Views on women's rights in the Age of the Manosphere: 5 things to know

We dig into opinions on gender equality in 2025 and beyond.

If women win, do men lose?

This zero-sum view has gained steam in recent years due, in part, to the popularity of the manosphere, with polarizing personalities from Dave Portnoy to Joe Rogan to Andrew Tate selling the idea that the gains women have made in society have come at the cost of men.

Ipsos' new International Women’s Day (IWD) survey finds the narrative pushed by manfluencers online that there's currently a battle of the sexes brewing IRL seems to have most taken hold among younger people, with 59% (on average across 30 countries) of Generation Zers* saying there's tension between males and females versus 39% of Baby Boomers who say the same.

In five charts, we reveal what our latest polling finds about how people feel about the fight for equal rights as the world marks IWD on March 8:

1. Will views continue to diverge? Gen Zers came of age during the height of the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) movement. Just like older generations, younger people have had a range of reactions to living through this era.

Almost three in five (57% on average globally) Gen Z males agree that "we have gone so far in promoting women's equality that we are discriminating against men," vs. 36% of Gen Z females. While that's down a bit year-over-year there was a similar difference between younger men (60% on average globally) and younger women (40%) on this issue in 2024.

Whether this gender gap will remain as Gen Zers mature remains to be seen, but for now many from the generation who grew up in the wake of both DEI and manfluencers are seeing the world through very different lenses.

2. Is the gap actually a canyon that can't be bridged? The divisions appear on several social issues, from LGBT+ rights to the equality movement.

Gen Z women are the most likely demographic to identify as a feminist (53% on average globally), compared to 32% of Gen Z men.

Identifying as the "F" word amid the rise of U.S. President Trump's broligarchy and trad wife memes has dropped down to a mere 19%, on average across 30 countries, in 2025 from 24% in 2023.

Gen Z women are the lone cohort to have a majority saying they identify as a feminist and it's not yet clear if that will drop with time. One thing that is clear? Fourth-wave feminism seemingly has a branding problem.

3. Are we on the other side of the mountain? All hope is not lost.

Just over two in three (68% globally) and a majority across all 30 countries this year agree it's important to them personally to achieve equality between men and women.

At the same time, there's been slight drops year-over-year on everything from whether men are being expected to do too much to support equality to whether the women's rights movement has gone far enough.

Is the so-called wokelash against DEI issues, including feminism, petering out? Time will tell.

4. More smoke than fire? While podcasters like Rogan fan the flames of anti-wokeness our polling tells a more nuanced tale.

As President Trump leads the charge to rip down DEI policies across public and private organizations saying the U.S. will be "woke no longer" there doesn't appear to actually be a gigantic appetite for tearing up gender-equity efforts.

Only 11%, on average across 30 countries, think policies adopted by the businesses of their country in the pursuit of gender equality over the past five years have had a negative impact, while 35% think these business policies have had a positive impact.

A slightly higher proportion (14% at a global level) think gender-equality policies adopted by their country's government had a negative impact, while 35% also think these government policies have been positive.

Though a higher proportion of Americans think government (21%) and business (18%) policies supporting gender equality have had a negative impact, it's a minority view. At the same time, less than one in three of those in the U.S. think government (28%) and business (30%) gender-equality policies have had a positive impact.

5. Still miles to go? The race for women's rights is clearly a marathon, not a sprint.

Many women now do paid work outside the home, yet getting paid the same as men is still a ways off. The United Nations reveals that females only earn 80% of what males make for the same work and at this pace it will take almost 300 years for the gender pay gap to close.

At the same time, female leaders in boardrooms and elected office are now the norm in some countries, while girls and women in places like Afghanistan and Iran are treated like second-class citizens.

It can often feel like society has taken two steps forward and one step back.

Despite all this, there's cautious optimism as we look ahead.

Just over four in 10 (42% globally) predict significant progress will be made towards achieving gender equality in the next five years, while 16% don't think this is likely and the rest aren't sure.

Because while the manosphere may make it seem as if gender equality is a zero-sum game the reality is when women win we all win.

Check out the Ipsos International Women’s Day Survey for more.

*Generation Z (born between 1996-2012), Millennials (born between 1980-1995), Generation X (born between 1966-1979) and Baby Boomers (born between 1945-1965).