The Fifth Wave? Feminism in an Age of Polarization

Between Liberation and Longing: How Feminism is Being Rewritten by Gen Z, Tradwives, and the Algorithm

Is Feminism Splintering?

We’re living in a strange moment for gender politics. On one side, younger generations are embracing fluid identities, sexual liberation, and feminist discourse at unprecedented rates. On the other, a growing number of young people, particularly young men are being pulled into far-right, anti-feminist ideologies at an alarming pace.

But there’s another, more complicated development: young women who reject modern feminism in favour of "traditional" gender roles, romanticizing domesticity with viral trends like "day in the life of a stay-at-home girlfriend" or "aspiring trad wife."

Is this the fifth wave of feminism? one defined not just by progress, but by a cultural tug-of-war between liberation and nostalgia?

Feminism has historically evolved through waves, each wave corresponding to major political, social, and economic shifts. The first wave, emerging in the 19th and early 20th centuries, fought for women’s suffrage and legal recognition. The second wave, from the 1960s to the 1980s, took on workplace discrimination, reproductive rights, and broader patriarchal structures. The third wave brought attention to intersectionality, race, class, and gender identity offering a critique of the whiteness and middle-class orientation of earlier feminism. The fourth wave, often considered ongoing, is marked by digital activism, #MeToo, and inclusive discourse on trans rights and bodily autonomy.

What’s unfolding now feels like a disruption rather than a continuation. If a fifth wave is emerging, it’s not marked by a cohesive mission, but by fragmentation. Among Gen Z, many young feminists are embracing radical politics that go far beyond the institutional feminism of past decades. Trans rights, queer liberation, abolitionist politics, and anti-capitalist critiques of gender norms have taken centre stage for this cohort. There is growing distrust of corporate feminism, as well as a sharper awareness of how systems of capitalism, patriarchy, and colonialism intersect to shape lived experience. Many younger feminists are not merely asking for inclusion in existing structures, they’re challenging the legitimacy of those structures altogether.

At the same time, a different current is pulling young men and in some cases young women toward reactionary ideologies that frame feminism as the problem. Anti-feminist influencers offer simple explanations for complex problems, encouraging disaffected young men to see feminism as the cause of their economic frustration, romantic rejection, or cultural displacement. Online spaces; from incel forums to YouTube channels, peddle a kind of digital masculinity rooted in resentment and hierarchy. Figures like Andrew Tate have made misogyny both marketable and algorithmically viral, offering the illusion of empowerment to those who feel ignored or invisible.

But the backlash isn’t only coming from the right. A quieter, more aesthetic rejection of feminism is also emerging, particularly among some young women who are embracing a return to “traditional” gender roles. The so-called “tradwife” movement, popularised on TikTok and Instagram, doesn’t present itself as explicitly political but it carries a powerful ideological undertone. These creators often present a romanticised version of domestic life, filled with soft lighting, handmade bread, and curated femininity. Some frame it as an antidote to the burnout and overwhelm of modern life, rejecting the notion that feminist liberation means pursuing corporate careers or performing the exhausting balancing act of "having it all."

For these women, feminism is often seen as having promised equality but delivered only more work, more stress, and less joy. Rather than pushing for systemic reform, the tradwife trend represents an escapist response choosing retreat over resistance. But this is not simply about personal preference. It taps into broader currents of economic anxiety and political disillusionment. Many young people today face precarious gig work, unaffordable housing, and a crisis of meaning. In this context, both far-right backlash and romantic traditionalism become attractive not necessarily because they offer real solutions, but because they offer a coherent narrative, a sense of identity, and a clear (if false) enemy.

This moment also reveals deep intergenerational tensions within feminism. Many older feminists who fought for legal and workplace equality now hold positions of institutional power in media, academia, and NGOs. But younger feminists are often critical of these structures, arguing that representation within a broken system is not liberation. They are more likely to question carceral approaches to justice, challenge the corporatisation of feminist rhetoric, and resist any vision of feminism that doesn’t explicitly include racial justice, climate collapse, and economic inequality. The generational divide is not simply about tactics, it reflects a deeper schism in worldviews.

The internet and its algorithms have played a central role in accelerating these divides. Feminist ideas are often reduced to clickbait or outrage fodder. On platforms that reward polarization, nuance is a liability. Creators who frame feminism as the enemy or as obsolete gain more engagement than those who grapple with its complexities. Meanwhile, the feminist movement itself lacks a unified front. It is stretched thin between radical transformation and institutional reform, between intersectional coalition-building and ideological gatekeeping.

So, is this a fifth wave of feminism? Possibly! but only if we’re willing to redefine what a “wave” means. Previous waves were mobilised around shared demands and cohesive activism. Today’s feminist landscape is fractured, multipolar, and contradictory. Some are fighting for prison abolition, trans liberation, and systemic overhaul. Others are rejecting feminism entirely either as a failed promise or as a force of coercion. Still others are working within the system, seeking incremental progress and cultural change.

If a fifth wave exists, it is not unified by common goals, but by the reality that feminism is being contested more fiercely and more visibly than ever. It is a battlefield, not a movement. And on that battlefield, feminist ideas are expanding, morphing, and coming under attack from all sides. Whether this fragmentation leads to collapse or renewal remains to be seen.

What’s clear is that feminism will have to adapt to survive. That means taking seriously the anxieties and frustrations that are driving people away from it; not to validate reactionary ideologies, but to understand the social and economic conditions that make them appealing. It also means resisting the temptation to dismiss younger feminists’ critiques as naive or divisive. Their insistence on systemic change may be the movement’s best hope for staying relevant in a world increasingly shaped by crisis.

Feminism isn’t dying! But it is being tested. The question isn’t whether it can win against backlash, but whether it can evolve without fracturing entirely.

What do you think? Is this a fifth wave or just chaos?