Generation Z is divided into extremes: they are the most sexist and they are the most feminist

The photo is clear and looks like so many other photos that have been taken in recent years: young people go to extremes and they are, among all generations, the most sexist.

They?

The most feminist.

There is a huge distance that separates women and men from 18 to 26 years old (generation Z) regarding equality.

This is what the latest 40dB survey reveals.

for EL PAÍS and SER,

Intergenerational radiography of gender inequality

.

And this difference does not only occur between sexes, it is also between generations.

The younger they are, the further they are from equality.

Among those who are 59 years old or older (baby

boomers

and silent generation), 46.8% of them and 55.3% of women consider themselves very or quite feminist.

In Z, this range opens widely: only 35.1% of young people between 18 and 26 consider themselves feminist, while in them that percentage rises to 66%.

All the internal data of the survey can be consulted on the EL PAÍS website starting Monday (the presentation of the 40dB data can now be downloaded).

This report, with 2,000

online

interviews with people over 18 years of age carried out between March 1 and 3, reflects that half of the Spanish population considers themselves feminist, but that they do so more (almost 6 out of 10) and they, less (4 out of 10), but, above all, what it shows is how young men “disengage” from the group, summarizes Belén Barreiro, the director of the research agency 40dB.: “While the women of the [generation] Z think very similarly to other generations, they don't, there are contrasting visions in that age group.”

It is an ideological clash that is not only about considering oneself feminist or not, but is repeated, in different ways, in the responses throughout the entire survey.

Who are the least likely to think that life is more difficult for women?

Young people: only 14.8% of Z people think so.

Those who least believe that there is machismo in society?

They too (35.2%).

And also those who least perceive the inequality of women at work (24.7%), while more than half of men over 59 years of age (55.2%) affirm that this imbalance exists.

A difference in perception by age that jumps across any issue in the survey.

Even in those issues where the percentage is not small, it is still lower than that of older generations.

For example, they are the ones who least consider it necessary to guarantee equal pay between men and women (65.6%), require that both parents enjoy the same amount of paternity and maternity leave (61.9%) or that it is necessary to facilitate access to housing for single women with dependent children (53.1%), compared to the perception of older men, which is around 80% in these three issues.

If compared to women, the difference is even more pronounced;

In them, of any generation, that percentage ranges between 80% and 90%.

Although the majority of citizens believe that

The oldest (the

baby boomer

and silent generations) are the most sexist (57.2%), followed by the Z (27.3%), it is, however, in the latter where the indicators furthest from feminism soar. .

“Everyone,” says Barreiro, “wherever you look, young people are the ones who least believe in equality, and

This means that this idea is absolutely transversal to all areas of your life.”

Because?

What is happening?

Barreiro pronounces the word

backlash

: a negative reaction against social or political advances.

It is a reactionary wave, as has happened in recent years in those countries where progress has been made, from the United States to Argentina or Sweden.

“And the vote hangs on this issue, on feminism,” says the director of 40dB.

She says that in all the approaches they have made in recent years, the direct relationship between equality and ideology emerges.

ideological gap

According to the survey, one in four Vox voters are very or quite feminist (24%), 35.2% of the PP, 62.6% of the PSOE and 74.8% of Sumar.

And it is among them where there is the most political polarization: “They are overwhelmingly left-wing and between them the left and the right are tied, but the second political party that young people vote for after the PSOE is Vox.

However, the extreme right is the fourth party for them, it is a minority.

“This is the only generation with such a gap.”

These are differences that emerged with the entry of Vox into Congress.

Barreiro assures that the success of the extreme right is not so much due to young people, "but rather because they have been seduced by Vox's speeches."

He also notes that “somehow they have been cornered by a generation of very feminist girls and

"They react by going in the opposite direction."

Berta Barbet, a doctor in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Leicester, believes that this may also be due to how they have grown up: “They have been socialized with this debate on the front page of politics, and that makes them much more polarized regarding to feminism than other generations to whom this topic

“It arrived when they were already more politicized.”

The “worrying” thing about polarization is the “very clear gender component,” adds Barbet.

They on one shore and them on the other.

And in them, with a specific political identity that they have developed under “the protection of political and media places that have given them moral coverage, so for them there are issues that are not incorrect, they have grown politically while there were those who told them “this norm social is absurd”, and that social norm is equality.

There are concrete examples in the survey that also talk about this.

From left to right, the perception that life is more difficult for women goes in order: while in Sumar almost seven out of ten think so, in the PSOE it is 53.4%, in the PP 41.2 %, and in Vox 19.5%.

The doctor in Political Science and professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela Cristina Ares adds something else that can explain this jump: “Perhaps the youngest perceive more competition or that they have fewer opportunities, logical because they have fewer privileges, and because they are aware of "That with this the responsibilities increase, for example in care, and they don't like it."

In all generations, according to the report, a large majority of women of all ages (around 80%) consider that job resignations fall on them;

Among men, this statement is less shared the younger they are: 56.6% of Zs and 76.1% of

boomers

.

That they are aware that feminism can put them in a better position also speaks to the reaction they may be having, according to Ares.

Possibilities of change

Is there anything that could change that situation?

Barreiro points to the most immediate future of that generation: “We can think that if they have a couple and if they form a family, when they form one, they review their positions from a more human perspective, from everyday life, as long as they are able to take them to their positions.”

Especially when they have children, says the sociologist, they perceive that there is “a click” regarding countless issues, but it may not be easy “because the starting positions are tremendous.”

Both in ideology and in practice, the results of the analysis show that women bear more of the burden of household and care tasks than men, with the sole exception of banking operations.

But care, and especially that of dependent people, is the most differentiated percentage: 47.1% of them say they always do it, and 27.5% dedicate more time to it than their partner.

They say they always do it in 1.2% of cases, and 5.9% say they dedicate more time to it than their partner.

It happens with the care of dependents and it happens with that of sons and daughters when they have them: 62.3% of them think that they do it equally, while 39.3% of them think that.

“There is a clearly biased perception due to the difference in percentages,” says Barreiro.

But it also might not happen.

Barbet, the political scientist, states that with this context “there are two doubts that may arise.”

One is if “that social context is going to remain the same,” and the other is if this pairing is going to occur: “When people get married, they tend to moderate their ideological positions to be more similar and that will make polarization decrease.” , but it may also be that precisely because of these differences it is very difficult for them to pair up and that gap is lengthened throughout their entire life cycle.

You can pass?

As possible, it is possible, and if it does, it will have consequences on a sociological level as polarization is having now.”

Ares trusts that these differences will end up “softening” as they “gain maturity.”

In any case, he points out, “it is necessary to look for appropriate discourses and find equality measures and policies to help reduce these perceptions” which, he says, are related to ideology.

“The left is more egalitarian than the right, it is a fact, and although now among the youngest the extreme right is dragging, the evolution of the vote can also be moderated, because what we do find now is volatility in that vote,” he explains. .

Ares assures that in the past, in general, the orientation on what had been chosen at the polls the first time was maintained, “but now there is much more variation between votes and expectations depending on who is in the government and in the opposition ”.

The key to this political context, in the present and future, is feminism.

Barreiro says it: “Everything else depends on that.”

Technical sheet:

Scope: Spain.

Universe: general population residing in Spain (except Ceuta and Melilla), over 18 years of age and with the right to vote.

Sample size: 2,000 interviews.

Procedure: online interview (CAWI).

Sampling error: +-2.2% (for 95% confidence).

Completion date: March 1 to 3, 2024.