Unless you have been living under a rock, you most certainly already know that conservative politics have regained dominance over the Western world in recent years and the recession era of liberal politics has been seemingly banished.
Though there is certainly an argument to be made that conservatism never went away to begin with, there is no denying that it has crawled its way back into every aspect of our lives, from the politicians that wield global power to the short videos that we swipe through on our phones.
The political pendulum has swung and for many parts of the world, conservatism has reclaimed its place as the social norm.
We do not have significant individual power to prevent these major cultural shifts towards the right. Of course, I support and encourage everybody to vote, to organise and to get politically involved in the causes they care about, but I also think it’s incredibly difficult to counteract the enticing narrative that conservative ideology feeds to those who are already vulnerable, particularly those of lower income.
With the rising cost of living being felt globally, an increasing amount of people are unsure of how they can provide for themselves and their families. This leads to desperation and desperation leads to anger. Anger leads to needing someone to blame, someone to point your finger at and say “you did this! This is your fault!”. And conservatism conveniently always has someone, or more specifically some group, ready for you to blame.
It’s a vicious cycle and by no means do I condone those who fall into this virulent rhetoric and direct hatred towards vulnerable minorities, whether its immigrants, people of colour, LGBTQ+ communities or people on social welfare.
However what I am interested in is how this rise of conservative ideology has presented itself within the younger generations, in particular the ways not immediately obvious to us.
When I describe this rise of global conservatism, you may be thinking that Ireland is excluded from this narrative due to the fact that we do not have a right-wing government or any major far-right party in parliament (Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are both considered centre or centre-right). But this parliamentary makeup has not made young Irish people immune to the spread of cultural conservatism across social media platforms.
Platforms such as TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) have of course been breeding grounds for right-wing disinformation that aims to demonise various minority groups, from immigrants to transgender people. Without understating the harm this type of content can inflict, the politically motivated intent of these posts is typically more obvious to regular users and easier for us to identify as malicious.
But a new form of social media content has emerged in the form of lifestyle influencers, who promote conservative ideology through the medium of seemingly innocuous daily TikTok videos.
Some of these influencers present as “tradwives”, women who make content about being stay at home mothers and homemakers. They glamorise and romanticise their lives as women who stay home as full time parents, while conveniently never disclosing the significant financial gains they make from posting this content.
These tradwives never address in their content the difficult reality of raising children full-time or being financially dependent on your spouse – because these realities do not exist for them.
These creators have millions of followers, many of whom are young impressionable girls. Nara Smith, one of the most popular tradwives on TikTok, has 11.5 million followers alone.
Cultural conservatism has also presented itself in the form of various social media trends, a perfect example being the “old money” aesthetic which was popularised on TikTok in 2023. The old money trend is centered around the aesthetic of trying to emulate the appearance of somebody who comes from immense generational wealth. This fashion trend, with its more modest clothing style, aspirations of wealth and class division, and historically white-centered connotations, is a prime case of how conservative undertones have managed to disguise themselves behind Gen Z social media phenomenons.
People may argue that this old money aesthetic is just another harmless TikTok trend that is being blown out of proportion. But that rebuttal falls flat when you see a room full of Trump-supporting influencers sporting that exact style at a recent inauguration party, as reported by New York magazine.
I’m certainly not implying that all people who engage in this style trend are conservatives, but a clear link has no doubt been established between conservatism and this “luxury” aesthetic.
The rise of disinformation surrounding female birth control is also a symptom of the wider cultural conservatism Gen Z is experiencing. Claims about the oral contraceptive pill causing negative health consequences have spread like wildfire across social media platforms. The common allegations include that the pill makes you gain weight, affects your fertility and even causes cancer. These claims have little to no scientific or medical basis and yet creators have amassed massive followings from sharing this misleading content.
This disinformation is having tangible real-world consequences for young women and the decisions they make regarding their bodies. Though Ireland hasn’t experienced a decline in the number of young women taking the pill, likely attributed to the recent introduction of free contraception for women between 17 and 25, the same cannot be said for our neighbours across the pond.
There has been a significant decline in the number of women with oral contraception prescriptions in England, Scotland and Wales. As a probable consequence, the three countries have reported record high numbers of abortions, with 67,000 more abortions being carried out in England and Wales in 2022 than in 2012. Dr Sue Mann, the NHS clinical director for women’s health, described online misinformation about the pill as a “real cause for concern”.
The rhetoric is just another example of how conservatism and its opposition to female reproductive autonomy has managed to creep its way into the popular narratives of Gen Z.
I am not here to police my peers about the content they consume or the trends they choose to follow, but I do urge that my generation remain cognizant of the potentially wider message that the content they engage with may be trying to send. You might say that you’re “just a girl”, but I’m confident you’re also capable of critical thinking.
