 percent in Sweden.
Looking at the overall averages also reveals a dichotomy between broader views on equality and responses to individual questions about the roles of men and women within the home. Most respondents agreed that things like childcare should be equally shared between men and women, but then clarified that societal views in their home countries may not necessarily support this.
On average across all countries, 60 percent of respondents agreed that “things would work better if more women held positions with responsibilities in government and companies.”
When asked if they agreed or disagreed with the statement, “I define myself as a feminist”, 39 percent agreed overall, up from 33 percent in 2019. In the US specifically, it was 40 percent versus 31 percent in 2019.
But throughout the report, Gen Z men were found to be the most likely to agree with traditional ideas about gender roles for men and women.
“This year’s survey shows us that we are witnessing perhaps a great re-negotiation of how both men and women inhabit gender roles in today’s society,” said Kelly Beaver MBE, Chief Executive of Ipsos (who conducted the survey) in the UK and Ireland.
“Particularly among Gen Z, our data shows an interesting duality: they are both the group most likely to agree that women who have a successful career are more attractive to men but are simultaneously most likely to agree that a wife should always obey her husband and that a woman should never appear too self-sufficient or independent.”
“This duality in perspectives opens a vital dialogue on how gender norms are being reshaped, highlighting the complex interplay between modernity and tradition and urging us to delve deeper into the cultural, social, and economic factors that influence these beliefs.”
“Not only are many Gen Z men putting limiting expectations on women, they are also trapping themselves within restrictive gender norms,” said The Hon Julia Gillard AC, Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s Business School.
“We must continue to do more to dispel the idea of a zero-sum game in which women are the only beneficiaries of a gender-equal world. We need to ensure everyone is taken on the gender equality journey, with a clear understanding of why it benefits all of society. This report provides sorely needed knowledge on global gender equality trends.”
The report can be accessed here.
