Has Women’s Equality Gone Too Far?
(Yes, according to Gen Z boys. So how should we as a feminist movement respond?)
A recent UK survey revealed that nearly half of teenage boys believe the fight for women’s equality has “gone too far.”
I stared at the number, blinking. Not just out of shock - but something deeper. Grief.
Because this isn’t just about a statistic. It’s about the future.
The girls we’re fighting for. The boys growing up next to them. And the cultural war slowly pulling them apart.
Something is turning equality into a threat and twisting feminism into the enemy.
It left me with a difficult but urgent question: How do we fight harder without further dividing?
The Moment It Hit Me
Around the same time I read the stat, a message landed in my group chat with my closest friends.
Like most group chats, ours is full of recs for podcasts and series.
But when someone dropped Adolescence into the chat, with the words: “Just watch it” - I did.
All of it. A few episodes in, I was stunned.
Knife crime. Toxic masculinity.
A deep loneliness masked by violence.
I couldn’t shake it. So I did what I always do: I dug deeper and discovered the hard truths.
Adolescence was born from real life tragedy.
In 2021, 12-year-old Ava White was fatally stabbed by a 14-year-old boy in Liverpool.
In 2023, 15-year-old Elianne Andam was murdered by a 17-year-old in Croydon.
And just as the series hit Netflix, the news broke about Kyle Clifford - the “crossbow killer” who just hours before murdering three women from the Hunt family, had been watching Andrew Tate videos and searching for misogynistic podcasts online.
I realised, Adolescence wasn’t just a story. It was a mirror.
The Misogynist Algorithmic Engine
That’s when I came across the Recommending Toxicity study by Dublin City University's Anti-Bullying Centre.
It explores how social media algorithms push toxic misogynist content towards young boys.
And what I found made my stomach drop.
The researchers set up 'sockpuppet' accounts on TikTok and YouTube Shorts to simulate the experience of teenage boys with the purpose of finding out how quickly these accounts would get exposed to misogynist content.
And their findings? Scary, to say the least.
All It Takes Is 9 Minutes
Researchers created fake accounts pretending to be 16- and 18-year-old boys, each set up to search for different types of content.
One of them - a 16-year-old “boy” interested in gym workouts and gaming - was particularly telling.
He wasn’t looking for anything political. No manosphere content. No Andrew Tate. Just gym and gaming.
And yet within 9 minutes on TikTok and 17 minutes on YouTube Shorts, his feed was filled with misogyny.
That’s all it took.
Not hours.
Minutes.
And the more the accounts watched, the more the algorithm fed them.
After watching just 400 videos (roughly 2–3 hours), most of the recommended content was toxic - videos pushing harmful gender norms, encouraging male dominance, and shaming women.
So what exactly did the content involve?
Welcome to the Manosphere
Most of the toxic content wasn’t even posted by major influencers. It was reposted, recycled, and re-amplified by regular users.
The most recommended figure? Andrew Tate - despite his official accounts being shut down.
The study revealed three dominant narratives amplified by the manfluencers in the manosphere:
- Crisis narrative
- Motivational scripts
- Debunked gender 'science'
Together, they form a worldview where women are the threat, and masculinity must be “reclaimed.”
#1 Men and Masculinity Are Under Threat
The manosphere thrives on fear.
A dominant narrative in these spaces is the idea that men and masculinity are under attack because of feminism, but also by a broader system of liberal “brainwashing” and legal frameworks said to favour women.
At the core of this story is a dangerous myth: that false rape accusations are everywhere.
The incidence of false rape claims are drastically exaggerated, while in reality, international data shows that rape and assault are overwhelmingly under-reported and under-prosecuted.
#2 Mental Illness Makes Men Weak
Depressed? You’re lazy.
Struggling? You’re soft.
Need therapy? You’re, in Andrew Tate’s words, “useless”
In the manosphere, mental health struggles are painted as weaknss and lack of willpower.
This rhetoric doesn’t just stigmatize vulnerability, it isolates men further, while masquerading as empowerment.
#3 Women Want Alpha Men
The manosphere leans heavily on pseudo-scientific ideas rooted in evolutionary psychology.
First of all, there's the 80/20 rule - the belief that women are biologically programmed to seek out only the top 20% of “alpha” men, leaving the remaining 80% of “beta” men ignored or forced to settle.
