The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

74 Chapter 3

(Glick et al., 2000). Among those countries,

nations that scored higher in hostile and be-

nevolent sexism also scored higher in gender

inequality, as measured by the presence of

women in politics, the number of women in

the workforce, and female literacy rates.

Sexism Toward Men

Although sexism can be exhibited toward

both women and men, it is typically studied

and measured as feelings toward women.

Jokes about female drivers and “dumb

blondes” are regularly perceived as exam-

ples of sexism. But aren’t jokes about men’s

incompetence at being fathers or men

not asking for directions also examples of

Although the benevolent and hostile

sexism scales reflect two very different affec-

tive states in regard to women, the two are

positively correlated, meaning that people

who endorse items on one scale also endorse

items on the other. Perceiving women in both

negative and positive terms seems contradic-

tory. The ambivalence in attitudes toward

women stems from the paradox that women

hold a lower status than men, but that the fe-

male stereotype is more positive than the male

stereotype. This positive correlation under-

scores the idea that both hostile sexism and

benevolent sexism are based on a belief that

women are inferior to men. The positive cor-

relation of the benevolent and hostile sexism

scales has been shown to exist in 19 countries

SIDEBAR 3.1:Benevolent Sexism and Female Criminals

Are women and men treated equally within the criminal justice system? Some believe that women

are treated more leniently than men partly because women are viewed as less of a threat to society

than men (weaker) and partly because of a paternalistic need to help and care for women. However,

when women commit crimes that violate the female stereotype, they could be treated more harshly.

In a study of a local newspaper in Bloomington, Indiana, women who committed violent crimes

were treated more harshly than men by the media, whereas women who committed nonviolent

crimes were treated more leniently by the media (Grabe et al., 2006). In another study where regis-

tered voters posed as mock jurors, women received a lighter sentence than men for a heinous crime

unless there was testimony from the victim’s family—in which case, the female received a more

severe sentence than the male (Forsterlee et al., 2004). Forsterlee and colleagues argue that the tes-

timony made the incongruence between such extreme violence and the female gender role salient.

One example of an extreme violation of the female gender role is killing children. In 1966,

Myra Hindley tortured and murdered five children. She was not declared mentally ill and was sen-

tenced to life in prison. When a group of young adults, mostly college students, were presented

with this information, those who scored high on benevolent sexism judged Myra more harshly than

those who scored lower on the scale (Viki, Massey, & Masser, 2005). Those who scored higher on

benevolent sexism also were more likely to say that Myra violated the female gender role, and this

gender-role violation explained the link between benevolent sexism and the negative evaluation of

Myra. Neither sex nor hostile sexism was related to evaluations of Myra. Thus in this case, benevo-

lent sexism was related to a negative judgment rather than a positive judgment of a woman.

M03_HELG0185_04_SE_C03.indd 74 6/21/11 12:22 PM