This study examined whether negative stereotypes about feminists serve as a barrier to self‐identifying as a feminist. College women were exposed to positive stereotypes about feminists, negative stereotypes about feminists, or were not exposed to stereotypes about feminists (control condition) in a between‐participants design. Women who read a paragraph containing positive stereotypes about feminists were twice as likely to self‐identify as feminists as women in the control condition or the condition in which they read a paragraph containing negative stereotypes about feminists. Women exposed to positive feminist stereotypes had greater nontraditional gender‐role attitudes and performance self‐esteem compared to the no‐stereotype‐control condition.

This study examined the reactions of 207 undergraduate women (mean age=20.6, 91.3% White) from a Northeastern U.S. university to a scenario in which a feminist or non-feminist woman did or did not indicate that gender discrimination was the reason that she was passed over for a leadership role. Participants rated the feminist woman as less a victim of discrimination and as more of a complainer than the non-feminist woman. Participants also had a more positive impression of the woman and rated her as less of a complainer when discrimination was certain or ambiguous than when there was little evidence of discrimination. Discussion considers how a feminist label may lead to discounting the possibility of gender discrimination.