Understanding Prejudice and Discrimination

In this chapter, we discuss theories and research on sexism, which can be defined as prejudiced attitudes and discriminatory behaviors toward women. These prejudiced attitudes toward women generally involve stereotypical gender constructions and a belief in traditional gender roles for men and women (Campbell, Schellenberg, & Senn, 1997). Sex discrimination involves unequal and harmful behavior toward women only because they are women (Benokraitis, 1997). Research clearly indicates the existence of widely held sex-role stereotypes in the United States. Women are characterized as more interpersonally sensitive, warm, and expressive than men; men are characterized as more competent, independent, objective, and logical than women. Stereotypically masculine traits are viewed in our society as more desirable and “adult”than stereotypically feminine characteristics (Broverman, Vogel, Broverman, Clarkson, & Rosenkrantz, 1972). Since stereotypes about women both describe how they behave and prescribe how they should behave (Haslett & Lipman, 1997), these constructions force women into a double bind. They are not feminine (as constructed by societal norms) if their behaviors are congruent with those specified for adults; however, if they adopt prescribed behaviors that are defined as feminine, they are inadequate in comparison to the standards for adult behaviors (Broverman et al., 1972). These societal constructions of women as being less competent or capable lead women to have lower self-esteem and less confidence in their abilities than men (Bartholomew & Schnorr, 1994) and, consequently, may lead to reduced productivity in a number of spheres (Haslett & Lipman, 1997). Much of the theory on sexism is rooted in theory and research on racism. In fact, Dovidio and Gaertner (1983, cited in Campbell et al., 1997) suggest that sexism and racism are parallel belief systems such that historical trends in sexist attitudes tend to parallel trends in racist attitudes. For example, some of the models that we will discuss in this chapter—individual, institutional, and structural sexism; modem versus old-fashioned sexism; and subtle, covert, and