@stefanieorodriguez: Spoiler: Almost everything that gets labeled as ‘too much’ #feminism is actually ‘not enough’ of it This repackaging of sexism, from hostile (“women shouldn’t work or have their own autonomy”) to benevolent (“women just deserve to be healthy, supported and protected — and the best way to do that is to get married, have children, and ideally, give up your career”), has not only proven effective in limiting women’s public and personal power, it’s become part of the playbook for getting women to support their own subjugation. By turning up the dial on men’s hostile sexism — by threatening women’s rights, their safety, their well-being and their autonomy — women become more likely to embrace benevolent sexism, “which prescribes male protection to counter male threat,” per the research. In fact, “Benevolent sexism legitimizes and preserves gender inequality, undermining resistance by promising “benefits” such as male protection and provision,” they conclude. But as the research also points out, these so-called “solutions” to the real unsustainability and dangers of modern womanhood do not make good on their promises, and often, make things worse. Subscribing to sexism, however benevolent, doesn’t challenge patriarchal hostility and misogynistic violence against women, it reinforces it. Restricting women’s labor to the home doesn’t reduce the burden and burnout of being overworked and undervalued, it exacerbates it. Stripping women of their autonomy and increasing their dependence on men doesn’t protect them from men’s violence and abuse, it leaves them more vulnerable to and less able to escape

Stefanie OConnell

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Thursday 17 July 2025 17:06:48 GMT