Misandrystanding

Well, this should confuse some of the regulars in the comments section.

Despite the popular belief that feminists dislike men, few studies have actually examined the empirical accuracy of this stereotype. The present study examined self-identified feminists' and nonfeminists' attitudes toward men. An ethnically diverse sample (N = 488) of college students responded to statements from the Ambivalence toward Men Inventory (AMI; Glick & Fiske, 1999). Contrary to popular beliefs, feminists reported lower levels of hostility toward men than did nonfeminists. The persistence of the myth of the man-hating feminist is explored.

That's right. We hairy-legged jack-booted feminazis feel better about guys than those girly girls do, at least according to this small study conducted at the University of Houston.

More from the f-word, via April Reign. (And be sure to read the comments.)

Melinda Kanner, one of the researchers, has this interesting observation:

Our work finds that, indeed, non-feminists believe in traditional gender roles such as men being breadwinners and women being caregivers. At the same time, these non-feminists actually appear to resent the confines of the traditional roles they advocate, which presents a paradox for women and men in traditional heterosexual relationships.

That to me means that non-feminists have greater expectations of men -- perhaps based on fairy tale notions of Prince Charming and knights in shining armour.

All of which has got to lead to disappointment sooner or later, no?

And disappointment leads to resentment.

Just ask the guy whose former adoring wife turns her back when she doesn't get what she wants.

Based on my own observations  -- never mind the study which could probably be picked over ad nauseum by those who refuse to believe it -- women who think they will be coddled and cared for are the absolute worst when it comes to dissing men. Those of us who are prepared to stand up for and support ourselves really have no reason to trash the men in our lives. If we're not happy, we can leave. We have options.

It's the men in power we have real problems with, the men who would deny us equal rights, reproductive choices, pay equity and equal opportunity.

Oh and yes, the misogynists. Like the misogynists who shoot up women's aerobics classes.

Now obviously I don't speak for all women, feminist or otherwise. And maybe I generalize. But I'll bet that neither this study nor I is far off the mark.

Some of you might find this test interesting.

Comments

[Hugo Mark W.]

Seldom does an unrelated analysis explain so many things.

She was the furthest thing from Feminist, I'd risk to say she borrowed the opinions she had, from inappropiate female role models. Incl. her codependant mother.
Yet we loved each other dearly, and we lasted such a short time. All it took was one fall from my mighty horse, (a modest but trusty job that I rode nonchalantly, but maybe she had higher hopes of it), and she was gone.

Had she had one of her own, I dare dream she'd wait for me to get back on.
Thanks for the simplest yet deepest analysis yet, Antonia.

[sooey]

Women who are dependent on men for money don't like men much, in my experience. And if you're not a Feminist, that's your problem, isn't it. But I don't care if men like me or not. Wanting to be liked will just get you lots of foot traffic.

[balbulican]

Hostile Sexism Score: 1.45
Benevolent Sexism Score: 1.64

Interesting. I'm more sexist than I thought, but not as much as most.

[deBeauxOs]

That research confirms what I've observed. Feminists direct their criticism at patriarchy, at gendered inequality, at gynophobic behaviours whereas anti-feminists simply sigh and say "Boys will be boys."

Since many of us are able to live happily on our own than settle for a man who is sexist in spirit and in action, we strive to find ourselves good guys to share intimate moments. And on balance our relationships are honest and kind.

Anti-feminists will play some variation of The Rules, nab a promising bread-winner/hunter in a calculated campaign of upward mobility tactics. Once they've married him, they'll try to change him for his own good and when they fail, they start to loathe him and express it in a number of passive-aggressive ways.

These observations based on a sampling of friends, acquaintances and work colleagues gathered over decades.

[Antonia]

The Rules!!! OMG! I completely forgot about The Rules!

http://www.therulesbook.com/

And so many other books like that ...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13231665/ for example

Just go to the self-help section of any Chapters. It's staggering.

[PaulR]

"Are you a good witch? Or a bad witch?" --Glinda the Good Witch of the North
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As always, it depends on what you mean when you say “feminist”. I'm not surprised by the results, which depend on a nebulous nomenclature. My thesis is that “bad feminisms” share ultra-conservative values with the so-called "backlash"– chauvinism and sexist differentiation– in which male lives and contributions are devalued, while fostering a culture of undue entitlement rooted in a narrative of inferiority.

There are a lot of people who describe themselves as feminist, when they mean to say they believe in equality of opportunity for the sexes. Hell, even I’ve been described as a feminist by other feminists who see my casual alignment in practice.

