Inversive Sexism: The Men's Rights Movement as a Case Study

• In Event: 379 - Section on Sociology of Sex and Gender Paper Session. Global Masculinities – Domination and Dispossession

Abstract

In this paper, I develop a theory of how sexism can change. I argue that new sexist discourses will emerge when historic changes alter the state of gender relations; new discourses will justify inequality in a way that is apropos to these new gender relations. Furthermore, I claim that new sexist discourses will emerge among men who embody subordinated masculinities because they are more likely to interpret historic changes as threats to men’s group position. I test the empirical plausibility of this theory in the contemporary context. I identify the men’s rights movement as a group consisting of low-status men, and select it as a case study. Through analysis of 143 posts from a popular men’s rights forum, I document a new form of sexism, which I term “inversive sexism.” The inversive sexism discourse consists of claims that women are privileged, men are oppressed, and feminism is to blame; these claims justify an agenda that would perpetuate women’s disadvantage. Inversive sexism, which I argue is distinct from other forms of sexism and particularly suited to justifying contemporary gender relations, provides evidence for the broader theory advanced in this paper.

Author

• Emily Kiyoko Carian, Stanford University