If you’ve been trying to track the political pulse of Gen Z over the last two years, you probably have whiplash.
In 2024, the headlines screamed panic: Young voters were drifting toward Donald Trump. Pundits fretted about the "manosphere" turning a generation of young men against the Democratic Party. Then came 2025, and suddenly the narrative flipped. After young voters helped deliver key wins in New York City, New Jersey, and Virginia, the reassessment began. Suddenly, Gen Z was lauded again as a bastion of progressivism—the most progressive generation in history.
So, which is it? Is Gen Z going to save us, or are they bucking the trend and moving right?
The short answer: It’s complicated. The truth isn’t found in either of those dueling narratives—it’s found in the nuance.
When you look past the vibes and actually dive into the data—specifically the massive 2024 Cooperative Election Study (which surveyed over 60,000 Americans)—a stark reality emerges.
Here is the slightly longer answer: **On issues of race, Gen Z is vastly more progressive than their parents and grandparents. But on issues of gender? They are stuck in the past.**
The Good News: The Racial Divide is Closing
Let’s start with the good news. Gen Z deserves the credit it often gets for racial attitudes.
When asked about structural inequality—statements like "Generations of slavery and discrimination have created conditions that make it difficult for Blacks to work their way out of the lower class"—Gen Z members are distinct.
Compared to Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials, Gen Z shows the lowest levels of what scholars call "racial resentment." The data shows a clear, consistent line: each younger generation is less racist than the one before it. On the issue of race, Gen Z is leading the charge toward a more inclusive America.
The Bad News: The Gender Gap is Stagnant
But when we switch gears to attitudes toward women, that progressive train grinds to a halt.
Using a standard measure of "ambivalent sexism"—agreement with statements like "Women seek to gain power by getting control over men" or "Women are too easily offended"—the results are sobering.
While you might expect the "most progressive generation ever" to reject these outdated notions, they don’t. In fact, Gen Z’s level of sexism is strikingly similar to that of their grandparents in the Silent Generation. They are only slightly below the national average, and nowhere near where they should be if they were truly rewriting the social contract.
It’s a Man Problem (Specifically a Young Republican Man Problem)
If you zoom in on the data, the picture becomes clearer. The lack of progress on gender issues isn't uniform across the generation—it’s being driven by the men.
When you break the data down by gender, you see that Gen Z women *are* less sexist than their mothers and grandmothers. They are pushing forward. But Gen Z men? They are holding the line. Across every age group, men score above average on sexism, but there is zero generational improvement among Gen Z men compared to their elders.
The trend is even more worrying when you look at political parties. Republicans generally show higher levels of sexism and racial resentment, but the youngest cohort of Republicans is actually **more** sexist than their elders.
This suggests that the online "manosphere"—a digital landscape ranging from self-help to explicitly misogynistic forums—is doing exactly what critics feared: it is radicalizing young men. While this content may not always be racially regressive, it is distinctly gender regressive, and it is taking a toll.
What This Means for the Future
Why does this matter? Because a generation that is progressive on race but stagnant on gender cannot create a fully egalitarian society.
We are looking at a future of uneven progress. We may see advancements in racial inclusion and representation, but simultaneous stagnation—or even regression—in gender equality within families, workplaces, and governance.
Politically, this creates a massive opening for the GOP. The data shows that gender attitudes are a "bridge issue" for Republicans. By focusing on masculinity-based appeals and skepticism toward feminism, they can reach young voters in spaces like TikTok and video gaming communities without triggering the partisan backlash that comes with other issues.
We can celebrate the decline in racial resentment, but we can’t let that blind us to the rising tide of gender-based antagonism. Gen Z isn't a monolith, and assuming they are a uniform block of progressive voters is a mistake. The "youth vote" is becoming more complex, and if we want to understand where politics is heading, we have to stop looking at the averages and start looking at the divide.