Disoriented youth and new populist referents

Change is scary. Uncertainty can be distressing. When the ground beneath us is shaky, our survival instinct drives us to seek firmness. And when we find it, we cling to it without question. The illusion of stability is comforting, especially when we are young and in the process of defining ourselves. What do you do if the gender stereotypes that were meant to guide you are in question and new identities are yet to be defined? Well, look for certainty in the most nostalgic versions of virility.

At this point, we already have enough data to confirm that a large proportion of young men between 18 and 24 years of age increasingly identify with the discourses of the extreme right and are reflected in the iron-fisted leaders. Girls, however, increasingly tend towards more progressive views. Gender is becoming a predictor of ideological alignment and is causing a growing gap in practically all the democracies of the world.

From a sociological point of view, the unifying mechanism is manual. We see it especially in populist discourses, which generate cohesion around traditional masculinity. In this way they achieve a double effect: the claim ofstatus quo and alienation. Other ways of existing are seen as threats, which is why it confronts feminism, homosexuality, trans people, immigration and democracy itself.

In the face of the usual temptation to blame TikTok, let me remind you that these and other platforms are amplifiers and legitimizers. It is also true that the far right has known how to use them as a propaganda machine, because the attention economy fits the rapture like a glove. It is clearly the space of social validation of these imaginaries, but if there were not a previous background of discomfort, hopelessness about the future and material precariousness, they would be messages of minimal resonance.

The "virile" man – as the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu said – is actually a social construct, an artifact that always positions masculinity in relation to power. Hegemonic masculinity, although not the one that predominates in statistical terms, is actually the norm, in that it draws the contours of the ideal and expected. Expectations are a form of social pressure, so boys grow up assuming that the closer they are to the rule The more they are valued, and many adult men feel that they cannot deviate from the script. In the symbolic sphere, this supposed standard naturalizes the binary division of gender which, let us remember, is an arbitrary convention. Nobody says it is easy, but the good news is that everything that is part of the social contract is revisable. And here we are: traditional masculinity is in question and this generates strong reactions from nostalgia and disorientation due to the lack of new references. Nor do the indicators we have help us to understand the different male positions regarding social changes. Understanding how they feel and how we can accompany this revolution goes far beyond whether they are feminists or egalitarians.

The difficult thing about updating the social contract is that there is a lack of public and well-known references to new masculinities. It is a common urgency to review privileges in order to build, also collectively, conscious, inclusive masculinities that are far from the dominant nostalgia. We could start by telling boys and children that they do not need to be strong, competitive and rational decision-makers. We could continue to learn to embrace vulnerability, value the virtues of cooperation and recognize emotions. It would be a great gift for everyone if we practiced active listening more than debates to prove who is right.

It is a collective challenge and fortunately we are not starting from scratch. Welcome to men's circles. There is also a global conversation in the form of books, podcasts and influencers which brings together families concerned with educating our children in a context of respect and safety, where they can grow up free of traditional imaginings. Afro-descendant authors are a great source of inspiration, they bring us an advantage because the racial questioning has been mobilizing them for years. Uju Asika (Nigerian based in London), in the book How to Raise Kids Who Do Better, leads us to review how we are educating the men of the future. In times of plutocracy and techbros We need to raise from the bottom up to make the world a freer and safer place for everyone.