One in five people in Quebec aged 18 to 34 believe that “feminism is a strategy to allow women to control society,” according to a recent survey by the firm Léger, which was commissioned by the Center québécois d’enseignement to the media and information.
12% of all respondents of all ages said this statement was true, or 16% of men and 8% of women surveyed. The survey, conducted online among 1,009 Quebecers, aimed among other things to measure “to what extent, particularly through social networks, individuals are more or less permeable to all kinds of unverified theories than others would call conspiracy theories,” explains Christian Bourque, executive vice-president of Léger.
The statements presented in the survey carried out in September concerned different themes such as trust in the media, feminism, climate change or extraterrestrials. Several of these theories had already been submitted to Canadians during a 2021 Léger survey which was done in collaboration with nine researchers, including David Morin, professor at the School of Applied Politics at the University of Sherbrooke.
Compared to the 2023 results, 6% of Quebecers of all genders aged 55 and over subscribe to the idea that “feminism is a strategy to allow women to control society”, while the proportion among 35 -54 years old rises to 14% and 20% among 18-34 year olds.
It is “perhaps worrying to see that it is among younger people that feminism has less resonance than elsewhere,” says Francine Descarries, professor emeritus in the Department of Sociology at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM). ). “It is on them that we are counting on to finalize the changes towards equality and there, we observe that there is a reluctance. »
However, it is common for people who adhere to feminism to do so a little later in life, such as when they experience discrimination at work, says Mélissa Blais, professor of sociology in the Department of Social Sciences. from the University of Quebec in Outaouais (UQO). “When we are young, we have a feeling of equality […] This takes on more of an edge when the time comes to be confronted with sexism. »
Mme Blais, however, has a caveat regarding the formulation of the statement on feminism as a “strategy to allow women to control society.” It could be understood by respondents as an anti-feminist idea, but also the opposite. “If we say to ourselves for example: ‘OK, women don’t have control because gender inequalities persist, and feminism allows them to have control.’ »
Conservative wave
If we analyze the statement as being anti-feminist, one of the hypotheses to explain the support of 20% of 18-34 year olds for it is the conservative wave which is currently sweeping over society, according to the sociology professor. at the Department of Social Sciences at UQO.
“There are these diverse voices which are multiplying at the level, let’s say of journalistic chronicles, whether here, but also elsewhere, such as in the United States. In France, we hear them constantly repeating that feminists are exaggerating,” says M.me Blais. The latter suggests that some young people have perhaps not yet deepened their reflection on these speeches.
Mélissa Blais and Francine Descarries, however, emphasize that there is now more openness in Quebec regarding feminism than before. Mme Descarries also sees the “glass half full” regarding the results of the survey for all respondents of all ages. “You would have presented this survey to me around twenty years ago and we would be talking about completely different figures. »
“I think that a culture, especially a patriarchal culture as strong as ours, does not shake up or transform over one or two decades, it takes several,” she continues.
As for the 8% of women who affirm that it is true that “feminism is a strategy to allow women to control society”, Francine Descarries believes that this proportion is normal.
“What is surprising is that so many women now see feminism as a movement toward equality […] Everything has been set in motion in society so that women adhere to the patriarchal message,” she observes.