Translated using Mistral
Francis Dupuis-Déri, a Franco-Canadian political scientist, argues that the growing rejection of gender equality by boys—both at home and at school—is linked to the widespread dissemination of far-right masculinist ideology.
Boys Are Becoming Increasingly Masculinist
This is one of the findings of the latest report by France’s High Council for Equality, published in January, which also notes an alarming rise in sexism—both “hostile” and “paternalistic”—across all layers of society. The report reveals that 23% of men aged 15 to 24 and 31% of those aged 25 to 34 believe it is disadvantageous to be a man. The gender gap on this issue has never been more pronounced at these ages.
What are the impacts of this rise in misogyny among boys within families and schools? Franco-Canadian researcher Francis Dupuis-Déri, a political scientist at the Université du Québec à Montréal and author of The Crisis of Masculinity: Autopsy of a Persistent Myth (Éditions du remue-ménage/Points, 2018), provides answers.
Are new tensions emerging within families due to masculinist attitudes?
There’s a dual effect. First, all recent studies show that boys are more misogynistic than they were a few years ago. The first to suffer are their mothers and sisters, whom they make life difficult for. We worry a lot about these boys but not enough about the women around them, even though they are on the front lines.
The good news is that girls are becoming feminists at a younger age than their mothers or grandmothers. Previously, they embraced feminism at 19 or 20, during their university years. Now, they do so at 13 or 14, thanks to the feminist ecosystem that has developed on social media, but also because they see antifeminism being expressed in full force and are positioning themselves against it.
Over the past year or two, there has also been a growing awareness among parents. This has sparked discussions within families, particularly about what children consume online. When there was only one TV in the living room, it was easier to monitor what they were watching, especially since, as with cinema, content was filtered by a regulatory body. Today, a child has access to everything via their phone. This is completely unregulated. Governments are starting to implement measures, but we wonder if they are using the right methods…
Masculinism also has an impact in schools…
I’ve just completed a year-long study in Quebec on sexist and transphobic boys in schools, conducted with the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement, a public-sector teachers’ union. One of the questions asked of secondary and primary school teachers was: “Do you feel things have worsened over the past five years?” Over 90% answered yes. Some say they feel as though they’ve gone back twenty to twenty-five years.
Female teachers may hear students tell them they don’t belong in the classroom and should be at home taking care of their husbands and children. When they discuss gender equality, there are now always students who loudly challenge them, claiming it’s normal for women to have fewer rights, that feminists dominate society, and that they want to kill men. They cite Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Andrew Tate [a masculinist influencer accused of rape and human trafficking]… They feel they are on the side of the powerful. Not all boys are like this, far from it, but there is a core of three to five such students in every class.
Can this affect all social backgrounds and families?
Yes, with a significant influence from violent fathers on their sons. The integration of sexism begins in our families, and this also plays a role in the radicalisation of the youngest. But it can also affect progressive, stable families and involve “well-adjusted” boys without psychological or emotional issues. At some point, all parents lose control of their children—this is normal and even desirable. Other influences then emerge, except that today, among them, there are masculinist ideologies. In my day, you had to make an effort to access the kind of hallucinatory propaganda spread by someone like Nick Fuentes [an American influencer, white supremacist, antisemitic, and masculinist]. It was embedded in countercultures, like the skinhead movement, but it was marginal. Now, it’s mainstream.
How should parents respond?
There’s no magic wand, but we know that outraged reactions will only further isolate the child. It’s better to avoid direct confrontation and keep the conversation going, but on broader and perhaps more personal topics, to break the sense of alienation. Within families, it can be helpful to discuss it together, to avoid making it an individual issue but rather a collective one, involving teachers as well. And we can still try to find out what teens are watching on those damn social media platforms. I’m not saying to ban them, but to have a minimal level of curiosity. Otherwise, they live in a parallel world…
Does the current masculinist backlash have historical equivalents?
The discourse on the “crisis of masculinity” has always existed—it can be traced back to antiquity. The problem with today’s backlash is that far-right fascist ideology is making a comeback. And masculinism is one of its pillars. It shares the same structure as xenophobia. The message is always the same: “White men are victims of trans people, Black people, or Muslims, and we’re going to put things back in their place—men on top and women below.”
So, for me, the main transformation in recent years is the “mainstreaming” of far-right forces and their rise to power. But things are not homogeneous—this doesn’t mean progress will stop. Proof: even as masculinism grows, there have never been as many people identifying as feminists in our societies as there are today, including men.
—Julien Chavanes