With reproductive rights at the forefront of the past and coming election, voters showed concerns for reproductive and women’s rights. But according to a new consumer report by Foresight Factory, antifeminism is on the rise in the U.S. and we’re seeing it move beyond social media discourse to the legacy of American politics.

According to the report, one-fifth of Americans believe that feminism is negative for society.

“The concept of feminism has a branding problem in the US in particular, and the term feminism just doesn’t speak to people in the way that it should and it’s become loaded and polarizing, said Margot Peppers, Foresight Factory’s consumer trends editor.

Who are mostly likely to self-identify as feminists?

According to Foresight Factory, only 28% of US consumers agree with the statement “I consider myself a feminist,” and the two groups who most strongly identified as feminists were women 16-34, and women 55 and older.

Given the media popularized by millennials and Gen Z, it makes sense.

“Feminist: a person who believes in the social, economic and political equality of the sexes,” Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said at her TEDxEuston talk, “We should all be feminists,” a definition famously sampled on Beyonce’s 2013 track ***Flawless. The pink FEMINIST text has become iconic imagery for the Beyhive and beyond.

2023 was dubbed the year of the girl by several outlets including NPR and Dazed. From the success of the Barbie movie, to Tik Tok conversations about girl dinner, girlhood was trending and arguably continues as the latest trend is influencers donning bows in their hair.

Beyond celebrating their feminine identity, the technology at the fingertips of younger generations has allowed them to share information, shift conversations, and mobilize for equality issues in ways we haven’t seen before.

“Gen Z and young millennials are kind of the most values-focused consumers, they were the ones who were at the forefront of the #MeToo movement and they, in many ways, saw those efforts really pay off with figures of authority like Harvey Weinstein being held to account,” said Peppers.

Though decades before, shifts in cultural narrative have also influenced how older generations view feminism.

“You have women aged 55 plus, who were in their 20s when the third wave of feminism came about, so they see feminism as sort of a core part of their identity,” she said. Baby boomers were also the least likely generation to believe that feminism was negative for society, with only 16% believing so.

Women between the ages of 35 and 54 were not necessarily anti feminists, but more neutral on the topic, said Peppers.

64% of antifeminists are male, 26% are between the ages of 16 and 34

A study published in July focused on the incel community, the group of sexually or romantically frustrated men who blame women and society for their inability to form these relationships. As Reckon reported in November, one of the key elements of incel identity is antifeminism. Though this overlap exists, Peppers says it’s important to note that the two are not synonymous.

“That’s a much more extreme group. But, you know, it is a subculture that seems to give young men a sense of identity and belonging in a world where they’re not really finding that elsewhere,” Peppers told Reckon.

So what leads young men towards antifeminism? Peppers says feelings of disenfranchisement.

“We know that women’s rights have come quite a long way in the past few decades. But alongside that, the idea of masculinity and what it means to be a man is really in crisis and quite uncertain,” said Peppers.

This male identity crisis, along with the widespread loneliness and social disconnection attributed to technology, leads some young men to seek belonging and affirm feelings of disenfranchisement in online spaces, like Reddit forums.

“When you have somebody saying, ‘It’s not your fault, it’s the system, men need to go back to their true primitive role,’ it invites the suggestion that there is certainty; that there’s something men are supposed to be and supposed to do,” Ali Ross, psychotherapist and spokesperson for the UK Council for Psychotherapy told the Independent.

In November, University of Rhode Island assistant professor and former Harvard psychology postdoc Miriam Lindner spoke with Reckon about the misconception between what women look for in male partners, and what men feel like they have to be.

“Strength, in the common vernacular of women, does not pertain to the circumference of your biceps, or how chiseled your jawline is… We love the Harry Styles of the world; and we’re weary of the Andrew Tates of the world,” said Lindner. “The male and female gaze diverge significantly and they are not seeing that their idea of masculinity is not what we’d go for or feel safe with.”

Peppers said American men feel social pressure that they don’t want, but this messaging, amplified by marketing and social media, leaves brands with a responsibility to reduce the polarization by working towards debunking stereotypes and supporting men who feel ostracized.

“I think that’s a huge opportunity for brands to support young men who feel lonely, who feel disenfranchised, who are looking for a space to build their identity, and to find community. One particular thing I think we’ll see a lot more of, hopefully in the near future, is the body positivity movement, expanding out to men, said Peppers.”

Why it matters

This loneliness and loss of male identity has left space for the rise of so-called men’s rights groups, and celebrity misogynists like Andrew Tate to plunge into stardom. According to CNET, before his account was deleted Tate had 4.5 million Instagram followers, 600,000 Youtube subscribers, and over 14 billion views on his TikTok hashtag.

Tate normalizes misogyny and rape culture, creating a caricature of feminism, as Jackson Katz said in a Ms. Magazine article published earlier this month, including that women should “bear some responsibility” for being raped.

“This is probably 40% of the reason I moved to Romania,” said Tate in a since-deleted video, according to Business Insider. “I’m not a fucking rapist, but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want. I like being free.”

He has since been hit with human trafficking and rape charges in Romania.

According to a survey by market research company Savanta, 32% young men say they have a positive view of Tate and 31% consider him a role model, but he is just one piece of the “manosphere” pushing extremist ideologies online and infiltrating American politics.

When House Speaker Mike Johnson blames the country’s issues on the sexual revolution and radicalized feminism, or presidencies like Trump’s which appeal to identity, rather than political issues, it exemplifies the dangers in allowing antifeminism to run rampant.