Increasingly, I avoid the word and its baggage and measure directly. Am I a feminist? “What do you mean when you say that? Believe in equality? You bet – hardcore –I’ll even fight a roomful of angry feminists to ensure women get it! Believe in sexism, misogyny, misandry? No way. This blog and its talkbacks have certainly shown that misogyny and misandry have existed on all sides of the debate – both pro-feminist and anti-feminist. These things are untethered from any particular political advocacy stance – and deserve their own attention. A stance against feminism is certainly not a stance against equality. Organized women's rights advocacy predated the word.

I agree with deBeauxOs’ remark about some women who play a variation of The Rules – I saw it happen to a close friend – although even *she* called herself a devout feminist, rather than an anti-feminist. Her values and expectations of marriage were shockingly traditional, but when she called herself a feminist, I think she referred to a sense of self-entitlement that was keenly felt.

As for myself, I find it increasingly useful to aim criticism squarely at misandry, rather than serving it within the non-discriminate drift net of political advocacy stances that is feminism. This is why, Antonia, I’ve probably sounded increasingly strident and even personal in my criticism of some views expressed here. You’ve stated many times that feminism (as practiced today) has nothing to do with misandry. Ok then, but my issue is with the misandry itself, when practiced by self-proclaimed advocates of gender equality.

PaulR’s Hostile Sexism Score: 1.00 (no doubt higher due to their lack of definition of feminism. A better survey question would query the belief directly, rather than the debatable nomenclature this survey assigns to it)

Benevolent Sexism Score: 0.55

[deBeauxOs]

Recent news items and opinion pieces written by men regarding Sodini have made the connection between this “crazed loner” and the various elements of mainstream media culture that fed his gynophobia. Including the odious books and programs produced by the R. Don Steele empire.

[sooey]

The Conservative argument against Feminists boils down to this: in seeking equal rights for women with men, Feminists make women fair game for violence by men who do NOT want women to have equal rights. So, if Feminists really cared about women, they'd stop fighting for women's rights. It's not so much "blame the victim" as "blame the victim's lawyer" or somesuch neanderthalish peabrainitude.

By the way, there's an interesting comment on RedJenny's blog (by "sandra") pointing to the role of the Church and its teachings in perpetuating sexism and male dominance. It ends with the statement that we should no longer tolerate it.

[Adam]

Wasn't a doubt in my mind that such a study would end up with those results. Nice to finally see it confirmed(even if it IS just a single study).

And nice link to "The Rules", Antonia. My, what a mind-bogglingly hideous way to approach the dating scene. "The more you're interested in him, the more you should ignore him" almost made me spew lemonade out of my nose, and I'm not so sure that wouldn't sting worse. Honestly, that's the worst well-received advice I've seen. Good advice for those who want to miss out of dozens of good people and land a doormat.
Having lived around guys my entire life, they seem to really enjoy the prospect of a confident woman...but that confidence cannot be falsely infused through a fear of confrontation and lack of personal investment. That's not confidence, it's just working really hard at not putting yourself in a situation where you can be potentially let down.

But whatever, end of rant.

That test was pretty nifty as well, although many of the questions were vague, which led to less accurate answers, which led to less accurate scores. Accurate enough, though, considering it's a test using generalizations.

[The Stygian and his Shemitish Dogs]

Hostile Sexism Score: 3.36
Benevolent Sexism Score: 2.91

I was hoping for perfect 5's on both - oh well.

De Frum Oase,

"Once they've married him, they'll try to change him for his own good and when they fail, they start to loathe him and express it in a number of passive-aggressive ways."

and some of them listen to feminist friends and relatives and then everything falls apart .....

based on one sample studied in close detail .....

a bit like Chomskyan linguistics, come to think of it .....

[PaulR]

"The Conservative argument against Feminists " --- sooey.
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The dominant feminist discourse today is Authoritarian Left. In the 60's, it was Libertarian Left.

Authoritarian Left has a lot more in common with the Authoritarian Right (what you seem to be referring to as Conservatives with fundie morale values) than it does with the Libertarian Left. It's easy to keep propping up the Authoritarian Right as your whipping boy in these arguments, but these were largely defeated decades ago and marginalized. The more persuasive criticisms of whatever you call feminism is, these days, seem to come from the Lib Left. These aren't really new arguments - they are essentially the same ones the Women's Lib movements originally proposed.