“Yes, the general feeling here is that young boys have become more conservative than girls. It seems as if they have developed a rejection, a backlash against courses on gender issues, feminism, etc. This is reflected in the fact that they justify some violence or laugh at it or trivialize these issues”, explains Judit, a member of the young people’s space at the Joves de Gràcia center in Barcelona.
And he goes further: “The group is very important. Some have their own problems, but most are children of parents from the neighborhood, typical of the neighborhood, usually progressive, while they seem to have gone the other way.”
His perception is no exception. And the fact is that the ideological self-location of young people between 18 and 34 years old in Spain, analyzed in evolution from 1984 until today, throughout the entire Spanish democratic period, experiences a shock: if at eighty they were the ones who further to the left, now they are, and in 2024, moreover, this gap between the two has increased as never before, and they are on average, and for the first time, on the right.
This is indicated by the data from the Research Center (CIS), which is illustrated in the graphic that accompanies this report. This is also confirmed by the results with representative samples of the young population in Spain between 15 and 32 years of age of the gender psychologist who leads, a scientist specializing in politics and gender and vice director of the Institute of Politics and Public Goods of the Higher Center of Investigations (CSIC), according to La Vanguardia.
Because, on average, centrism wins. Historically, young people have been in the center-left throughout the entire democratic period, although with several ups and downs when the populists came to power at the end of the nineties (then they tended a little more towards conservatism), and in the ‘vice versa when the socialists do it.
But if the trend is important – and yes it is, there is unanimity among the specialists consulted here – the gap has now exploded. Especially for the movement to the right of young men.
The data also matches other demographic figures that have drawn a lot of attention in recent weeks. In particular, this one: 44% of men believe that equality “has gone too far” and that it discriminates against them, as detailed in January by the CIS. A third share it among women. And even more; almost 52% of boys aged 16 to 24 agree with the statement.
The extreme right is already present in almost all European countries. In some, such as Hungary, it rules. In others, such as France, the presidential elections can be viewed as a matter of course. They seem to be the fashion. And if the future belongs to young people, the data indicate that the ideological gap between young men and women is experiencing a moment of change, they to the right, they to the left, which raises doubts mainly because of its consequences.
When trying to explain why, Joan Font, professor, researcher and former director of the prestigious Institute of Advanced Social Studies, explains that this gap is very likely part of a conservative reaction to the social change that ‘is happening, as it happens almost whenever there is a profound social change and that there is a sector of society that is perceived as a loser with these changes. And he himself, he recalls, has participated in recent collective research that indicates how in Spain anti-feminism is, alongside the territorial issue, the main motivation of Vox voters, for example.
Although there are previous examples. It happened in La Vendée with the French Revolution. It happened with the Ku Klux Klan as a reaction to the struggle for equality in the US South. And in part, it is identified in the reaction these days in the rural world due to the advancement of the green agenda.
The point is, however, that although the international landscape is diverse, the gap is growing everywhere in the main countries of the environment: in the USA, where it is particularly noteworthy that they are moving towards more liberal positions; in Germany, where they deepen their conservative positions; in the United Kingdom, where both men and women take progressive steps; in South Korea, where young men turn strongly to the right, according to data collected this time by the Financial Times. And although in France the extreme right does not seem to incorporate anti-feminism in its programs, in the others it is an important element.
In Spain, in fact, it stands out that it is mainly they, the young men, who change their self-perception the most, and turn towards clearly more conservative positions, but [in all cases] there are certainly shared elements that can have to do with the increasing visibility of feminism and with changes in the socialization and media consumption patterns of boys and girls”, adds Eva Anduiza, professor of Political Science at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and specialist in participation and political attitudes and behavior electoral
With this he refers, for example, to the fact that many moments of leisure young boys and girls develop them separately; that the type of content that is consumed on social networks is diverse “with boys playing and girls uploading tickets”, it affects; or that, in addition, they are exposed to different influencers “and boys are much more likely to follow anti-feminists and girls, feminists”.
There is, however, no single cause, beyond the fact that there is often talk of “the normalization” of the anti-feminist and sexist discourse of extreme right-wing parties in the world, recalls Fraile, either through social media, but also through traditional communication, “especially television”. Others also include the resentment that many young men may show about the process of change, the fact that a greater level of competition can be perceived in the job market, and even the fact that spaces are being increasingly occupied segregated into groups that are defined by their gender identity and sexual orientation.
Ernest Montserrat is the president of the Youth Council of Catalonia, he deals with a multitude of associations of young people under 30 years of age, and with data from the Center for Opinion Studies, in addition to his own experience at the head of the ‘organism, confirms the trend that young women tend more to the left, and they, the opposite.
It affects, however, another key: “The more associates there are, the fewer exclusionary discourses there are, and in the post-covid period, in fact, we have had a participation problem. The tendency towards the extreme right in the discourses of young people disgusts us”.
The Spanish Youth Council confirms that participation has dropped. And also that on the networks the speeches of LGTBIphobia, xenophobia or against equality “are whitewashed and normalized more and more”, says its vice-president, Juan Antonio Báez. But there is no consensus when it comes to explaining why.
What stands out, however, is the moment when the click of the change occurs. According to the graphic, it is in the middle of the decade of 2010. According to the newspaper archive, when initiatives such as the movement
All this seems to indicate that today cultural components play a central role, especially among young people, when it comes to confronting the division between left and right, liberals and conservatives, which would no longer be mainly about classes or economic redistribution, but of cultural and identity conflicts, such as the role of men and women in society.
And that’s why the gap is widening. “In most countries where there is evidence, such as Germany, the USA, Poland or the UK, it is corroborated that self-definition as conservative or right-wing is associated with more critical attitudes towards racial justice, immigration , the climate crisis or feminist values”, adds Fraile.
The case of Spain is not isolated. It is, they repeat one after the other, a general tendency.
