Recent analysis and discussions on social media reveal a growing ideological gender gap among Generation Z, with young women becoming increasingly progressive and young men leaning more conservative. Influential factors contributing to this divergence include the #MeToo movement, which has significantly shaped the political development of young women. Surveys indicate that young women raised in Republican households are less likely to identify as Republican adults, with only 44 percent maintaining the affiliation compared to 67 percent of young men. This gap is also reflected in marriage trends, with only about 4 percent of marriages occurring between a Republican and a Democrat. The separation in political priorities is further exacerbated by the role of social media algorithms, which amplify existing personal preferences, creating more distinct and separate cultural experiences for young men and women. This polarization is not only observed in the United States but also in countries like Poland, where in the 2023 elections, 46% of young men expressed a preference for the far-right anti-immigrant Confederation party, compared to just 16% of women. Additionally, Sweden's long-standing image as a model for gender egalitarianism is being questioned due to a notable decline in fertility rates. The phrase 'Gen Z is two generations, not one' encapsulates the significant ideological split within the demographic.
What happened? Social media happened. Men and women tend to hang out in totally different places online. Both have their own influencers and their own gurus. Both in their own bubbles and echo chambers. Drifting more and more into the extremes. https://t.co/uIIcWJfblR
Little reflection on techno-determinism #1 The usual idea is that algorithms, social media have strong influence on our behaviour & preferences. Also important that our preferences have strong influence on them. For example...
🚨 GenZ girls are becoming more liberal while boys are becoming conservative. Understanding the evolving gender dynamics: 1/4- #MeToo Movement: Empowered young women to challenge long-standing injustices.
Fun to watch the number of Twitter followers trickle down, and up, then down again. They love me, they love me not. They love me...then think I'm not so hot. Algorithms, no doubt. Everything is algorithms nowadays. Sometimes I think I myself am an algorithm.♥️😄♥️😄♥️💋♥️💋♥️💋🌟
Gen Z are often described as very progressive, but not all surveys agree. This thread shares why: in Gen Z, young women are very progressive, whereas young men are very conservative. As @jburnmurdoch says, “Gen Z is two generations, not one.” ⬇️ https://t.co/JK8AKukHr0
It's not rocket science: Over the course of the past few decades, the dominant liberal culture in most developed countries has become increasingly hostile to men and masculinity. Men — particularly young men — are adjusting their political priors accordingly. https://t.co/ziVKE96Uuh
This how I visualize this problem: Terminally-online tribalism has carved out a kind of psychic ulcer in the collective consciousness of young people. Community has been subsumed by this ulcer. To treat the ulcer, for both men and women, you need a foundation of community. 1/ https://t.co/9VH4ujgLgg
'I feel like the state has taken over and devalued fatherhood so much that men are no longer really required.' Former Member of the European Parliament, @BelindadeLucy, says 'we need to look at the culture of men taking care of children.' https://t.co/wOCikuALTW
Sweden was long seen as the model of family-friendly, gender-egalitarian social policy, showing that you could maintain near-replacement fertility without sacrificing feminism. But the latest figures call that narrative into question, argues @darelmass: https://t.co/75Ske2EEC3
A huge gender divide among the very youngest voters in the 2023 elections in Poland: 46% of men expressed a preference for the far-right anti-immigrant Confederation party, while just 16% of women did. https://t.co/lrmRGO5c25
Social media algorithms latch onto existing personal preferences, and then amplifies them by feeding the user more & more of that content. No surprise that process has also amplified the natural personality differences between sexes, especially in young impressionable users. https://t.co/xNQEXhmxGL
More on the Gen Z gender polarization gap… MeToo created solidarity and frustration among young women. Young men apparently barely noticed. And young men also apparently (and wrongly) see “better for women” as bad for them. https://t.co/O7Br05VBdk
Belief in the power of gender egalitarianism and the dual-earner/dual-carer model to (re)produce the family has been standard for a generation. Now the feminist model of the family itself has fallen into crisis. https://t.co/b8731aPRr8
Sweden has long been touted by social scientists as proof of the compatibility between gender egalitarianism and family formation. But the collapse of fertility there suggests otherwise, says @darelmass: https://t.co/75Ske2EEC3
Both takes could be right: The internet arguably creates increasingly sex-segregated silos but the silos aren't actual private spaces, you can see inside more male-coded and female-coded conversations and be alienated from the opposite sex by what you see: https://t.co/mK3dMMlBLr
I don't have the numbers, but you can also clearly see this divergence happening in Brazil. Average boys and young guys are way more likely to be against the liberal mainstream and to support conservative parties than girls and young women. https://t.co/1bG8V0ZOrw
This trend has a boringly obvious explanation. Boys and girls used to hang out together more. The girls made the boys more liberal and the boys made the girls more conservative. But now the boys are at home playing shooter games, and the girls are at home posting on Instagram. https://t.co/MS61vFjh2f
Sweden is the country that was supposed to prove (to liberals) that going full gender egalitarian, combined generous family policy, guarantees replacement-level fertility. Last year's declines were disastrous to that worldview. https://t.co/b8731aPRr8
The politiical gender gap in Gen Z yawns wide: In Poland last year, almost half of men aged 18-21 backed the hard-right Confederation party, compared to just a sixth of young women of the same age. https://t.co/YAPys4sBJq https://t.co/88CSBl7xHx
"The proliferation of smartphones and social media mean that young men and women now increasingly inhabit separate spaces and experience separate cultures." Life after Babel. https://t.co/xtkjyhFHnR
Why are women becoming increasingly woke, and men increasingly conservative? I have some theories, but I'd like to hear what you think. https://t.co/qIx84b3o2O
"Gen Z is two generations, not one" - remarkable and worrying analysis from @jburnmurdoch @FT https://t.co/fXq7m9OYSK
An ideological gender gap appears to be emerging within Gen Z, and the consequences could be far-reaching, writes @jburnmurdoch https://t.co/nkWeZpaY5r https://t.co/GhCWfVHsIK
"A new global gender divide is emerging" Excellent analysis by @jburnmurdoch https://t.co/Aeg6nS4ogl https://t.co/kXMfNwztQl
"As women's political priorities have solidified, young men's priorities have melted into mush. Surveys consistently show that young men are far less likely than women to say any particular issue is personally important to them." https://t.co/RYIXg1Z2yp
The United States, a divided nation: "only about 4 percent of all marriages today are between a Republican and a Democrat." https://t.co/QtnvnCiqSt
"Young women raised in Republican households are far less likely than young men to identify as Republican as adults. Less than half (44 percent) of young women with Republican parents report that they are Republican compared to two-thirds (67 percent) of young men." (1/2) https://t.co/Xjo2geJVoM
The eerie part of The Algorithm is that not only do you get served specific people, but specific aspects of those people For me, yacine looks like this It's probable that for 20-40% of my followers I look like… that https://t.co/uygqYSrQOk https://t.co/UVSQyGyxO0
"at no time in the past quarter century has there been such a rapid divergence between the views of young men and women. … among women, no event was more influential to their political development than the #MeToo movement." https://t.co/P6xnN23auy