Views on feminism have become more complicated, politicised and contentious since our 2023 report, Consumers & Feminism. Many people (feminists and otherwise) express frustration at the backsliding of women’s rights, voicing concerns in pop culture and social media. Meanwhile, an increasingly vocal conservative-leaning cohort is encouraging women to prioritise family, motherhood and faith as an expression of their femininity.

Women’s health is at a crossroads: medical research is finally confronting longstanding gender biases, like the dismissal of women’s pain. Yet, global funding cuts to women’s health research and rollbacks of reproductive rights risk slowing progress. Brands are stepping up, from campaigns that display women’s bodies sensitively and candidly to emerging health devices that take women’s pain seriously.

In 2025, women represented 40% of the global workforce and 30% of managers – figures relatively unchanged over the past two decades (Ilostat, 2025). Yet, many women are feeling disillusioned with work, faced with an ongoing gender pay gap, competing caregiving responsibilities and disappearing flexibility. Consequently, some are rethinking career ambitions or leaving the workforce altogether.

Across life stages, women are renegotiating their relationships. Many young women increasingly approach conventional relationships – including boyfriends, marriage, and motherhood – with hesitation. Nevertheless, a majority continue to aspire to long‑term partnerships and a family, though many are reimagining the role and shape this takes in their lives – see Shrinking Households for more.

As awareness of gender‑based violence rises, action to protect women is accelerating. Countries are recognising femicide as a crime, and women are demanding better protection from femicide and physical and sexual violence by protesting. And brands are stepping in with practical safety solutions for women – from wearables to women‑only spaces.