Conservative women often don't perceive sexism as a social problem. Here's why

[marmar]

(Salon) Arecent study found that conservative women who experience sex-based discrimination are less likely to become politically active, or to believe that sexism is a systemic problem, than their liberal counterparts.

"Women who have experienced gender discrimination report higher levels of political participation and a higher chance of voting in the general election," writes Dr. Alexa Bankert of the University of Georgia in a paper published in American Politics Research. "However, among conservative women, personal experience with sexism is not associated with this participatory impetus." In other words, the experience of being discriminated against seems to activate liberal women and encourage them to vote and be involved in politics. Peculiarly, that wasn't the same for conservative women.

Bankert told PsyPost that the difference related to how one perceives sexism, as a one-off thing or systemic. "Among conservative women, the perception dominates that sexist behavior consists of isolated incidents while liberal women view sexism as a more systemic problem," she said. That interpretation fits with a fundamental truth about the right-left divide, namely, the tendency of the right to deny the existence of the social sphere and view social problems rather as individual ones — whereas the left understands social issues as structural, related to large-scale cultural and social factors that must be changed at a political level. "This might explain why experienced sexism amplifies liberal women's political engagement but there is not a similar participatory impetus among conservative women," Bankert mused.

Salon reached out to Bankert about her paper and how she went about her research. ..................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2020/11/28/conservative-women-often-dont-perceive-sexism-as-a-social-problem-heres-why/

[dawg day]

2. Similar to the views of conservatives on racism--

"There's no systemic racism! Just a few racist people that make the news, but overall, we are 'color-blind'."

Seeing any systemic problem, of course, will mean they had to address it in their own lives.

[ret5hd]

3. I have long thought that conservative women...

if they were to acknowledge that sexism is a social problem they would have to recognize their part in creating the problem...that everything they have given up (self identity, self actualization, etc) to be a part of their perceived social group, was wrong, was flawed, was self-limiting, and was self inflicted...and that just can't be!!!

"I did everything right!!! I did exactly what I was supposed to do!!! I did everything society expected!!! And I can't, I just absolutely can't, at this point in my life, accept the fact that all of my beliefs, all of my ideals, are flawed and I allowed myself to be shortchanged, I allowed me to limit myself...therefor YOU are wrong! YOU are making us feel this way! You must be silenced!

But I acknowledge I could be completely wrong.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. In conservative environment, many of the women EXPECT sexism because they grew up WITH IT. . . nt