Print

Roy, Robin E.

Psychology

2005

PhD

Sexism continues to be a common experience for women in today's society. Despite the fact that women have negative reactions to experiences of sexism, they often do not directly confront the perpetrators of sexism. Failure to confront sexism may lead to its perpetuation. Women who identify as a feminist may be more likely to confront sexism than women who do not identify as a feminist. However, the majority of women do not label themselves as a feminist despite having feminist attitudes. Negative stereotypes about feminists and negative attitudes toward them are pervasive. These negative stereotypes and attitudes may discourage self-identification as a feminist. In addition, although feminist women may be more likely to confront sexism, they may also be more likely to be perceived negatively when they make a claim of discrimination. In two studies, this dissertation examines barriers to self-identifying as a feminist and perceptions of a feminist woman who makes a claim of discrimination. In study 1, women who were exposed to positive stereotypes about feminists were more likely to label themselves as a feminist than were women who were exposed to negative stereotypes about feminists or a control condition in which women were not exposed to positive or negative stereotypes. Exposure to the positive stereotypes nearly doubled the percentage of women who labeled themselves a feminist relative to the control group and the group exposed to negative stereotypes. Study 1 also demonstrated that women who read. a paragraph containing positive stereotypes about feminists were more likely to endorse nontraditional gender roles and had higher performance state self esteem than were women who were exposed to the control condition. In study 2, a feminist woman who expressed her discontent with a bad grade was perceived less positively and as more of a complainer than was a non-feminist woman in the same situation. This occurred regardless of whether the feminist woman said that the evaluator's gender discrimination or the evaluator's tough standards was the reason for the poor grade. Additionally, participants were less likely to recognize discrimination as a possible cause for the feminist woman's bad grade than they were for the non-feminist woman's bad grade. Taken together, these studies provide empirical evidence that stereotypes about feminists playa role in women's willingness-to self-identify as a feminist, and that a feminist woman can expect to incur social costs if she expresses her discontent with a negative outcome. Additionally, participants discounted the possibility of discrimination as a contributing factor of a feminist woman's negative outcome. Future research should examine whether awareness of the social costs of confronting discrimination or other unfair treatment inhibits feminist women from confronting sexism in certain situations.