Thursday, November 28, 2024
The re-election of former President Trump has put a spotlight on one new global phenomenon that is also present in Europe. A global socio-political gap is emerging between young men and women who are part of Gen Z. Already in last January at the beginning of this ‘super election year’, the Financial Times dedicated an article on this issue by reporting on a global survey by Gallup[1]. In all countries that this famous polling company surveyed, young men below 30 moved to the right and young women below 30 to the left. This pattern repeated itself in all elections that followed this year. One of the most extreme examples is South Korea. It is however an important warning that such a divide can have consequences beyond elections. The Financial Times wrote: ‘In the country’s 2022 presidential election, while older men and women voted in lockstep, young men swung heavily behind the right-wing People Power party, and young women backed the liberal Democratic party in almost equal and opposite numbers. Korea’s is an extreme situation, but it serves as a warning to other countries of what can happen when young men and women part ways. Its society is riven in two. Its marriage rate has plummeted, and birth rate has fallen precipitously, dropping to 0.78 births per woman in 2022, the lowest of any country in the world.’ Especially the plummeting marriage rate may point to a development in which more and more men and women simply become too different in outlook at life that they decide to avoid one another or at least avoid any long-term committed relations. It is clear that such a development is unhelpful for any society. Politically however we see that both the left and the right have actively accelerated and increased the divide. Many in the left have embraced transgender identity politics and many on the right have embraced the macho ‘bro culture’. Among conservative Christians there is a tendency to be uncritical over the latter out of a rejection of transgender identity politics and modern feminism. As activists of both these movements often profile themselves as anti-Christian, this is an understandable reaction but we need some critical reflection on embracing a macho ‘bro culture’. Indeed, modern feminists and transgender activists tend to reject masculinity and fatherhood outright but that does not necessarily mean that we as Christians need to go along with an overreaction against that development. The big problem with macho ‘bro culture’ (symbolized by people such as Elon Musk, Joe Rogan and others) is that it falls in the same trap as their opponents. They over-emphasize one aspect in order to attack where they disagree with. However macho culture is by definition not Christian as it rejects equal human dignity and instead celebrates ‘male strength’. The Christian message is opposite to any manner of thinking that places human strength first. Christ sacrificed Himself to save us and called us to be servants of one another. Furthermore macho culture has proven to be threatening to many women in society and workplaces and therefore has to be rejected. A better approach is to find a balanced approach based on equal human dignity of men and women. This builds on the bible where we read in Galatians 3:27-28: ‘27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’ In Christ, all men and women and male and female qualities are of equal value. We can find enormous strength in every women and kindness in every man. It is not necessary to stick to stereotypes if we reject excesses in modern feminism and if we reject transgender identity politics (that moreover don’t help transgender people at all). Emphasizing equal human dignity offers a healthy balanced mindset as alternative to either extreme. It offers a way to come together as men and women. In light of the massive demographic and family challenges we need that approach more than ever. The big question of how to sustain care and family life is probably the most unrecognized urgent issue that can only be faced if men and women accept one another as equal partners. Given the importance of this challenge it is very fitting that at 12 December we have a webinar in cooperation with Jubilee Centre and for which you are warmly invited: A family-centred Europe as the solution to the demographic challenge. Johannes de Jong [1]John Burn-Murdoch, "A new global gender divide is emerging," Financial Times, January 26, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/29fd9b5c-2f35-41bf-9d4c-994db4e12998
Managing Director Sallux