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A lot of my research lately has focused on ambivalent sexism (wiki it, itâs good reading). The basic idea is that sexist men have both hostile and benevolent sexist ideas about women, and that these are relegated to different subtypes of women to prevent psychological conflict.
Why do I mention this? Well Iâve been thinking about the Nice Guy
. The best example I can give of ambivalent sexism is the Nice Guy.
. The best example I can give of ambivalent sexism is the Nice Guy.
Nice Guys exhibit benevolent sexism, thinking they treat women well bc they idolise them. Theyâll be doting, complimentary & chivalrous, but when a woman declines to fulfil their heterosexual needs, they become hostile, slut shaming, & accuse women of being sexual manipulators.
exhibit benevolent sexism, thinking they treat women well bc they idolise them. Theyâll be doting, complimentary & chivalrous, but when a woman declines to fulfil their heterosexual needs, they become hostile, slut shaming, & accuse women of being sexual manipulators.
This is because theyâve mentally broken women into good and bad subtypes to fit their ambivalent sexism (lit. 2 opposing types of sexism). âGood womenâ, women who fulfil hetero notions of purity & traditional gender roles, receive all their benevolent sexism, thus theyâre adored.
But when a woman declines their sexual advances, they perceive that rejection as evidence that woman is a âcockteaseâ or sexual manipulator, instantly reclassifying her into a disliked subtype, activating his hostile sexism. The woman has proven sheâs just another slut using him.
Women have instinctively known for a long time that these men arenât to be trusted, even when theyâre bestowing their benevolence. But for men who just see a mate trying to be nice, it can be hard to understand why so many women donât trust the Nice Guy.
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Ultimately, both forms of sexism are incredibly damaging to gender equity. Hostile sexism is just outright unpleasant, while benevolent sexism enforces an idea that women need to behave a certain way to deserve being treated well.
Research has also shown that women who encounter benevolent sexism suffer mental processing and productivity decreases as a result of it.
The research (Dardenne et la, 2007) showed women who encountered benevolent sexism in job interviews underperformed in recruitment tasks compared to women who encountered hostile or no sexism bc their working memory was overtaxed.
The researchers believe this is because women experiencing benevolent sexism (âThe men know a woman will be starting & are willing to help youâ) canât easily discern whether itâs misexpressed genuine good intentions or genuine sexism, which fills their working memory up.
So there you go. Even âniceâ sexism is super shitty and demonstrably detrimental. Happy Wednesday!
Oh hey look at this great example of ambivalent sexism. I bet the person who wrote @golrizghahraman this message thinks they love women â just not women who fit into the incorrect subtypes (like women with opinions) https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/121951204/green-mp-golriz-ghahraman-versus-the-online-trolls
Oh hey look, another really clear example of ambivalent sexism â this one involving an actor from the Expanse https://twitter.com/zhiana/status/1275912801647616000?s=20
