COLLEGE-STUDENTS STEREOTYPES OF GENDER AND POLITICAL ACTIVISM

Previous research has investigated gender stereotypes and attitudes toward feminists. Little attention has been paid, however, to assessing public sentiment toward supporters of the emerging Men's Movement. In this study, 120 male and female undergraduates were presented with a description of a political activist. The experimental design consisted of varying the gender (i.e., male vs. female) and political orientation (i.e., advocacy of individualistic rights vs. profeminist advocacy of gender equality) of the target person. Subjects evaluated the stimulus description using a set of semantic differential trait rating scales and a series of life outcome measures. Results suggested that female activists, regardless of political orientation, were perceived as being more extraverted and were judged to be more likely to meet individual career goals than their male counterparts. In contrast, male activists were judged to be more successful in attaining family goals than female activists. Analyses of variance revealed polarized evaluations of male and female feminist activists. Male feminists were rated higher on interpersonal warmth than female feminists, and female feminists were seen as being the least likely to achieve their family goals. Implications for female and male gender-role activists are discussed.