Rudeness can obfuscate gender bias
Association for Psychological Science
If you're an "equal-opportunity jerk," does that mean you can't also be sexist? New research shows that many people think so -- and consider men to be gender blind when they're rude, condescending, and berating to women and men equally.
To
highlight the common view that men aren't deemed sexist when they're rude to
both men and women, researchers asked subjects to share their perceptions of
tweets from former President Donald Trump lambasting men and women, fictitious
stories of managers' treatment of male and female employees, and surveys of
sexist behavior.
According
to the study, being a jerk to men creates "an illusion of impartiality,
giving sexist perpetrators plausible deniability." This can lead people to
falsely conclude that gender bias doesn't underlie rude behavior, making them
less likely to recognize sexism.
"We found that a man does not seem sexist if he treats everyone -- both men and women -- poorly," said Peter Belmi, associate professor of leadership and organizational behavior at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and lead author of the study. "This is problematic because sexism and rudeness are not mutually exclusive. Men who are sexist can be -- and often are -- rude toward other men."
The
research shows that gender blindness can be exploited to refute accusations of
sexism, he added. For example, perpetrators may highlight instances in which
they've been rude to men as evidence that they aren't sexist.
A
popular understanding of sexism is discrimination toward women based solely on
their sex. Under this definition, a man would not be sexist if he were a jerk
to both sexes. The researchers defined sexism more broadly, however, as
attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors that reflect, foster, or promote negative or
pejorative stereotypes about women.
"Men
may believe that rather than 'supporting women,' an alternative solution to
creating gender parity is to 'treat everyone horribly,'" Belmi added.
He
emphasized that previous research has focused on gender blindness's benefit in
fostering workplace gender diversity and inclusion. The current study highlights
the shortcomings of this ideology.
The
researchers conducted a series of studies, using online participants and
students from professional schools, to determine whether sexism is tougher to
recognize when men express rudeness to other men as well as women.
A
two-part survey of about 1,100 employed men measured their self-reported
rudeness toward male and female colleagues at work and their attitudes and
beliefs about women.
Another
study asked participants to read tweets written by Trump during his presidency
that contained sexist comments about women; some participants also read tweets
that berated men.
Next,
the researchers asked participants to read a series of stories, some about
managers making sexist comments to female workers and others about managers
speaking rudely to male subordinates, too. Participants were also asked to
identify whether those managers needed gender-bias and anger-management
training.
In
each experiment, participants failed to recognize sexism when the perpetrator
was rude or berating to men. However, they identified sexist behavior when only
women were treated poorly. In other words, "equal-opportunity jerks"
were viewed as gender blind. Also, the more participants perceived an offender
being a jerk to other men, the more they diminished the need for gender-bias
training.
"When
a sexist manager is rude toward men, it may appear as though he is not
sexist," Belmi said. "Thus, women victimized by his behavior will
have a more difficult time proving that he is sexist. Rudeness can therefore
protect perpetrators."
The
findings show that rudeness across genders creates a barrier to addressing
sexism. The researchers suggested that future studies should examine whether
rudeness can conceal other types of discrimination -- for example, by creating
illusions of colorblindness or authenticity.
"Blatant,
unambiguous, and obvious forms of sexist conduct continue to exist," Belmi
said. "Our findings suggest that one reason for their persistence is that
observers may not recognize that everyday acts of rudeness can serve as a
convenient mask for bias against women."