Benevolent Sexism Deconstructed

It turns out that what feminists are calling “benevolent sexism” is what we used to call chivalry and it may not be something they want to stamp out. “The findings of a new peer-reviewed study suggest that college masculinity programs may be ‘damaging’ to the romantic prospects of male students,” Toni Airaksinen writes on the Campus Reform blog maintained by the Leadership Institute. “Led by University of Iowa researcher Pelin Gul, the study ‘Benevolent Sexism and Mate Preferences’ discovered that women prefer men with chivalrous attitudes and behaviours, since those men are seen as more likely to ‘invest, protect, provide, and commit.'”

“Even feminist women preferred chivalrous men, the researchers discovered, suggesting that ‘attraction [to chivalrous men] may be a mate preference for women in general, and not just for women who endorse traditional gender roles.'”

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