The Sobering New State of Feminism

Support for female equality is edging up but going backwards among young men.

- Pilita Clark

In the past three years, women in Afghanistan have been barred from jobs, universities, parks and gyms. Nearly 20 US states have made abortion illegal or harder to secure. Deadly protests have rocked Iran after a young woman arrested for "improper" clothing died in custody.

Americans have re-elected a president who campaigned against a female rival he called "retarded," "mentally impaired," and a "dummy."

Then there is Andrew Tate, the self-declared misogynist influencer and Trump champion who thinks "everything on the planet was built on a woman obeying her man in the family."

He made it to the US from Romania in February after Washington officials pressed Bucharest to lift restrictions on his travel. He and his brother had been detained in Romania since 2022 on charges including sexual exploitation and human trafficking, which they deny.

Against this background, any hint of progress in female equality is welcome. And as it happens, things are looking up. Marginally.

For the past few years, a growing share of people around the world have said they think the push for women's rights has gone far enough.