Paris Demetriades
What is happening with teenage and young men in our country, and across Europe more broadly? Are we returning to an era of radicalization and a revival of the old, brutal, and merciless patriarchy? While black-and-white declarations are ill-advised, certain disturbing and deeply troubling trends are emerging among the new generation of men, trends that should not go unremarked.
Take, for example, the unprecedented rocket war in Larnaca, both in terms of intensity and sheer hatred, in the early hours of this year’s deeply symbolic Holy Saturday. It became painfully clear that it was a miracle no one was killed. As was pointedly noted in a post by the police officers' union “Equality” on the platform “X,” the homemade explosive devices that rained down and turned the area into a war zone were essentially “attempted murders.”
And although it was an accident, we did have a fatality in Nicosia this Easter, just 22 years old, crushed by a wooden pole meant for the traditional Easter bonfire. Meanwhile, a deep chill swept through, and I want to believe still sweeps through, any remotely rational person at the sight of signs depicting LGBTQ individuals and politicians being symbolically thrown into the fire to burn. The symbolism is shocking, grotesque. And it’s not an exaggeration to say that if our society continues to spiral at this deranged pace, it won’t be long before the signs and photographs thrown into the flames are replaced by actual human beings.
On a broader level, it’s worth recalling the very justified reaction to the powerful series Adolescence, a groundbreaking work of art that sounds the alarm on the issues troubling today’s teenagers. Relevant too are recent studies that have come to light.
According to research published in The Guardian, boys and men belonging to Generation Z, those currently aged roughly 15 to 27, are more likely than much older generations, like the baby boomers, to believe that feminism is “a bad and harmful thing.” At the same time, and according to the same research, repugnant, misogynistic figures like the degenerate known as Andrew Tate enjoy, unfortunately, massive popularity among young people, despite facing heinous charges including rape and sexual assault.
Attempting to make sense of the issue in light of this year’s Easter chaos in Cyprus, Professor of Psychology at the University of Cyprus, Panayiotis Stavrinides, told the radio program Diaspora News: “Why aren’t we happy? It’s the foreigners’ fault. Why don’t we have the opportunities we wish we had? All politicians are the same. Who can solve our problems best? An extreme ideology that offers quick, easy explanations and answers: Deport them all, throw them all in jail, hang the politicians, and that’s the end of it.”
And how can this be turned around? asked journalist Oriana Papantoniou. Change, Professor Stavrinides said, can only come by raising a new generation of people. A generation with better representations and greater empathy.
What will become of today’s young generation remains an open question.
