Gender Equality Attitudes in the EU: Assessing the Effect of the Gender Debate Politicization

A threat of anti-gender backlash and its connection to the broader phenomenon of illiberalism in Europe calls for a more detailed look into the topic of public approval of gender equality. Contrary to the proponents of the modernisation theory, the global value change towards post-materialist values has been stymied by anti-gender campaigns and regressive reproductive rights reforms in several EU countries. I ask, what factors influence citizens’ attitudes on gendered policy issues? Insofar as research has looked into the individual-level effects and country-level differences, it has mostly overlooked the role of the media and public debate salience. Previous literature on cross-country divergence in the EU has found that gender equality attitudes can be successfully explained by factors such as the country’s religious composition and the degree of modernisation. However, it is unclear whether the media’s agenda-setting function in EU countries affects public attitudes towards gender equality. Could the increasing salience and politicisation of such debates influence how people feel about gendered policies, and if yes, does the tone of the coverage and a media outlet of choice also play a role? Using several rounds of survey data for public opinion on gendered policies and media coverage of these topics in the media, this paper investigates the effects of increasing public salience and prominence of gender equality, i.e., politicisation, on gender equality attitudes in several EU Member States. The multi-level analysis further bridges the gap between public opinion and politicisation literature by providing empirical evidence on the causal mechanisms of anti-gender backlash in the EU.