Month: October 2018
#MeToo in Review
A year after #MeToo started trending on Twitter, an article in The Economist suggests that “this year-long storm of allegations, confessions and firings has actually made Americans more sceptical about sexual harassment.”
YouGov surveys of 1,500 Amercians on their attitudes towards the topic conducted in November 2017 and again in September 2018 found that attitudes had shifted against the victims over that period. The attitudes of female respondents had shifted more than those of males.
One of the largest changes relates to the increasing perception that “False accusations of sexual assault are a bigger problem than unreported assaults.” The Economist article points out that (according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Centre) false reports of sexual assault are relatively rare, whereas 63% of sexual assaults are never reported to police.
We can also observe that there was a much stronger split of attitudes between Trump voters and Clinton voters than there was between the attitudes of men and women. This partisan difference was very much on display during the recent Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing.
Thinking Outside the Man Box
A new Australian survey has found that men who identify with a ‘traditional’ definition of masculinity are significantly more likely to do harm to themselves and others.
The survey of 1,000 young men aged 18 to 30 was commissioned by the Jesuit Social Service’s Men’s Project. Men who expressed personal beliefs that had higher than average agreement with traditional masculine ideals were described as being in the ‘Man Box’.
46% of men inside the Man Box had made sexual comments to women they didn’t know in a public place in the past month, compared to 7% who were outside the Man Box. There are also striking differences with respect to the incidence of online and physical bullying, and even thoughts of suicide (see table below).
Table source: https://theconversation.com/australian-study-reveals-the-dangers-of-toxic-masculinity-to-men-and-those-around-them-104694
This research brings attention to an underlying cause of gender-based violence – the attitudes of men who live inside the Man Box and who practice a toxic form of masculinity. The findings point to the need to continue to address violence against women by paying attention to the behaviors and attitudes of men, and encouraging them to think outside the Man Box.
For further information on this research, visit the Men’s Project website, or read this summary of the research findings at The Conversation written by Michael Flood, Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology.