You’re Sexist If You Agree With These Statements
Chris Williamson examines how academic scales measuring benevolent sexism and toxic masculinity are methodologically flawed, conflating factual awareness about biology and preferences with prejudiced attitudes.
The gist
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Sexism scales treat factual statements about human preferences as attitudes, requiring hidden inferences to label agreement as prejudice, which produces unreliable research data.
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Polling data shows women rate a partner's unwillingness to protect them as more damaging to attraction than infidelity, yet this preference gets labeled benevolent sexism.
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The scales merge protecting women with infantilizing them, artificially combining two distinct concepts that should be measured separately.
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Women who openly discuss preferences for protection and provision face internalized misogyny accusations that male commentators making the same points typically avoid.
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