Reverse sexism explained

Reverse sexism is a controversial term for discrimination against men and boys, or for anti-male prejudice.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Reverse sexism has been compared by sociologists to reverse racism and "reverse ethnocentrism," in that both can be a response to affirmative action policies that are designed to combat institutionalized sexism and racism, and are a form of backlash, through which members of dominant groups (e.g., men, whites, or Anglos) assert that they are being discriminated against.^{[4] [5]} In more rigid forms, this stance assumes that the historic power imbalance in favor of men has been reversed,^[6] and that women are now viewed as the superior gender or sex.^[7]

Feminist theorist Florence Rush characterizes the idea of reverse sexism specifically as a misogynist reaction to feminism; men's rights activists such as Warren Farrell promote the idea of reverse sexism to argue that the feminist movement has rearranged society in such a way that it now benefits women and harms men.^[8] In the preamble to a study on internalized sexism, Steve Bearman, Neill Korobov and Avril Thorne describe reverse sexism as a "misinformed notion", stating that "while individual women or women as a whole may enact prejudicial biases towards specific men or toward men as a group, this is done without the backing of a societal system of institutional power".^[9]

See also

• Antifeminism
• Feminist separatism
• Male privilege
• Masculism
• Misandry
• Reverse discrimination

Further reading

• Web site: Masequesmay . Gina . Sexism Sexism and the men's movement . Encyclopaedia Britannica . 5 Jan 2024.

Notes and References

1. Book: Monroe . Kristen R. . Political Psychology . Suedfeld . Peter . 2002 . Lawrence Erlbaum Associates . Mahwah, N.J. . 321 . 978-1-135-64661-5 . Postmodernism, Identity Politics, and Other Political Influences in Political Psychology.
2. Book: Johnson . Allan G. . The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy . 1997 . Temple University Press . Philadelphia . 978-1-56639-518-2 . 170 . registration . en.
3. Neely . Carol Thomas . Feminist Modes of Shakespearean Criticism: Compensatory, justificatory, transformational . Women's Studies . 1981 . 9 . 1 . 3–15 . 10.1080/00497878.1981.9978551 . 0049-7878.
4. Book: Garcia . J. L. A. . Zack . Naomi . Race/Sex: Their Sameness, Difference and Interplay . 1997 . Routledge . 978-0-203-76060-4 . 46 . 10.4324/9780203760604 . 1st . https://archive.org/details/racesextheirsame0000unse/page/46/mode/1up?view=theater . registration . Racism as a Model for Understanding Sexism.
5. Book: Renfrow . Daniel G. . Howard . Judith A. . DeLamater . John . Ward . Amanda . Handbook of Social Psychology . 2013 . Springer Netherlands . 978-94-007-6772-0 . 496 . 10.1007/978-94-007-6772-0_17 . Social Psychology of Gender and Race.
6. Sociological Abstracts: Supplement — Issues 67-77 . International Review of Publications in Sociology . 1977 . 202 . 0038-0202.
7. Book: Collins . Georgia . Sandell . Renee . Women, art, and education . 1984 . National Art Education Association . Reston, Va. . 978-0-9376-5233-6 . 14.
8. Book: Rush, Florence . Leidholdt . Dorchen . Raymond . Janice G. . The Sexual Liberals and the Attack on Feminism . 1990 . Pergamon Press . 168–169 . 978-0-0803-7458-1 . The Many Faces of Backlash.
9. Bearman . Steve . Korobov . Neill . Thorne . Avril . 2009 . The Fabric of Internalized Sexism . Journal of Integrated Social Sciences . 1 . 1 . 10–47 . 1942-1052.