Misconceptions Research Project: The Misconception of Feminist Women's Negative Attitudes Towards Men
Students in Dr. Emily Stark’s Introduction to Social Psychology course complete a research project where they identify a misconception related to psychology, conduct both background research and an empirical project measuring belief in that misconception, and summarize their findings in a short blog post paper. The goal of this assignment is to build student research skills as well as showcase the importance of thinking critically about information encountered in the media or in popular culture. This post shares one of the final blog papers created for this project. For more information on this project, just use the contact page to contact Dr. Stark.
By Marley Jackson
For as long as the feminist movement has existed, there have been many misconceptions about what it stands for and who feminists are. Among these, the most prevalent and enduring myth still believed by many is that feminists hold negative attitudes towards men. Beliefs such as this have been spread and used to dismantle the feminist movement and what it works to accomplish for women and for every person in our patriarchal societies. One common example of this playing out in real life is when people call feminist women “man-haters”. More stereotypes alongside this one are that all feminist women are lesbians that are obnoxious, cold, and unfeminine. These negative portrayals have been used by groups that promote misogyny to oppose gender-equality and justify acts of harm and violence. Evidence has shown that this message then reduces women’s willingness to identify as feminists due to a fear of being associated with the negative stereotypes attached to the label (David, 2023). To further change through this movement and encourage more individuals to join the cause, it is vital that these types of views are disregarded so the true message and positive actions can shine through. In this research paper, the harmful myth of feminist misandry will be refuted.
Despite the small number of studies done on the issue, three eye-opening research articles will be referenced to summarize previous findings. One study examines the misconception directly using the Attitudes Towards Men measure. Contrary to the stereotype, findings revealed that feminists reported lower levels of hostility towards men than non-feminists (Anderson et al., 2009). They expected this to be the case because traditional non-feminist women are more likely to hold more gender-role ideology, be more dependent on men, and be more frustrated and subordinated by male dominance. Another article titled, The Misandry Myth, summarized 6 studies to examine whether the belief is accurate or not, finding similar results to the article mentioned above. Most notably, it was found that feminist women were no more negative toward men than men in general were. This study also found a falsely perceived belief that feminists see men and women as especially dissimilar (Hopkins-Doyle et al., 2024). Additional measures included in the studies were a single-category implicit association tests asking participants to categorize “male” words as good or bad, and measures of feminist identity and explicit attitudes towards men. Lastly, an article clarifying the relationships between factors of feminist attitudes, identification, and behavior helps to deepen an understanding of where this myth comes from and how it affects peoples’ perception of feminist women. This study had solely female participants. What was found was that those with more favorable attitudes towards what they see as a prototypical feminist were more likely to identify as one themselves and endorse feminist behaviors. They also found that gender equality beliefs were a stronger predictor of willingness to intervene, showing that a feminist identity isn’t always necessary (Weis et al., 2018).
Each of these articles addressed limitations in the diversity of their samples. The second study pointed out that the studies mainly rely on self-reported attitudes and correlational designs, so future research would be strengthened by using causal tests in labs and everyday life (Hopkins-Doyle et al., 2024). It was also stated that future research should consider potential reasons for a rejection of the label (Weis et al., 2018). One possible reason which was also a limitation mentioned in the first study is that many women of color don’t identify with feminism because it’s been known to solely focus on white women’s issues (Anderson et al., 2009). Addressing these limitations in future research will make the results found much more reliable and aid us in solving the issues surrounding the misconception of feminist women hating men. The findings in these three articles go to show that the idea of the man-hating feminist woman is indeed a myth.
Knowing that this misconception has been shown to be false, it is important to now get an idea of how many people still hold the harmful belief. Three items measuring the extent to which participants agree with attitudes related to the myth were included in an undergraduate psychology class survey examining beliefs in multiple widespread psychology misconceptions. The sample included 13 males, 34 females, 1 non-binary/third gender, and 1 ‘prefer not to say’. The ethnicity of the sample was largely white (87%). Provided below is a table of the survey results with the questions included to be answered:
Through these findings, it can be seen that over a third of participants either somewhat agree or strongly agree with each of the statements reflecting that they hold some belief in feminists generally having more negative attitudes towards men than non-feminists (Q1 = 40%, Q2 = 36%, Q3 = 34%). This finding is more interesting seeing as most participants are female. Results overall show mixed attitudes about the statements, including many responses neither agreeing nor disagreeing, which was to be expected. It is interesting to point out that the percentage of those who strongly disagree gets higher when the statement gets harsher. Only 6% of participants could say they strongly disagree that non-feminists like men more than feminists, but a whole quarter of them were able to state they strongly disagree that feminists have a general hatred for men. In future research, it may be interesting to see if level of agreement changes when they are asked only about feminist women, or if questions were colder cut, for example, asking whether they agree that all feminists are man-haters. This small study has its limitations – a very small-sized, convenience sample, and limited diversity to point out a couple, but it is useful in the fact that it shows how unsure and varied some of the participants are when trying to answer these questions about their perceptions of feminists.
There is a lot to be learned from previous research on this topic and the survey included here about the misconception of feminist women holding negative attitudes towards men, and how many people still believe this. Most importantly, it can be concluded that there is evidence proving feminist misandry to be a myth. Feminist women generally see men as more similar to them and hold no more negative attitudes towards them than non-feminists or even other men. The inaccurate stereotype of the man-hating feminist has been used to tear down the true meaning of the feminist movement and to motivate people not to identify with it. Future research must continue to examine the origins, ramifications, and pervasiveness of this myth, so that solutions can be found to reduce the belief in it and encourage more people to join the movement against sexism and gender inequality.
References
Anderson, K. J., Kanner, M., & Elsayegh, N. (2009). Are Feminists man Haters? Feminists’ and Nonfeminists’ Attitudes Toward Men. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33(2), 216-224. https://doi-org.ezproxy.mnsu.edu/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2009.01491.x
David, M. G. (2023). Why the Man-Hating Feminist is a Myth – According to Science. The Conversation. Why the man-hating feminist is a myth – according to science (theconversation.com)
Hopkins-Doyle, A., Petterson, A. L., Leach, S., Zibell, H., Chobthamkit, P., Binti Abdul Rahim, S., Blake, J., Bosco, C., Cherrie-Rees, K., Beadle, A., Cock, V., Greer, H., Jankowska, A., Macdonald, K., Scott English, A., Wai Lan YEUNG, V., Asano, R., Beattie, P., Bernardo, A. B. I., … Sutton, R. M. (2024). The Misandry Myth: An Inaccurate Stereotype About Feminists’ Attitudes Toward Men. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 48(1), 8-37. https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843231202708
Weis, A. S., Redford, L., Zucker, A. N., & Ratliff, K. A. (2018). Feminist Identity, Attitudes Toward Feminist Prototypes, and Willingness to Intervene in Everyday Sexist Events. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 42(3), 279-290. https://doi-org.ezproxy.mnsu.edu/10.1177/0361684318764694