Is there a generational gap?

 Is this a sign that the young have won over the old and their outdated culture? Why are the lines drawn so sharply in the debate? And is it a generational issue?

Yes, there is a generation gap in the debate, says Bjarke Oxlund, who researches gender,
gender equality and body culture at the University of Copenhagen.

To understand the gap, we must first look at what the warring generations are made of.

Those who think Me Too is out of proportion.
According to Bjarke Oxlund, a large part belongs to a generation that grew up with different ideals of equality and a different view of gender and gender identity.

The archetype of this generation is a woman who have been brought up to push a hand off their thigh without complaining, as they work their way to the top.

Pia Kjærsgaard the Danish politician has repeatedly mocked the #MeToo movement, and she called Sofie Linde "a victim" when she talked about a sexual violation, she experienced while working at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR).

Theis generation grew up knowing societies authorities to be men. Equality meant being able to do whatever men did and ability to occupy the same job positions as men. And then sexual comments and touching were "just part of the package", explains Bjarke Oxlund.

You could say that the women's advocates of the past "manned up". The younger generation doesn't want that, he says.

Bjarke Oxlund emphasizes that his portrayal of the generations is a caricature.
On the other side is the group demanding an end to sexual comments and touching at work.

These young women have been brought up to believe that girls and boys can and should do the same things. It's something they take seriously, says Bjarke Oxlund.

For the younger generation, gender equality is not just about women being able to occupy the top positions in society.

Nor will they put up with being referred to in offensive terms or being physically touched by their male bosses or colleagues. It's their body, and no matter how they dress, no one has the right to comment on it or touch it unsolicited.

- We have a generation - and generations to come - who have been brought up with a universe of rights that they believe in and insist on asserting," says Bjarke Oxlund.

Bjarke Oxlund points to the debater Louise Kjølsen, also known as the Twerk Queen, as a symbol of the generation gap put to the fore.

- The older generation will say: What did you expect? You walk around in a jumpsuit and shake your bottom all the time. You must expect sexual comments to be made," he says.

But the Twerk Queen will argue that: "It's my body and I can do whatever I want with it. The fact that I'm dancing and putting myself out there doesn't give you the right to comment on it or touch it.”

- "The older generation may find it difficult to understand that a young woman can go to a sex club and experiment sexually, while she finds it really transgressive to be grabbed on the thigh by her boss at the Christmas party," says Bjarke Oxlund.

According to Camilla Møhring Reestorff, Associate Professor of Culture and Media at Aarhus University, who has researched media coverage of MeToo, the sharply drawn lines is due to the older generation not seeing sexism as such a big problem.

- It was an integral part of their working lives, and having sexism articulated as a problem is new to them, even though it may have been a problem in their own workplaces, she says.

Instead, this group often highlights other equality struggles, such as abortion rights and equal access to the labor market and power in society.

It can be difficult to understand that the fight against sexism can be an extension of these struggles. But it is, according to Camilla Møhring Reestorff.

Being subjected to sexism in the workplace makes you not want to speak up and deprives you of the ability to act freely in the workplace.

- Sexism is a more subtle form of power. And in that sense, you can see it as a great extension of previous struggles because it's about equal opportunities and equal access to participate in the workplace, in society and to power," she says, emphasizing that not all young people support the #MeToo movement support the #MeToo movement and not all older people are against it.

But does this mean that the "young have won over the old and their culture", as Frank Jensen (S) was asked at the press conference?

- No, says Camilla Møhring Reestorff.

But the fact that one of the politicians in the Danish Capital Copenhagen has stepped down as Lord Mayor can be seen as an expression of a change in power dynamics.