One in five Brits don’t think men and women should be treated equally

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is #PressForProgress, and new research suggests we definitely need to keep on pressing.

A YouGov survey found that, out of 1,646 sampled brits, only 81% answered ‘Yes’ to the question: “Do you think men and women should or should not have equal rights and status in society, and be treated equally in every way?”

That means almost one in five people don’t think women deserve the same rights as men have.

11% of people answered “No” and 7% said they were not sure.

Interestingly, these results haven’t differed whatsoever in nearly five years, when the survey was last run.

The research also looked at how self-identifying as a feminist varied depending on how the question was asked.

A third of people were asked the straight question “Are you a feminist?”. Another third were given the definition of the word – equal rights for men and women – and then asked the question.

The final third were simply asked if they agreed with the definition.

Only 27% of Brits surveyed who answered the straight question said they identified as a feminist with 73% either saying no or not sure.

This is compared to 60% who were given the definition and the question, and 81% of those just given the definition.

A Sky data poll found similar results when asking women their thoughts on feminist progress.

Almost two thirds of women surveyed said they thought feminism had completed its goal, with 35% of women saying they thought it had even gone ‘too far’.

Despite this, YouGov’s poll found almost three quarters of respondents said sexism in the UK is still a problem.

Feminism is defined as: “the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.”

But even when they’re adamant to support the movement, many are clearly hesitant to use the label.

Famously, Prime Minister David Cameron said, when asked if he considered himself a feminist: “I don’t know what I’d call myself… it’s up to others to attach labels. But I believe men and women should be treated equally.”

Tanya Abraham, YouGov’s Political Research Manager, said: “The fact that people are markedly more hostile to the term “feminist” in isolation, while at the same time so readily subscribing to the ideals the term represents, suggests the term itself has a serious image problem.

“It seems that yet another battle that feminists must now fight is the battle to reclaim the word itself.”

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