Benevolent sexism: explaining an oxymoron

Elizabeth Wynn, Equality & Diversity Manager, explains benevolent sexism and how it can manifest in the workplace.

During 2020, our e4s Bite series of short informational talks moved online and the videos are still available. Most have a modest number of views but two topics have reached a wider audience than I could have hoped: HeLa cells and benevolent sexism. I wrote a blog about HeLa a few years ago so I decided to also revisit and expand upon benevolent sexism.

Why does the idea of benevolent sexism capture people’s interest? Maybe because it’s an oxymoron. Benevolent sexism doesn’t make sense on its own. Sexism is a type of discrimination so it’s harmful by definition and it seems illogical to describe it as benevolent. The idea of benevolent sexism only makes sense in context of the theory of ambivalent sexism.

The idea of ambivalent sexism was first proposed by Peter Glick and Susan Fiske in 1996. They said there are two different but complementary types of sexism: hostile sexism and benevolent sexism. These function as the stick and the carrot that reinforce ‘traditional’ gender roles and a patriarchal status quo. Hostile sexism is the sort of thing we normally associate with sexism such as overt insulting, objectifying or degrading behaviours and attitudes. For example, a belief that women are incompetent or inferior to men. Benevolent sexism comprises behaviours and attitudes that seem positive at first but are damaging to individuals and gender equality such as believing women need to be protected. Benevolent sexism manifests in subtle ways and the harm it can cause isn’t always immediately obvious but it is damaging. Here are some workplace examples.

1. Giving a woman a lower workload when she returns from maternity leave. At first this seems considerate. However, not having the opportunity to be more productive or go on work trips can have negative impacts on the woman’s career progression. This sort of attitude also reinforces the stereotype that women are naturally more nurturing and less ambitious. Ultimately, it is patronising and removes her agency: it’s fine if a woman wants a gradual transition back to work but it should be her choice and needs prior discussion.
2. Asking a female colleague to take meeting notes because she’s better at it. This could be meant as a compliment and it seems to make sense to ask someone who is good at a task to do it. However, it takes time away from the rest of their work, the work they are actually evaluated on. Taking notes is a skill anyone can learn and when this sort of work falls consistently to women it has a disproportionate and unfair impact.
3. Offering to help a woman with a difficult or ‘masculine’ task without invitation. Helping others is great but when it stems from and perpetuates beliefs that women are helpless, weaker or less intelligent than men it’s a problem. When a woman is subject to this sort of patronising attitude it lowers her confidence and makes people view her as less competent, whether she asked for the help or not.

Benevolent sexism also manifests harm outside the workplace. People with high endorsement of benevolent sexism are more likely to blame assault victims for an attack if they violate stereotypical gender roles. Endorsing benevolent sexism is also associated with favouring restricting pregnant women’s choices around diet, travel and exercise, “for their own good” even when scientific evidence shows those restrictions aren’t necessary. Another example is that women are favoured in family court  when relocating away from the other parent but this reflects benevolent sexist attitudes that women are better caregivers and giving a higher proportion of custody has the side effect of restricting them to the domestic sphere, as well as depriving men of the opportunity to care for their children.

It’s important to note that benevolent sexism is tied up with race in complicated ways. Women of colour are less likely to ‘benefit’ from benevolent sexism. For example, in the USA judges tend to be lenient when sentencing white women but not Black women. Protective paternalism, a type of benevolent sexism, is associated with xenophobia and racism because of the idea that white women need to be protected from the threats that outsiders pose. Benevolent sexism is also a motivator of Islamophobia where Muslim women are perceived as needing to be liberated.

The good news about all of this is there are things anyone can do to combat benevolent sexism. First of all, increase your awareness by better understanding your own benevolent sexism and how it manifests around you so you can call it out. Make sure activities such as taking notes or planning team outings don’t disproportionately fall to women on your team. Benevolent sexism is positively correlated with hostile sexism so continue to stand up to hostile sexism too.