From Andrew Tate to #MeToo: can we bridge the battle of the sexes?

Ten years ago, it was not uncommon to find 15-year-old me in a heated debate with my 80-year-old neighbor. From Brexit to foreign policy to climate change, you name a subject, we probably disagreed on it. We would embark on lengthy – yet always friendly – debates over a cup of tea around the kitchen table. I would then show him how to use his computer and he would help me with my maths homework.

What these kitchen table moments represented is the well-documented and long-understood generational divide. Simply put, political and social attitudes tend to differ between the old and the young.

However, this is now old news. Earlier this year, landmark research emerged and suggested that the divide we should all now take notice of is between the sexes. In the past, the sexes were spread equally across conservative and liberal worldviews, but data shows women aged 18 to 30 are now 30 percentage points more liberal than their male contemporaries. The chief data reporter from the Financial Times went as far as saying that ​“Gen Z is two generations, not one”.

Sponsored

This week the Being Human podcast returns, and in episode one co-hosts – Jo Frost and Peter Lynas — take on our political landscape. They consider how we as followers of Jesus can model a better story when it comes to disagreeing well and being others-orientated. So with this in mind, let’s explore the new battle of the sexes. 

Exploring the gap: the stats 

Key research surfaced earlier this year from a study at King’s College and has been furthered by analysis from the Economist. Although the trend is mirrored around the world, some of the key findings from the UK and US speak for themselves:

• In the UK, 16% of gen Z males feel feminism has done more harm than good (amongst the over-60s this figure was 13%).
• Although 35% of young British men think it is harder to be a woman than a man, they are likelier than old British men to say the opposite: it is harder to be a man than a woman.
• And over the pond, one poll found that 72% of young American women who voted in House elections in 2022 backed the Democratic candidate; whereas 54% of young men did. In 2008, the gap was almost non-existent.

Understanding the gap: what’s going on? 

There are a whole host of reasons for the divergence. Women have recently overtaken men in university attainment, and different experiences in education can lead to different attitudes as individuals who attend college or university are more likely to be immersed in a liberal-leaning worldview. 

Social media is another key culprit (no surprises there). The curse of the echo chamber means that when similarly minded people come together in the online space it can cause a fast track to ​‘groupthink’ – attitudes become more extreme as they continuously affirm one another while pushing out anyone who disagrees. Similarly, algorithms thrive off fear or anger and exaggerate the picture. For example, women who click on #MeToo stories will only be shown more of the same and vice versa for men engaging with stories of false accusations of rape. Levels of fear and anxiety rise, and the battle of the sexes rages on. 

Lastly, there is an argument that neither the political far right nor left is holding healthy and compassionate conversations with disenfranchised men. On the left, terms like ​‘toxic masculinity’ in some cases cause a sense of rejection amongst young males as they internalise a suggestion that there is something inherently wrong with being male. Meanwhile, Andrew Tate and other rising stars of the right grow in popularity as an unhealthy space for disenfranchised young men to turn to, selling the promise of becoming a ​‘real man’. The left has been accused of vilifying men, while the right is accused of feeding their fears and perpetuating misogyny, all the while the attitudinal gap between men and women grows.

Engaging with the gap: living the God story 

As followers of Jesus, we know a God that came to reconcile us back to Him, but also to each other. Therefore, division and fear should unsettle us. And while most of us aren’t policy makers nor social media influencers, we all have a part to play in shaping culture for good. As we spend time with friends, scroll through newsfeeds and worship in our churches, are there habits we can adopt in the everyday to share and live out a better story than that of the growing division between young men and women? 

• Digital abstinence – while being engaged with the online world isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the power of algorithms to steal our attention, raise anxiety and perpetuate unhelpful echo cambers should not be underestimated. Intentionally taking time away from our devices can be a transformative step to following the words of St Paul in the ​“renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).
• Hospitality – how often are you in the company of somebody with different perspectives to you? The importance of hosting and listening in the process of bridge-building should never be underestimated. The humanising effect of hearing another’s perspective and inviting them into your own breaks the walls of disunity and prejudice. So, seek after your ​‘kitchen table moments’. 
• Intercessory prayer – finally, if we are concerned about the political landscape, how much more concerned is the One whose image we bear? When our frustration mounts towards the misogyny faced by women and disenfranchisement of young men, let’s try as our first response to stand in the gap for our friends, communities and society and pray ​‘your kingdom come’.

These habits are further unpacked in the Being Human podcast. If you found this article interesting, make sure you check out the latest episode: Elections, democracy and the rise of nationalism.