Too Few Femillennials: Exploring Feminism's Role in Millennials' Lives

Millennials: the screwed generation, the entitled generation, and the subjects of relentless scrutiny and criticism.  As millennials are repeatedly assessed based on the changing economic circumstances, the social context of their lifetimes is often overlooked (at least more than it should be).  Feminism is one major part of social context that helps explain millennials’ behavior now.  Not only that, but the acceptance (or dismissal) of feminist values among millennials could play a large role in their futures.

In her article “The Wanted Generation,” Amanda Marcotte explores the impact of feminism on millennials’ attitudes and financial situations.  She argues that feminist strides during Generation X have had a huge and highly underestimated impact on the generation.  She explains a few of the key implications of the feminist revolution, especially noting its influence on millennials’ values and family life.

       

These influences stem from the fact that millennials’ mothers are more likely to be older and more educated, traits that changed their parenting approaches.  Also, during the time, women were experiencing a far more equal environment in terms of the workplace.  Another factor was higher access to contraception; this means that millennials are likely to have been “wanted,” meaning their births were planned.  Marcotte draws a causal link between these factors and millennials’ liberalism, higher university attendance, optimistic personalities, likelihood of family stability, high self-esteem and fiscal responsibility, all of which she sees as positive traits.

        

When evaluating how millennials diverge from previous generations, we seem to focus heavily on the economic context, placing huge importance on rising student debt, the recession, and the labor market, all of which undoubtedly play a significant role.  However, the impact of feminism was enormous on both millennials’ personalities and life choices and is something that must be considered when comparing generations.

             

Interestingly enough, despite all of the benefits feminism has caused for millennials, many millennials are reluctant to identify themselves as feminists.  Because of the progress of the feminists before them, millennials may have a sense that equality has been achieved.  In class, we’re looking at stories of educated mothers who choose to be stay-at-home moms, wives who still tend to do more domestic tasks than their husbands, and many other instances of women taking on more traditional gender roles.  Although it’s important that women are able to make these life choices, it’s still problematic; lack of representation in the workforce, reinforcement of gender stereotypes, and fewer contributions from women in certain fields (like science, medicine, and so on) are all negative upshots of this.

From "Where Are All the Millennial Feminists?" by Hannah Weinberger, CNN.

It seems like there’s a tension between the strong influence of the feminist revolution on millennial behavior and the tendency for millennials to distance themselves from the feminist label.  After all of the progress, is it possible that millennials take the feminist movement for granted?  In my experience, this seems to be true. After so many advances, most family members and friends I know see little need for modern day feminism.

Looking at the positive changes the feminist movement has created in the past, is it reasonable to say that there is a need for a new feminist movement?  Do you think that it’d be a good solution to the complicated problems with stay-at-home moms?