Helping or Hurting?: Understanding Women’s Perceptions of Male Allies

Cheng, Shannon; Ng, Linnea; Traylor, Allison; King, Eden B.

doi:10.25035/pad.2019.02.006

Cited by 49 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Assessing LGBTQ people’s perspectives and experiences in light of online social media activism is an important area of inquiry, given marginalized groups’ perceptions of ally behavior are largely absent from allyship and activism research (cf. Cheng et al, 2019). From these data, we draw the conclusion that if a filter user’s goal is to communicate support to those targeted by the filter, the gesture appears to be working as intended.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facebook LGBTQ Pictivism: The Effects of Women’s Rainbow Profile Filters on Sexual Prejudice and Online Belonging

Matsick

Kim

Kruk

2020

Psychology of Women Quarterly

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Facebook’s rainbow profile filter represents a popular display of activism (“pictivism”) commonly used by women, yet little is known of pictivism’s potential for creating social change. We tested whether women’s group status (belonging to a dominant vs. marginalized group) and filter use influenced viewers’ perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. We conducted a series of 2 (target sexual orientation: queer or heterosexual) × 2 (filter use: filter or no filter) experiments with heterosexual ( N 1 = 198, N 2 = 186) and LGBTQ ( N 3 = 290) participants. Participants rated women who used rainbow filters as more activist than women who did not engage in pictivism. Although neither target sexual orientation nor filter use influenced participants’ ally behavior (donations), heterosexual people who viewed a woman using a filter reported greater closeness to LGBTQ people and greater intentions of supporting LGBTQ people when the woman was queer than heterosexual. Exposure to rainbow filters caused LGBTQ participants to express greater online and societal belonging than when filters were absent. Taken together, women’s pictivism and the online visibility of queer women yielded some psychological benefits for heterosexual and LGBTQ viewers. If the goal of pictivism is to enhance marginalized groups’ feelings of support, it works as intended. We thus recommend that both heterosexual and LGBTQ people who care about LGBTQ rights and seek to affirm LGBTQ individuals’ sense of belonging embrace opportunities on social media, specifically through profile picture filters, to communicate their support. Additional online materials for this article are available on PWQ ’s website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0361684320930566

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facebook LGBTQ Pictivism: The Effects of Women’s Rainbow Profile Filters on Sexual Prejudice and Online Belonging

Matsick

Kim

Kruk

2020

Psychology of Women Quarterly

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…If the nature and extent of gender inequities are perceived differently by men and women (Basford et al, 2014), it is likely that the nature of, need for, and usefulness of interventions to combat gender inequity, such as, male allyship behaviors, may also be viewed differently by men and women. Yet, much past research examines either the women's or men's perspectives, but not both (e.g., Anicha et al, 2015;Cheng et al, 2019). Understanding allyship simultaneously from both perspectives allows insight into strategies that carry appeal across both, and identify strategies that are favored by one and not the other, expanding our understanding of genderbased preferences and norms in allyship behaviors.…”

Section: Dominant Versus Marginalized Group Perspectives Of Allyshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Going beyond good colleagues: Men’s and women’s perspectives on allyship behaviors toward women faculty in male-dominated disciplines in academia

Warren¹,

Bordoloi²

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Allyship is increasingly viewed as a crucial practice to address social and economic inequities faced by marginalized groups. However, little research explores how dominant group members can behave as allies and what marginalized group individuals consider as valuable. Research shows that women faculty in male-dominated academic disciplines regularly experience gendered microaggressions and sexism. In this study, using qualitative narratives from 202 female and male faculty in male-dominated academic departments, we explore women’s experiences as recipients of allyship, and men’s experiences engaging in allyship. Further, we compare narratives about and from men considered ‘good colleagues’ versus ‘exceptional allies.’ The findings reveal that good colleagues engage in an array of interpersonally supportive allyship behaviors (e.g., active listening). In contrast, exceptional allies go beyond them by undertaking consequential and conspicuous actions on behalf of women (e.g., impression promotion), a set of behaviors we term as visible advocacy. These have the potential to not only bolster women but also shift institutional culture. By exploring the range of allyship behaviors engaged in by men and viewed by women as valuable, we highlight implications for literature on gender equity and allyship. This study carries practical implications for men who desire to become better allies to women.

show abstract

“…While we argue that ally training is associated with a number of benefits, there are also limitations worthy of acknowledgment. First, allies may cause harm despite having positive intentions (Cheng et al, 2019). Some members of stigmatized or marginalized groups may prefer to avoid situations that have the potential to elicit any kind of negative response or that may direct greater attention around their identity; allies may then defeat their own purpose if they are not thoughtful in their actions.…”

Section: Limitations Of Allies and Ally Trainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The term ally was originally grounded within the lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGBT) community, describing individuals of majority-group sexual identities who strive to combat the oppression faced by those of stigmatized sexual identities through support and advocacy (Washington & Evans, 1991). However, the term has more recently come to refer to identities beyond sexuality, in that any individual of a majority-group, nonstigmatized identity engaging in supportive behaviors on behalf of individuals of marginalized populations may be considered an ally (e.g., male allies advocating for women, Cheng et al, 2019; White allies advocating for racial minorities, Patton & Bondi, 2015). Empirical examinations of the effectiveness of allies suggests that indeed, through the acknowledgment of one's privilege and the concerted application of that advantage, allies can effectively confront prejudice (Czopp & Monteith, 2003;Martinez et al, 2017) and alter prejudiced attitudes relative to target individuals (Stangor et al, 2001).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although confronting prejudice when witnessed is a focal aspect of allyship (e.g., Martinez et al, 2017), allies are also concerned with fostering an inclusive environment in which identity-based mistreatment is prevented in the first place. Such proactive, rather than reactive, behaviors can include the provision of developmental opportunities for target individuals, amplification of target voice, mentoring behaviors, and the development and support of relevant workplace policies (Cheng et al, 2019). Accordingly, ally training may indeed be more effective than simple bystander intervention to the extent that it can more holistically address issues relevant to the presence and enactment of discrimination and harassment.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Together we stand: Ally training for discrimination and harassment reduction

Gardner

Alanis

2020

Ind. Organ. Psychol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Both identity-based discrimination and harassment continue to pervade workplaces (Colella et al., 2017), creating a barrier for organizations attempting to foster an inclusive environment for their workers who are a part of stigmatized or marginalized groups. One potential organizational-level response to such behaviors is training, although empirical evaluations suggest that such efforts may be associated with limited effectiveness (Bezrukova et al., 2012). Accordingly, in their focal article, Hayes et al. (2020) present a number of broad topics and research questions aimed to highlight areas in which sexual harassment and racial discrimination training may become more effectual. In this commentary, we put forth ally training as an alternative approach that may address a number of the identified topics and suggest that such training efforts may prove a potentially promising avenue toward the development of a more inclusive organization.

show abstract

Helping or Hurting?: Understanding Women’s Perceptions of Male Allies

Cited by 49 publications

References 0 publications

Facebook LGBTQ Pictivism: The Effects of Women’s Rainbow Profile Filters on Sexual Prejudice and Online Belonging

Facebook LGBTQ Pictivism: The Effects of Women’s Rainbow Profile Filters on Sexual Prejudice and Online Belonging

Going beyond good colleagues: Men’s and women’s perspectives on allyship behaviors toward women faculty in male-dominated disciplines in academia

Together we stand: Ally training for discrimination and harassment reduction

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About