What's in a Label? Judgments of Feminist Men and Feminist Women

Abstract

Although significant progress has been made on research concerning stereotypes of feminist women, very little is known about the stereotypes of feminist men. College students rated one of four terms—“feminist man,”“feminist woman,”“man,” or “woman.” Compared to “feminist woman,”“feminist man” was evaluated more positively, but as less potent (i.e., lower in stereotypically masculine characteristics) and less heterosexual. Although feminist man had the highest evaluative ratings of the four terms and was rated similarly in confidence to woman and man, compared to the other terms it was rated low in attractiveness and potency. These results suggest that at least on some dimensions a feminist man's masculinity may be questioned, which in turn may be a hindrance to men in adopting the feminist label.

If you're going to be a leader, at least act like it! Prejudice towards women who are tentative in leader roles

“…Such demonstrations are still likely to lead men to feel emasculated or humiliated, eliciting greater disapproval when enacted by a woman than a man. Furthermore, men's greater leeway to be non‐agentic in leadership roles is unlikely to extend to contexts where evidence of their masculinity can be more easily questioned, such as where they are advocating for a feminist cause (Anderson, ), or where they excel in ‘feminized’ roles not traditionally associated with male success (Heilman & Wallen, ).…”

By name or by deed? Identifying the source of the feminist stigma

“…For example, even though self‐identified feminists express lower levels of hostility toward men than do nonfeminists (Anderson, Kanner, & Elsayegh, ), the belief that feminists dislike men is pervasive (Aronson, ; Bellafante, ; Crossley, ; Huddy et al., ; Jackson, Fleury, & Lewandowski, ; Manago, Brown, & Leaper, ; Scharff, )—a belief that, if true, would preclude feminists from forging close relationships with men. Furthermore, despite research indicating that the majority of self‐identified feminists are in stable, romantic relationships with men (Percy & Kremer, ; Rudman & Phelan, ), feminists are perceived as far more likely than other women to be lesbians (Anderson, ; Crossley, ; Rudman & Fairchild, ; Scharff, ; Swim, Ferguson, & Hyers, ; Twenge & Zucker, ). Furthermore, about half of men and women believe that feminists disrespect mothers and housewives (Bellafante, ; Huddy et al., ); this antifamily stereotype operates in tandem with the perception that feminists are likely to achieve their career goals at the expense of their family lives (Rickabaugh, ).…”

Feminist or Paternalistic: Understanding Men’s Motivations to Confront Sexism

“…Our samples are limited to Spanish college students. In recent years, gender issues have become an important political agenda topic in Spain (Grodira et al, 2018), so despite the feminist stigma (Anderson, 2009;Anastosopoulos and Desmarais, 2015), feminist identification is rising in Spain (Álvarez, 2018;Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas [Sociological Research Center], 2018). Thus, it would be important to replicate these results in other countries, as well as to study these processes with the general population to see if they can be generalized.…”