Differences in views: how do politics divide young men and women?
Author: Anastasiia Shashkova
Left and right are not only about sides. Let us look back at some events in French history. In 1798, members of the French National Assembly gathered to start drafting a constitution, but they were sharply divided on the extent of King Louis XVI’s authority. As the debate intensified, two main factions emerged and physically positioned themselves in the assembly hall according to their views. The anti-royalist revolutionaries took seats to the left of the presiding officer, while the more conservative, aristocratic supporters of the monarchy sat on the right. Well, why are we talking about this today, and how does this connect to women and men? Let’s see.
What is happening?
“Feminism has gone too far!” This, according to a March 2025 investigation in The Economist, is what many young men in Poland really think. One man interviewed in the article says he used to be able to go to a village dance party, and “the women there were wife material”. Nowadays “they’re all posting shameless pictures of themselves on social media,” he laments. The media are “all biased and pushing the culture to the left”. And here we are, “pushing culture to the left”.
The Economist article analysed survey data from 20 rich countries, which clearly shows that the views of young men and women are pulling further apart. Twenty years ago, young men and women (aged 18-29) showed similar political views on a self-reported scale, from very liberal to very conservative. However, by 2020, analysis reveals a 0.75-point difference between them. To put this in perspective, this gap was about twice as large as the difference in political views between those with and without a college degree in the same year. In all the large countries they examined, young men were more conservative than young women.
Well, as we all know, men and women have always seen the world differently. Young women are becoming more liberal, but young men are not.
What’s the reason?
According to The Economist, young women’s liberalism may stem from a sense of unfinished progress. They recognise the importance of past feminist achievements, but their main concern is the injustices they see today. They are troubled by prejudice, various forms of violence – domestic, emotional, and sexual – and the harsh abortion laws still in place in some countries. There is a feeling that if they stop fighting even for a minute, they will lose everything. That’s one of the reasons why women and men are drifting apart.
Interestingly, while The Economist found that young men were more likely to be anti-feminist, older men are less prejudiced in this regard. This debunks the popular myth that each successive generation is more liberal than the last.
More young British men believe women have it harder than men, than the other way round (35% vs. 26%). What’s more, young men are more likely than older men to say that men have it tougher. Meanwhile, young British women are more likely than their mothers to think that women face greater challenges.
In Europe, young women tend to support most left-wing parties, while young men are more likely to back the right or even the radical right.
One reason for such differences in voting is education. In wealthy countries, 28% of boys and 18% of girls fail to meet PISA’s minimum reading standards. Meanwhile, women now outnumber men at university, The Economist reports. In the EU, the share of women with tertiary education grew much faster from 2002 to 2020, from 25%-46%, compared to 21%-35% for men. This indicates that women are increasingly pursuing higher education compared to men. It also indicates a change in social norms, where women are increasingly striving for educational and career achievements, as well as possible problems with attracting men to higher education. Educational differences lead to varying attitudes: those who attend college are more likely to adopt liberal, egalitarian views.
Men and women experience life, work, and relationships differently. To put it simply, a woman graduating from university in a wealthy country is likely to land a white-collar job and support herself. However, in the dating scene (assuming she’s heterosexual), she faces a mismatch between the demand for liberal, educated men and the supply, as there are more female graduates than male.
In view of this, many men with lower levels of education ‘fall short’ of women who are more likely to have a bachelor’s degree. And such men complain that “It’s hard to say what young women want in a man these days”, and “previously, they just wanted a man with a stable income, who could fix things in the house…and who had a driving licence”. Well, times have changed.
Men often feel threatened by feminism because they see women’s progress as a challenge to their own status. While better job opportunities for women don’t automatically mean worse opportunities for men, many men believe they do. Older men tend to be less concerned because they are more likely to be settled in their careers or nearing retirement. In contrast, younger men are just beginning their professional journeys, making them more likely to view female competition as a potential threat to their future prospects. One recent study in the Netherlands revealed that young European men are especially likely to resent feminism and feel it has gone too far if unemployment has risen in their region, and if they perceive societal institutions as unfair. Additionally, the study found that anti-feminist views are often linked to right-wing authoritarian ideologies.
Not all male complaints are without merit. In some countries, divorce courts often favour mothers in child-custody cases. In others, pension rules are biased. While men typically enter the workforce earlier and have shorter lifespans, the average retirement age for women in wealthier countries is slightly lower. Yes, women are fighting for their rights, but that doesn’t mean that we want less rights for men.
What about Ukraine?
At the beginning of the 2021/22 academic year, 90,400 students were enrolled in higher
education institutions in Ukraine, of whom 54% were women and 46% men.
But I want to tell you a little bit about Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. There is no available statistic about how many girls and boys are studying right now, but according to observations, the gender distribution at the university is roughly 50/50, with no significant difference in the number of girls and boys. However, some specialities, like philology or psychology, tend to have more girls, while others are more male-dominated.
I conducted a small survey among first-year political science students, since we are discussing trends that relate to political ideologies. Despite the challenge of engaging young political scientists, 14 of them (half boys and half girls) participated in the survey.
The results were equally divided 50/50. The question was: “Which ideology appeals to you more: right-wing movements or left-wing movements?”
All seven girls chose left-wing ideologies, and all seven boys chose right-wing ones.
But things are not quite as clear-cut as the results seem to indicate. When asked to explain their choice, all replied along the lines that “I am a centrist. Neither the far-right nor the far-left views fully align with my worldview.”
The students understood that a simplistic division into right and left does not capture the complexity of modern political ideologies. In reality, people often adopt different positions based on specific issues and contexts, meaning their views cannot be reduced to two opposing camps. Such a narrow view ignores the diversity of ideas, the environments in which they emerge, and the specific circumstances at play. From an economic perspective, right-wing trends may seem more appealing, while left-wing trends are more attractive in terms of social issues and equality of rights. However, neither is perfect, as each has its own drawbacks.
Statistically, girls experience more harassment and discrimination, which makes left-wing movements more appealing to them. On the other hand, boys have recently begun to feel threatened by feminism, as we’ve discussed. This is why there is such a sharp divide in their views. The result is a wider spread of stereotypes rather than their elimination. Political beliefs can also create communication barriers, making it harder to find compromises and common ground. This can lead to increased social tension and diminished mutual understanding between the sexes.
Therefore, it is important to encourage boys to engage in education. We must also explain to everyone – young people, schoolchildren, and students – why radical right-wing and radical left-wing ideologies are more harmful. It’s crucial to learn and understand different perspectives and work towards building mutual understanding instead of fostering polarisation and division.
