Are Gen Z Guys OK?

Monday, March 09, 2026

I have two daughters, who are seven and 10 years old. Like most parents, I worry about the world in which they'll become adults—their economic opportunities, their safety, their happiness. Last week, a study came out with fresh information about the ways young men view women. Now I'm even more worried for my daughters. Below, you can read what the study tells us about Gen Z guys and why they might hold these views.

– Michael Sebastian, editor-in-chief

Plus:

Whoa, Gen Z Guys, Are You Okay?

Is this what happens when a generation is raised on podcasts?

Feeling like things in America are divided right now? Turns out, it's not just here. In a survey of 23,000 people from 29 countries, more than half the participants—52 percent—agree that "when it comes to giving women equal rights with men, things have gone far enough in my country."

According to the recent survey out of King's College London, the number of those who agree with that sentiment has increased by 10 percent in just seven years. Seems that traditional gender roles are more popular than I thought, increasingly so in the United States. In 2019, just one-third of Americans surveyed agreed. In 2026, 40 percent did. This prompts a serious question, one we've been pondering at Esquire for years: What the hell is going on with Gen Z?

This shows a trend that's consistent across the study. When compared with older generations—even with boomers, whose anti-woke opinions make them young leftists' favorite punching bag—younger generations are returning to more traditional beliefs about women's roles. There's a lot to unpack here.

READ THE STORY

You know it's Sleep Week, right? Sam Peters helps you score Black Friday-level discounts on mattresses from Esquire's favorite brands. >>
"Fresh" may be an overused adjective for colognes, but some actually deserve that description. Garrett Munce and Bellamy Richardson list the men's fragrances you need before summer begins. >>

5 Under-the-Radar Suit Brands That Every Man Should Know

The Under-the-Radar Suit Brands That Every Man Should Know

It's easier than ever to buy a suit. Mall mainstays like J. Crew make very good ones in a range of fits, with a seasonally rotating selection of new and interesting cloths. Affordable specialists like Suitsupply and Spier & Mackay offer impressive quality while pricing everything from two-button jackets to full-fledged tuxedos for far less than it seems they should be able to. And there's no shortage of direct-to-consumer brands (Proper Cloth is a favorite of ours) with such an array of sizes that you can tune in your fit to near perfection—though you should still visit an alterationist to ensure that your suit is nipped and tucked for your unique body shape. Now that every guy can get his hands on a great-looking suit that he's wearing not because he has to but because he wants to, how is the devoted fan of tailoring supposed to stand apart from the pack?

To help you in that endeavor, we've pulled together this list of tailored-clothing brands that have yet to pop up on the radar of your average suit-buying bro. If you're a style hound, you may have heard of a couple of them—but we're betting you can still learn a thing or two from this list.

By Jonathan Evans

Who Is Harry Styles, Anyway? Even He's Not Sure.

Harry Styles's fourth album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, is thrilling if you aren't paying much attention to it. It features a palate of radical sonics that would sound more at home on, say, the left-of-center release from a half-famous member of pop's middle class than the follow-up to an Album of the Year-winning record from one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.

Though Occasionally is not the dance album that its first single, "Aperture," and title seemed to predict (only one other track, "Carla's Song," has a club-ready BPM), all around there is uncommon depth and detail on the album's low end, a rarity for a pop star vehicle. The bass on "Aperture" might sound right at home on a giant sound system, which seems to be exactly the point. On an album that was calculated to provoke chin strokes and elliptical observations of, "Interesting…," Styles has the least compelling presence. Aside from a handful of soaring bro-ish choruses (whose overall net effect neutralizes the album's overall oddness) and a few attempts at Thom Yorke-style ethereality, Styles sings on Occasionally mostly without much affect, like he's too cool for consciousness.

Rich Juzwiak