Why do women feel attractive to 'benevolent sexist'?

by Natthanon Kongyam

Actions such as men keeping women's coats and opening doors of cars where women ride in are seemingly kind but can be seen as " benevolent sexism " based on the idea that women should be protected It is called. Merciful discrimination is thought to be an obstacle to gender equality, but it seems that men who take actions of merciful discrimination are "attractive" even for women with strong feminist tendencies. Pelin Gül, who studies psychology at the University of Iowa, discusses why this happens.

Why women - including feminists - are still attracted to 'benevolently sexist' men https://theconversation.com/why-women-including-feminists-are-still-attracted-to-benevolently-sexist-men-101067

It was in 1996 that the concept of "merciful discrimination" was first created. Those claiming merciful discrimination said, "Discrimination includes not only those that reveal hostility but also women are protected by men and must be cherished", "Open doors for women "We take away competitiveness from women and always make them need help." Such seemingly discrimination that "seemingly discrimination" is "merciful discrimination" is an obstacle to gender equality.

Studies on compassionate discrimination are also being conducted, and in 2016, research showed that women who tolerate compassionate discrimination tend to depend on male help. Such a woman gives men the right to decide what they can do and what they can not do, to have ambiguous ideas about themselves, that they are not ambitious in performance and cognitive tests and their performance was also low .

by Sophieja 23

One of the questions in the study of compassionate discrimination is "Why do women like merciful discrimination?" And " parent investment theory " is mentioned as a possible answer.

Male is sufficient to provide a few sex cells for breeding, but reproductive success for women depends on months pregnancy and subsequent breast feeding. In the history of human beings, the ability to deliver food and choose a mistake to protect you from natural enemies has been a success in reproductive success. According to parent investment theory, from this, it is said that women tend to have a psychological tendency that likes muscles that take actions that spend their labor and money etc. Male 's solid physical constitution and modern financial strength are considered as indicative of this ability.

In a study published in 2018, 700 women between the ages of 18 and 73 read the male profile showing behavior of merciful discrimination such as "keeping the court" or "having heavy luggage", then evaluate the male An experiment was conducted to do. At this time, female subjects evaluated male behavior in terms of "active protection", "supply and dedication", "dislike is good".

As a result, it turned out that the woman felt that he was "attractive" although he saw that he was "disappointing" or "weakening his partner" about men who take merciful discrimination.

by trevoykellyphotography

Researchers who thought that "Does this research result apply to people who accept older gender roles?" Conducted a re-survey in consideration of the results of tests to measure the feminist degree of the subjects. As a result, it has been shown that those with a high degree of feminist tendency to strongly evaluate male compassionate discrimination as "weakly dislike" and "weakening partners", but still a male is "attractive It was said that it was evaluated.

In the present age where gender is taken up largely in the news, the researcher says that women seem to be confused as to how to accept the actions of good faith men who follow the chivalry spirit. However, whether or not behavior that is considered merciful discrimination is actually harmful depends on its background, for example, a man who helps a woman's colleagues in a disappointing manner harms women's ability, while at home Helping women trying to carry heavy furniture is not considered to be harmful. Mr. Gül said that understanding this nuance can reduce the negative impact of compassion discrimination without seeking to reject women's behavior from good will.