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With the rise of social networks, there has been a marked increase in offensive content targeting women, ranging from overt acts of hatred to subtler, often overlooked forms of sexism. The EXIST (sEXism Identification in Social neTworks) competition, initiated in 2021, aimed to advance research in automatically identifying these forms of online sexism. However, the results revealed the multifaceted nature of sexism and emphasized the need for robust systems to detect and classify such content. In this study, we provide an extensive analysis of sexism, highlighting the characteristics and diverse manifestations of sexism across multiple languages on social networks. To achieve this objective, we conducted a detailed analysis of the EXIST dataset to evaluate its capacity to represent various types of sexism. Moreover, we analyzed the systems submitted to the EXIST competition to identify the most effective methodologies and resources for the automated detection of sexism. We employed statistical methods to discern textual patterns related to different categories of sexism, such as stereotyping, misogyny, and sexual violence. Additionally, we investigated linguistic variations in categories of sexism across different languages and platforms. Our results suggest that the EXIST dataset covers a broad spectrum of sexist expressions, from the explicit to the subtle. We observe significant differences in the portrayal of sexism across languages; English texts predominantly feature sexual connotations, whereas Spanish texts tend to reflect neosexism. Across both languages, objectification and misogyny prove to be the most challenging to detect, which is attributable to the varied vocabulary associated with these forms of sexism. Additionally, we demonstrate that models trained on platforms like Twitter can effectively identify sexist content on less-regulated platforms such as Gab. Building on these insights, we introduce a transformer-based system with data augmentation techniques that outperforms competition benchmarks. Our work contributes to the field by enhancing the understanding of online sexism and advancing the technological capabilities for its detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a decline in sexist language, traditional gender beliefs remain embedded in the scientific literature on reproductive biology and consequently continue to distort knowledge, encumber the learning process, and reinforce gender essentialism. This article analyzes the enduring force of gender stereotypes in Italian middle school science textbooks and a highly popular education film. It identifies a consistent set of stereotypes and assumptions running through textual and visual content regarding fertilization, reproductive anatomy, and human evolution. In addition, the article demonstrates congruence between these materials and students' understandings of fertilization through words and drawings elicited by a worksheet. Findings are examined within the context of pervasive gender stereotypes in textbooks and journal articles on reproductive biology, science and technology textbooks in general, and schoolbooks across subjects. The study shows that assigning gender traits to sex cells, reproductive systems, and ancestral humans misrepresents human biology, endorses a heteronormative vision of femininity and masculinity, and objectifies girls and women. Removing gendered representations from science textbooks is both more challenging and more urgent compared to other textbooks, given that their association with natural truth shields science textbooks from critical scrutiny as well as challenges to conventional conceptual frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexism is a widespread form of gender discrimination, which can take the form of criticism towards women based on gender stereotypes. However, little is known about how perceived criticism and sexism shape one's construal of criticism from various interpersonal sources. The present study investigated whether perceived criticism, perceived sexism and the source of criticism (mother, father, workplace supervisor, romantic partner) interact to influence upset levels in response to criticism. 178 participants completed perceived criticism (PC) ratings for the four relationships and 95 female participants also completed the Schedule of Sexist Events scale. Participants read experimental vignettes describing scenarios of criticism from different sources and rated how upset they would feel in each scenario. Perceived sexism significantly moderated the effect of PC on upset levels only for sexist-related criticism from romantic partners and supervisors. Female participants with low perceived sexism show higher levels of upset as PC increased for sexist-related criticism from supervisors whereas female participants with high perceived sexism show lower levels of upset as PC increased for sexist-related criticism from romantic partners. These findings contribute towards understanding how perceived criticism and perceived sexism influence affective reactions to criticism across interpersonal sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much has been written about how social media platforms enable the rise of networked activism. However, few studies have examined how these platforms' low-information environments shape how social movement activists, their opponents, and social media platforms interact. Hate speech reporting is one understudied area where such interactions occur. This article fills this gap by examining to what extent and how the gender and popularity of counterspeech in comment sections influence social media users' willingness to report hate speech on the #MeToo movement. Based on