Il caso di Rosalía non fa eccezione: sempre più giovani evitano di identificarsi con il femminismo

TRANSLATION

At the end of 2025, in the midst of promoting her album LUX, Rosalía gave an interview to Radio 3. Journalist Leyre Guerrero asked her about the celebration of strong, defiant female figures that she promoted in some of the songs on her record. The Catalan artist replied: “I surround myself with feminist ideas. I don’t think I consider myself morally perfect enough to place myself within an -ism.”

That distancing from feminism—as a label, not as inspiration—sparked a wave of criticism toward the singer at the time. But Rosalía is not an exception. The latest edition of the Youth and Gender Barometer, prepared by the Reina Sofía Center of Fad Juventud and published every two years since 2017, shows that fewer and fewer young people identify as feminists.

The crisis of the feminist label

Of the sample of 1,528 young people aged 15 to 29 living in Spain, only 38.4% place themselves within the movement. This represents a drop of nearly 12 points compared to responses recorded in 2021 (49.9%). The percentage of young women who consider themselves feminists is almost double that of young men (51.3% compared to 26%). Meanwhile, 42.1% of the general population defines itself as feminist, and support for the cause increases with age, reaching its peak among those aged 30–39 (52.2%).

However, hesitation to identify with the cause does not translate into a negative view of gender equality. Some 65.7% say that equality between men and women contributes to making society more just. Agreement is much higher among women (72.4%) than men (59.2%), and among people aged 30 to 49 (84.5%) and those over 50 (86.5%).

Beatriz Martín Padura, general director of Fad Juventud, says in this regard that the data show a youth population that “incorporates egalitarian frameworks in many aspects of their daily lives,” from romantic relationships to the workplace. However, the Barometer also reveals that society “is exposed to contradictory discourses that influence its positioning.”

“We are not talking about linear setbacks or uniform progress, but about a complex scenario in which broad consensus coexists with divergent perceptions,” she argues. This difficulty in identifying with the movement despite being close to it—while benefiting from the gains achieved through the struggle—is known as “adjacent feminism.” Feminism improves their lives, but they do not defend it. The label is in crisis.

Men’s rejection of feminism

Some 45.3% of the young people surveyed—both men and women—believe that feminism is a tool of political manipulation. Other positions generate greater polarization: 35.2% think the cause pits women against men, and 31.2% believe it is unnecessary because equality already exists (34.7% disagree).

More than half of young men, 52.8%, feel that the promotion of women’s equality has gone so far that men are now being discriminated against. Rejection of affirmative action laws is also higher among them: 42% of men believe such laws should not be enacted, compared to 24% of women.

Equality and control in relationships

The sphere of romantic relationships stands out as one of the areas where young people most clearly express egalitarian consensus. There is broad agreement around open communication (81.8%) and equal rights and responsibilities (77.4%), while 72.1% consider it essential that each partner maintain their own individual space. As with most of the questions, women show higher levels of agreement than men, in this case between 10 and 15 percentage points more.

“These data point to a significant internalization of principles such as autonomy, respect, and shared responsibility,” the Barometer’s press release notes. But this declared consensus contrasts with the prevalence of controlling dynamics.

Some 32.1% of young women say their partner has gotten angry because they did not immediately respond to messages or calls (compared to 17.5% of young men); 27.3% say their partner has checked their phone (17% among men); and 26.6% say they have been told who they can or cannot talk to (17.2% among men). The egalitarian ideal thus coexists with practices that affect young women far more intensely, the Reina Sofía Center of Fad Juventud highlights.

Usual reason would be the  ideological purism left demands if you dare to use any leftist concept. So you have to either  accept the whole modern canon or be a hidden nazi anyway. So not start the discussion. 

As mentioned in the other thread: left monopolizes feminism -> left do antifeminism stuff -> feminism loses social prestige -> young people doesn’t identify themselves as feminists (even if they’re acutally are).

As some people don’t believe left can’t do anything wrong, I will just write some FACTS:

– A socialist minister, Abalos, used public funds for hiring prostitutes. He was expelled from the party and now he is in jail.

– Irene Montero. from the far-left, created a law that reduced jail time for sex offenders and rapist by “mistake”. She was so unpopular that she was not even included in the lists for last elections.

– Inigo Errejón, a major figure in the left, has been accussed of sexual harassment, and it was proved that his party knew it, but they hided it. He ressigned once this was known

Edit2: Wow, a lot of replies saying “how do you dare to criticize some left-wing politicians? They just want to make the world a better place! You must be a fascist, a Trump supporter and probably kick puppies in your free time”. Yeah, I don’t understand why people don’t want to be associated with them /s

I think that this trend, at least in Spain, has less to do with the core concepts of feminism, and more to do with the hijacking of the term by certain very vocal and overtly hostile groups within the movement that descended into extremism, and have alienated people from what was initially a perfectly noble cause.

Feminism cannot thrive if they antagonize not only the male population, but the women that don’t abide by ever more extreme and dysfunctional rules set by these small radicalized groups.

Spanish people aren’t tired of feminism. They’re tired of it becoming weaponized to fight a culture war.

Okay people we are not doing this again, okay? I know these posts in this sub attract a specific crowd, but let’s not be as messy as in the last one. I’m tired and need my sleep.

To summarize: no, feminism does not equal manhating. Really it doesn’t. No matter what the bad faith actors tell you, it is not that extreme. Not even with the 4th wavers.

Feminism is just the radical notion that women are people.

You’re welcome!

Rosalia is dating a woman and previously dated Hunter Schafer who is trans so I’m not sure what or whom this distancing serves.

Te lo digo en lenguaje que puedas entender: déjate de romper las pelotas con el desprestigio del feminismo. No vas a conseguir imponer tu agenda. La gente joven piensa por sí misma y elige mayoritariamente los postulados feministas por más que te duela mucho el culo. Lo siento, pero es así.

Yeah because they’re turning into little fascists.

Understandable. Not saying you are a feminist despite being one saves you sooo much time of discussion about basic human decency and human rights with complete morons trying too hard to appear clever and civilized by mentioning stuff like 4th wave.

I mean I’m definitely not a feminist, but I’m for equality. The thing is that feminists have been doing the shitty thing of forcing people into the ideology via semantics, like a lot of the progressives like to do.

They say “you like equality, so that means you are a feminist”. A lot of especially young people who valued conformity took that as sensible, but then the purity spiral began as it often does.

After declaring you to be a feminist you don’t just need to like equality anymore, but also X, Y and Z. And more and more people started understanding that and were also annoyed by it.

So yeah. Fuck feminism, long live non ideological equality.

No problem qith some -isms as catholicism but lots of problems qith feminisim. Says a lot about her.