What's in a Label? Judgments of Feminist Men and Feminist Women

Abstract

Although significant progress has been made on research concerning stereotypes of feminist women, very little is known about the stereotypes of feminist men. College students rated one of four terms—“feminist man,” “feminist woman,” “man,” or “woman.” Compared to “feminist woman,” “feminist man” was evaluated more positively, but as less potent (i.e., lower in stereotypically masculine characteristics) and less heterosexual. Although feminist man had the highest evaluative ratings of the four terms and was rated similarly in confidence to woman and man, compared to the other terms it was rated low in attractiveness and potency. These results suggest that at least on some dimensions a feminist man's masculinity may be questioned, which in turn may be a hindrance to men in adopting the feminist label.