Numerous headlines regarding the dating landscape of Generation Z (1997-2012) paint a bleak picture: women are trending Left while men are trending Right.
The Wall Street Journal recently called the dating landscape an “online battlefield.”
In addition to this, Pew Research Center recently put out a study of 12th grade girls and found that they are less likely than boys to say they want to get married one day.
However, a new study, published by the Institute for Family Studies, filled in some necessary gaps, resulting in a more hopeful outlook.
This study found that Gen Z women and men are surprisingly aligned on dating wants:
Both Gen Z men and women favor a more egalitarian approach to dating such as:
- splitting the check,
- dividing workloads, and
- dividing home responsibilities equally.
The biggest point of agreement? Both men and women largely agree that is it the man’s role to protect women.
The study notes,
“But traditional gender roles are not completely forsaken by the younger generation. More than 70% of young men say that men should protect women, and a similar share of young women agree. Only 26% of women say that ‘women don’t need protection from men.’…
However, even among liberal young women, a majority (64%) still believe that men should protect women.”
In the day and age of “toxic masculinity” and “boss babe” headlines that are pushed by the media, this statistic alone should be encouraging as we look out on the dating landscape.
It is unfortunately true that young women have largely shift Left ideologically.
However, it is encouraging to see that for all the Left’s media designs, a woman’s natural and biological desire to feel safe with and protected by a man has not been suppressed.
This biological reality not only is natural and healthy for women, but scientific research also proves that men taking on the protector role is healthy for them as well.
Science Daily found,
Men die by suicide at least three times more than women although it is women who are diagnosed at twice the rate of men for depression. Men aged 20-29 have the highest rate of suicide. Statistics Canada reports that in 2003, the last year for which data is available, more than 2,900 men committed suicide.
“Here, men’s strong sense of masculine roles and responsibility as a provider and protector enables men to hold on while seeking support to regain some self-control,” says Oliffe. (lead author, associate professor in School of Nursing)
In addition to this, another study published by Institute for Family Studies found that having a protective spouse is one of the indicators of a happy marriage.
The work of the Institute for Family Studies proves that no matter how hard the Left tries to infiltrate and pervert the institution of marriage, God’s biological design will always win out in the end.
God designed men to be the protectors of their families, and it is no surprise that social research proves the functionality and health of this design. We would be wise to be intentional to instill this truth in our children.
While we as a culture and as Christians have a long way to go to regain the truth of God’s design for marriage and sexuality, it is encouraging to see little wins like this play out.
