Almost a third of Generation Z men and boys think a woman should obey her husband, according to a global survey of 23,000 people, which found that young men have more traditional views on gender roles than older generations.
A third (33%) of Generation Z men also said that men should have the final say in important decisions, according to the survey conducted in 29 countries, including the UK, US, Brazil, Australia and India, The Guardian reports, reports Gazeta Express.
The survey found that Gen Z men (born 1997–2012) are twice as likely as Baby Boomer men (born 1946–1964) to hold traditional views on decision-making within marriage; only 13% of men in the older generation agreed that a woman should always obey her husband. Among women, 18% of Gen Z and 6% of Baby Boomers agreed with this.
People of both genders in Indonesia (66%) and Malaysia (60%) were more likely to agree with this statement, compared to 23% in the US and 13% in the UK.
The annual study of people over 16 was conducted by Ipsos and the Global Institute for Women's Leadership at King's College London and revealed a big difference in the beliefs of different generations of men when it comes to gender roles:
Almost a quarter (24%) of Generation Z men think that women should not appear too independent or self-sufficient, compared to 12% of baby boomer men.
Attitudes towards sexual norms also differed significantly between generations: 21% of Gen Z men think that a “real woman” should never be the one to initiate sex, compared to just 7% of baby boomer men.
More than half (59%) of Gen Z men said that men are expected to do more to support equality, compared to 45% of baby boomer men. Among women, the percentages were 41% and 30%, respectively.
Although they are the group most likely to believe that a woman should not appear too independent or self-sufficient, Gen Z men were also the group most likely to believe that women with successful careers are more attractive to men – 41% agreed with this statement.
Prof. Heejung Chung, director of the Global Institute for Women's Leadership and lead author of the study, said there were some encouraging signs that support for gender equality remains strong, such as agreement that there should be more women in government.
But when comparable data was available, it suggested that views were becoming more traditional. In 2019, 42% of people globally said women's rights had gone far enough in their country, while now that figure is 52%. In Britain, that translates into a 12-point increase.
"I think there's a lot of resentment and a lot of fear among men that they're losing their social positions," Chung said. "And there's a void that's being filled with rhetoric and voices that are trying to turn young men against gender equality, against young women, and against migrants."
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