Couting men in
If you only have one minute
Feminism in the UK is facing a shifting backdrop, with the term increasingly turned into a cultural and political battleground. Only 28% of men now identify as feminists, and younger generations are the most divided. This retreat not only perpetuates gender-based violence but also fosters toxic masculinity, leaving men’s experiences of abuse largely invisible.
Patriarchy harms everyone, and dismantling it requires collective effort. Individual allyship - from speaking out against everyday sexism to amplifying others’ experiences - matters, but lasting change also requires systemic action. Schools, media, and workplaces must challenge rigid gender norms and show young people that feminism is not a zero-sum struggle. Counting men in isn’t about blame; it’s about recognising that gender equality benefits all and cannot be achieved through division.
Feminism: between retreat and politicisation
Feminism in the UK is facing a shifting backdrop. A study published in March 2025 by Ipsos and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London found that Britons are increasingly hesitant to identify as feminists. In 2025, just 38% of respondents described themselves as feminists, down from 43% in 2024. This decline was largely driven by men: only 28% of them now claim the label, compared to 38% the previous year.
This retreat signals a deeper change in how feminism is perceived. Once broadly understood as a commitment to fairness and equality, the term has increasingly become a cultural battleground, reframed by critics as exclusionary or radical and used by leaders as a political football for electoral gains. For instance, Trump’s DEI rollback in 2025 was framed as an effort to “end illegal discrimination" and resulted in a reported 24% decline in women holding leadership positions.
The politicisation and division surrounding feminism are particularly pronounced among younger generations. The Ipsos study revealed that Gen Z (born 1997 - 2012) is the most divided generation, with only 32% of men identifying as feminists compared to 53% of women. Furthermore, 57% of them believe that efforts to promote women’s equality have gone too far and are now discriminating against men. This trend is particularly striking, as younger generations are generally thought to be more comfortable with emerging social norms, and it carries significant implications for the future of gender-based violence.
The stakes of disengagement
On one hand, the detachment of young men from the feminist movement perpetuates gender-based violence. While the majority of Gen Z men do not hold explicitly misogynistic views, a notable minority are more likely than older generations to adopt attitudes and behaviours that normalise violence. A survey published in October 2025 found that Gen Z men are more likely than other generations to view dominance as a positive trait and to believe that women should dress in a way that their partner finds attractive - indicating a heightened desire for control and oppression among this subset. Similarly, about one in eight Gen Z men hold a favourable view of Andrew Tate, a self-proclaimed ‘misogynist influencer’.
These trends have tangible real-life implications. For instance, in schools, while some teachers notice no significant change in misogynistic behaviours, others report an increase in microaggressions, ranging from slut-shaming and a hardening in the way boys talk about women to upskirting. In all cases, even if the most extreme views are held by a minority, the lack of accountability and continued tolerance of sexist behaviour remains the norm, allowing gender-based violence to persist, if not worsen.
On the other hand, the division among younger generations goes beyond self-identification with feminism and contributes to making violence against men largely invisible. Indeed, young people in the UK are more likely than older generations to perceive tension between men and women. While this perception is not universal among young men, 20% consider it “very important” for a man to be masculine. These attitudes provide a fertile ground for toxic masculinity to take hold, reinforcing socially and culturally prescribed expectations that men must be tough, reject femininity, and assert dominance.
When it comes to sexual violence, these rigid standards of masculinity ultimately harm men themselves. While women are disproportionately affected and 91% of perpetrators are men, men are not immune. In the UK, 1 in 5 men have experienced sexual abuse or attempted abuse, yet 7 in 8 never report it, often because reporting harm feels emasculating. As a result, attention is frequently directed towards fear of false accusations, despite boys being around 230 times more likely to be raped than falsely accused, leaving male victimhood largely overlooked.
Making equality a collective project
Patriarchy harms everyone. But dismantling a system that has structured social norms, institutions and power relations for centuries cannot be the task of half of the population alone. If real progress is to be made toward gender equality, it must be understood as a shared project, for which everyone works toward the same objective.
At the individual level, men have a crucial role to play, particularly in the prevention of sexual violence. They have a responsibility to act as allies by actively challenging misogyny and sexism in everyday life. This can involve educating themselves about women’s experiences and using their voice to support and amplify, rather than overshadow. It can also mean refusing to laugh along at sexist jokes, walking away from inappropriate conversations, or being willing to say “that’s not okay” when boundaries are being crossed.
Yet, individual action alone is not enough. The growing disengagement among younger men suggests the need for a broader systemic shift: one that reframes feminism not as a zero-sum struggle between genders, but as an opportunity to build a society in which rigid gender norms no longer constrain anyone’s worth or identity. This transformation must involve all actors of society and can take many forms, including corporate leaders normalising paid paternal leave to reshape narratives around fatherhood, media platforms amplifying representation of women in male-dominated fields, schools encouraging both girls in STEM and boys in the arts, and health systems sustaining campaigns that address men’s mental health without stigma.
Counting men in isn’t about finger-pointing or diluting responsibility. It is about recognising that gender equality cannot be achieved through division. Only a collective commitment, across institutions, communities, and generations, can dismantle the norms that perpetuate harm and build a fairer future for all.