Secondly, there’s the claim that women are naturally disloyal, claiming they are biologically wired to “monkey branch” - always looking to trade up to an alpha.
Finally, the women in this world are either submissive or shamed. They’re judged by their “body count,” labelled “sluts,” “hoes,” “bitches,” or “304” (which spells “hoe” on a calculator).
It’s the same age-old virgin–whore dichotomy, promoting a contradictory double standard: men glorify sexual conquest while demanding virginity from women.
And it seems, boys are learning it - fast.
Why Is The Manosphere Appealing To Young Boys?
That the manosphere is getting this much attraction is understandable according to one of the researchers of the Recommending Toxicity study: Maja Brandt Andreasen.
“The manfluencers offer simple solutions to complex problems”, she says and shares an example:
If you go to the gym, you'll become a real man, and then you'll get girls and eventually you'll get rich
But it’s a fantasy. It makes sense that when real life feels confusing, unfair, or overwhelming, that fantasy is magnetic, she explains.
“You don’t necessarily become an extremist by watching manfluencers on TikTok but you can still be exposed to the idea that men are superior - where there’s no room for equality, where it’s shameful for women to have a sexuality, while men are praised for having many sexual partners.”
That idea still gets planted in the receptive minds of young men and ultimately shapes them into people who go out into the world believing that women should be held down in one way or another, she says.
And that’s how it begins. Not with violence.
But with a video. A joke. A quote.
An idea that takes root and then grows.
The Feminist Dilemma
That raises the uncomfortable question: How do we fight harder without further dividing?
At Female Invest, we exist to close the gender gap and that will never change.
We know the stats. We’ve lived the experiences.
We will never apologise for centering women - especially in spaces where they’ve historically been shut out.
How do we fight harder without further dividing?
But as the next generation comes of age, we can’t ignore what’s shifting. Because if they grow up seeing feminism as the enemy, we all lose.
Where Are the Healthy Role Models?
I grew up in the 90s. Back then, role models for the boys in my class were mostly footballers we saw in magazines or on Saturday matches. Access was limited. Influence was slow.
Today, it’s completely different. Everyone has a platform. Everyone has a microphone. And algorithms don’t reward nuance - they reward attention.
That can be empowering but also dangerous. For some boys the main support groups are online which is fine but also isolating.
If boys are going online for connection, support, or identity, and what they find is misogyny disguised as motivation, we’re looking at a systemic failure.
So whose job is it to fix this?
Is it the tech companies?
The parents? The teachers?
The answer, I think, is: all of us.
Where Do We Go From Here?
The Recommending Toxicity study offers real, tangible recommendations.
For social media companies:
- Social media platforms must strengthen content moderation and take decisive action by enforcing stricter policies and applying real consequences to those who spread harm.
For schools and educators:
- Boys’ anger and confusion shouldn’t be dismissed. Their views need to be heard in safe, non-judgmental spaces. Instead of reacting with outrage to influencers, educators should ask why these figures resonate - and start the conversation there.
For parents and communities:
- Parents should create space for open, judgment-free conversations. Instead of reacting with outrage, they should explore why certain influencers appeal to their child - whether it’s peer pressure, rebellion, or something else. Help young people question the manosphere’s rigid gender roles by reflecting on real people in their lives.
What Can We Do at Female Invest?
We can’t fix the algorithm. But we can continue to teach women how to build wealth, power, and confidence - while staying alert to the cultural landscape they’re navigating.
We can lead boldly and empathetically.
We can stay curious and critical
We can deepen our understanding of the manosphere and create more content that helps others do the same.
We can remind our community that we need allies - not enemies - to change the system.
We can support male mental health initiatives, because a future of gender equality can’t be built on unhealed pain.
We can stay fierce in our feminism and compassionate in our strategy.
Let's be clear: feminism isn't the problem. Misogyny is
Because if we don’t, we risk becoming bystanders to a culture war fueled by fear, division, and hate - a war where no one truly wins.
Let’s be clear: feminism isn’t the problem.
Misogyny is. Toxic masculinity is.
Because toxic masculinity and misogyny is killing our boys and girls.
Sources:
https://antibullyingcentre.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DCU-Toxicity-Full-Report.pdf