Study Shows Even “Good” Sexism is Bad

When it comes to sexism, most people would agree on some things: it’s bad to pay women less than men for the same job for example, or it’s wrong to assume that men are smarter than women in science and math. But what about some of the so-called “good” kinds of sexism? For example, is it bad for a man to offer assistance to a woman having trouble carrying a heavy box? Or to push a woman behind him, unasked, when a threat is seen? Such questions might seem obvious to some, but not to Peter Glick and Susan Fiske, two social-psychology researchers who together have written a paper called “Ambivalent Sexism Revisited” which has been published by the Psychology of Women Quarterly . In it, they argue that “good” sexism isn’t really as good as it might seem.

Benevolent sexism, as they call it, can lead to feelings in people of both genders of some bit of inherent superiority in men or that men have for one reason or another greater competence in some areas than do women. And whether these feelings are harmful or not, it can lead to the existence of a subtle inequality that can distort how men and women view the “fairer” sex in other areas where it’s not so welcomed.

The two researchers have developed a vehicle for testing their hypotheses; a questionnaire they created some 20 years ago they call the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI), which they say measures both hostile and benevolent sexism in those that take it. Over the past two decades the ASI has been given to thousands of people all over the planet, by the authors and by others interested in obtaining data.

After reading and applying statistics to the answers people have given on the ASI, the authors write that they have come to see certain patterns in how people view women and their role in society. For example, they say they have found that people in societies that are known to be hostile to women, such as some areas of Iran, Iraq, Russia and China, almost always also score very high on both hostile and benevolent sexism, suggesting that in many cultures the two go hand in hand. This is because, as the authors point out, benevolence is only observed when women conform to the idealistic standards that have been created for them to live up to in order to merit such benevolent treatment.

To back up their opinions the authors also cite numerous studies that have shown such things as women feeling less confidant in their abilities in the work place when benevolent sexism is present. The result they say is generally lower than expected performance levels and unhappy workers.


People also view

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *