Rudeness is seldom a pleasant thing to experience, but research from the University of Texas at Dallas suggests it may also help to hide underlying sexism. The authors argue that when rudeness becomes a standard means of discourse in conversations between men, it can make sexism harder to spot.
This is because when a man appears to treat everyone badly, it can make them appear as though they’re not sexist, when the reality is often quite different. The researchers conducted five studies via online survey platforms to test their hypothesis.
Hidden sexism
For instance, they began by testing whether it is possible to be both sexist and rude towards other men. 759 employed men were recruited to determine whether they were rude towards male and female colleagues as well as their general attitudes towards women. They found that men who tend to have negative stereotypes about women also tended to be ruder towards male and female colleagues.
The researchers believe that men hope that their general rudeness can obscure any recognition of their sexism by creating the impression that they’re rude to everyone, regardless of their gender.
“By ‘equal-opportunity jerk,’ we mean an individual who is mistakenly seen as gender-blind in their negative treatment toward others,” the researchers explain. “They think, ‘This person is presumably rude toward both men and women equally, and therefore cannot be sexist.’ Of course, in our research, we find that this perception is flawed.”
Another study then tested to see whether this rudeness towards men made people blind to any sexism or gender discrimination, and it emerged that it pretty much did. The findings suggest that when we see men being rude to other men we’re more inclined to assume that their rudeness is gender blind.
“Sexism and rudeness are two different concepts, and we try to outline this idea in the paper,” the authors explain. “Rudeness is defined as behaviors that are regarded as discourteous, impolite or inconsiderate. Sexism is defined as attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that reflect, foster or promote negative or pejorative stereotypes about women. Not all rude behaviors are sexist, because not all rude behaviors invoke negative stereotypes about women—for example, failing to acknowledge a co-worker in the hallway. On the other hand, not all sexist treatment is rude.”
For instance, they identified a more benevolent form of sexism, which sees men state that women need protecting and cherishing. This can often be construed as polite but it nonetheless undermines gender equality by promoting various negative stereotypes about women.
Tackling gender bias
The researchers also tried to examine how some of these behaviors could be addressed. For instance, in one study they exposed participants to the prospect of gender-bias training, and this intervention was dismissed far more by those who were exposed more to men’s rudeness towards other men.
The authors believe that such exposure creates a crucial barrier to addressing sexism because it discourages us from even recognizing it as a problem, therefore it’s not something that needs addressing.
“The first step to eradicating sexism in the workplace is to identify it when it happens,” they say. “If observers are unable to recognize an employee’s behavior as sexist—because those behaviors are incorrectly explained away as general rudeness—those problematic sexist behaviors will likely continue to plague organizations.”
What’s more, they found that this hidden sexism hurts women in a number of ways as not only do they have to deal with the sexism itself but also can often have doubts about whether this sexism is really present. When it’s concluded that it most definitely is, it can then be difficult to convince others that it is and that it needs to be addressed.
The researchers hope that their findings can ultimately feed into training programs so that clearer definitions of sexism are made that help us to better identify it when it exists.
