The misandry myth

Ever since there were feminists, they have been accused of hating men. This accusation is consequential, deterring women from identifying as feminists, and motivating men to oppose the movement. In this respect feminism is just one of many social movements that are perceived as divisive and antipathic toward advantaged groups.

In this talk Robbie Sutton will outline our research indicating that the accusation is false. Studies of 10,000 participants in WEIRD and non-WEIRD countries showed that feminists’ evaluations of men are broadly as positive as non-feminists’ and indeed mens’. They also showed that people – including feminists themselves – strongly underestimated feminists’ positivity toward men.

Robbie will also outline the theoretical models that were developed and tested to explain (a) feminists’ attitudes to men, and (b) why people are so mistaken about them. This research was motivated by the belief that sociopolitical discourses should be rational and informed. It may not be wrong for feminists to dislike men. It may not be wrong for people to reject feminism. But the findings indicate that it is wrong (in fact) to reject feminism on the grounds that feminists dislike men.

The talk will conclude with a discussion of the importance and difficulty of determining the accuracy of stereotypes, the implications of the findings for models of collective action, and a critical interrogation of the concept misandry.