A new UK survey reveals young women hold sharply negative views of men at rates far exceeding male negativity toward women.
The poll by Britain’s New Statesman found 21% of women under 30 harbor negative views of men, nearly quadruple the 7% of men under 30 who feel the same about women. Just half of women in that age bracket expressed positive views of men, while 72% of young men viewed women positively. The gender gap widens further for women under 25, with 27% holding negative views and only 35% positive.
Ruby, one young woman surveyed, told the outlet of young men: “I don’t care for them. They’re not bad people, but they refuse to call out their friends who make other girls uncomfortable.”
“They’ll laugh at jokes that are sexist, racist, homophobic.”
Another young woman told the Statesman she couldn’t even befriend men with different politics: “I don’t think I’d even be friends with one. They don’t see you as human.”
The data indicate young women are increasingly filtering relationships through political compatibility. A quarter of young women surveyed said differing political views would be a red flag in a partner. Six in 10 said they couldn’t date someone who disagreed on the Israel-Palestinian conflict or Trump. Nearly three-quarters, 74%, said they’d find it difficult to date someone with different social justice views.
The New Statesman poll also found young women who spend more than five hours daily online hold more extremist left-wing positions on abortion, climate change, and socialism. This digital immersion appears to be driving the political sorting in dating preferences.
The survey arrives alongside striking economic data: more young women in the UK work full-time than young men, and average young women now earn 9% more than average young men. Yet the same women reported lower levels of happiness, ambition, excitement, and fulfillment, with greater pessimism about achieving a happy life.
In the viral moment this story follows from, a separate major global study released in March by King’s College London and Ipsos revealed that 31% of Gen Z men agree a wife should always obey her husband — more than double the 13% of baby boomer men who said the same. That survey of 23,000 people across 29 countries, led by Professor Heejung Chung, also found 24% of Gen Z men believe women should not appear too independent or self-sufficient. The research showed Gen Z men hold more traditional views on gender roles than older generations, even as 41% of them simultaneously said successful career women are more attractive. Professor Chung noted that “Gen Z men particularly appear to feel intense pressure to conform to rigid masculine ideals” and in some cases “seem to also expect women to retreat to more traditional ways of being.”
The King’s College findings, published ahead of International Women’s Day, sparked widespread coverage of what researchers call a growing gender divide among young people. The Survey Center on American Life had previously found only 43% of Gen Z men identified as feminists in 2023, compared to 61% of Gen Z women — the widest gender gap of any generation.
Experts have pointed to economic anxiety, social media algorithms, and the rise of male influencer content promoting traditional masculinity as factors pushing young men toward conservative gender views while young women move further left. Reports said that social media plays a “huge role” in promoting traditional gender views among young men.