400 years ago, the average person did not have the information or need to develop a coherent viewpoint on gender dynamics or Middle Eastern politics. Now connectivity and knowledge is not only power, but the catalyst for differentiation of identity as well.
The formation of a distinct identity requires enough pressure to dissent with society (or more importantly, dissent with yourself) and the information to decide wisely, but it’s difficult to manage without a bottleneck to avoid constantly being shoved between new opinions.