Why Liberals Must Reclaim the Gender Debate  

Written By: Lisa Lundgren, Research Fellow at ELF

Men and women belonging to Gen Z are more divided than any other generation on questions about feminism, gender roles, and women’s rights. This was the conclusion of a recent poll of nearly 24,000 people from 30 different countries conducted by King’s College London. The same study also found that a majority (57%) of Gen Z men agree with the claim that “we have gone so far in promoting women’s equality that we are discriminating against men.”

Young men and women today are increasingly living in different social realities. They consume different media, develop different political opinions, and struggle to understand one another. While young women are becoming more progressive, young men are becoming more conservative.

At the same time, loneliness is rising, relationships are forming later in life or not at all, fewer people choose to start a family, and trust between the sexes is weakening. This is a social issue, an economic issue, and increasingly a democratic issue that we, as liberals, can no longer ignore.

How Toxic Extremes Fuel Each Other

Following the “woke” era, where the political left dominated most of the discussions on gender, we seem to have entered a new era where the far-right positions itself as the only political force willing to speak about masculinity, family formation, relationships, declining birth rates, and the frustrations of modern dating culture. Their solutions, however, are rarely grounded in freedom or equality. Instead, they promote solutions based on ethno-nationalism, outdated gender roles, and the notion that men and women are competing against one another.

On social media we are also seeing radical responses to the far-left gender narrative which seeks to deconstruct gender as a concept. The so called manosphere is convincing young men online that feminism is the reason for everything wrong in their lives. Meanwhile, the online feminist discourse increasingly portrays men as problematic, rather than people to engage with, and even less to form relationships with. Online algorithms reward outrage. Influencers profit from spreading hate which commodifies extremist views. Millions of young people consume this content every day.

Liberalism as the Middle Ground

Liberals should not dismiss these discussions simply because extremists are often the loudest voices. If anything, that is precisely why liberals need to engage more actively. Let us not forget that gender equality has always been, at its core, a liberal issue.

The liberal vision of equality is not about turning people against one another. It is about expanding individual freedom, opportunity, and dignity for everyone. It is about ensuring that individuals are not limited by stereotypes, discrimination, or outdated social norms and are at their core free to be who they want to be. It is about creating a society where women, men and everyone else can participate and flourish as equals rather than as competitors in a zero-sum game.

We need to build a new liberal narrative about gender equality. We must both recognise the progress that has been made (in many cases, thanks to liberal parties and organizations around the world) and not shy away from discussing the challenges that remain. Some of those challenges include complex and sensitive topics such as loneliness among men, the high rates of gender-based violence, struggles in forming relationships, and declining birth rates. We cannot allow the far-right political parties and misogynist social media influencers to dominate these crucial discussions about our future. When mainstream politics refuses to address difficult social tensions, populists and radicals will gladly fill the vacuum.

The challenge in front of us is to rebuild the social foundations that allow people to trust one another, form relationships, and find a path for a shared future together. And liberalism offers the best path to get there. Imagine a world where men and women connect on a deep level and foster a shared understanding of what they can achieve together. Such a world would lead to a proliferation of deepened romantic and non-romantic relationships, more children, more democracy, more connection and less division and instability. Doesn’t that sound nice?

Liberals must take up more space in these discussions. At ELF, we will focus on solutions that can foster a more inclusive understanding of gender and healthy relationships from a liberal standpoint. Through a series of policy papers, podcasts and events in the coming year, we will explore these topics and present tangible, liberal solutions that can strengthen gender equality, trust, and mutual understanding between individuals.

Because if liberals do not shape the future of this debate, others will. And those voices are not interested in equality or freedom at all. If we want gender equality and good relations between men and women, we need to put forward another path.