a survey experiment (n = 1250) conducted in South Korea, we find that YouTube users are more willing to report such sexist hate speech when the counterspeech is delivered by a female rather than a male user. However, when the female user's counterspeech received many upvotes, this was perceived to signal her enhanced status and decreased the intention to report hate speech, particularly among male users. No parallel patterns were found regarding other attitudes toward hate speech, counterspeech, YouTube, the #MeToo movement, and gender discrimination and hate speech legislation. These findings inform that users report hate speech based on potentially harmful content as well as their complex social interactions with other users and the platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online misogyny has become a fixture in female politicians' lives. Backlash theory suggests that it may represent a threat response prompted by female politicians' counterstereotypical, power-seeking behaviors. We investigated this hypothesis by analyzing Twitter references to Hillary Clinton before, during, and after her presidential campaign. We collected a corpus of over 9 million tweets from 2014 to 2018 that referred to Hillary Clinton, and employed an interrupted time series analysis on the relative frequency of misogynistic language within the corpus. Prior to 2015, the level of misogyny associated with Clinton decreased over time, but this trend reversed when she announced her presidential campaign. During the campaign, misogyny steadily increased and only plateaued after the election, when the threat of her electoral success had subsided. These findings are consistent with the notion that online misogyny towards female political nominees is a form of backlash prompted by their ambition for power in the political arena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humor ethicists have not made a significant contribution to the ways in which the rights and wrongs of joke-telling are discussed in popular conversation. The British press united to call the joke - and Boyle - "vile", and criticize the broadcaster of Boyle's TV show I Tramadol Nights i for allowing it to air.[3] Following the controversy, Boyle followed a joke on his next stand-up comedy tour with this disclaimer:"l'm going to build this up so it's so ridiculous and so fucking cartoonish, that people can tell it's a joke and l couldn't possibly mean it. Imagine, for example, that we discovered that the non-Jewish joke-teller (or, indeed, the Jewish joke-teller) was telling her jokes with the serious intention of spreading suspicion and disrespect towards Jewish people. Humor Ethics and Comedy in Popular Culture In 2015, a moral controversy erupted surrounding this joke, told by comedian Amy Schumer: I "I used to date Hispanic men, but now I prefer consensual." i When this material emerged into the popular consciousness, it provoked think pieces in I The Washington Post i and I The Guardian i , amongst others, giving moral criticism of the joke, and, by extension, Schumer herself.[1] In defense of the gag, Schumer tweeted:I am a comic. [Extracted from the article]

Feminist linguistic activism has gained prominence among Western feminists as a way to eliminate sexism in language and everyday life. In Russian, gender specification (known as feminitivy) represents the mainstream approach practiced by grassroots feminist reformers. However, alternative approaches aimed at gender neutralization proliferate. The paper examines the prospects and challenges of gender neutralization both in writing and oral speech. Results of a survey documenting attitudes of Russian-speaking feminist and LGBTQI communities to language reform attempts are presented, with a special focus on comparison between gender specification and gender neutralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research investigates subtle yet powerful differences in the language present on cultural artifacts marketed for girls and boys. Through a content analysis of the verbs written on the girl-oriented and boy-oriented sides of all 56 McDonald's Happy Meal boxes distributed between 2011 and 2019 in the United States, I uncover stark differences in the implied ability, activity, and agency levels of boys versus girls. The mixed methods nature of my exploration allows for statistical testing coupled with analysis of the language in context, revealing pervasive, nuanced differences that bolster our understanding of the complexity of the messages being relayed to children about what is appropriate and expected for boys versus girls. Central findings include the subtle, yet pervasive implication that girls are less active, less powerful, and in need of more detailed instruction and help, and they draw on a narrower set of skills as compared to boys. Through differential language, boys are also challenged at a qualitatively different level than girls and are assumed to have greater levels of ability (e.g., girls "try" and boys "aim high"). Girls' agency is directly questioned, implying a lack of general confidence in the child's ability to succeed, which is not the case for boys. Such subtle messages perpetuate insidious gender stereotypes and reinforce inequities in power and privilege. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many children feel obligated by their parents and peers to behave in ways that are consistent with traditional gender roles of their culture, an obligation referred to as "felt pressure to conform to gender roles" (abbreviated as felt pressure) (Egan and Perry 2001). The current research was designed to examine links between children's felt pressure and (a) their own responses to other peers' "gender policing" and (b) their parents' reports of gender socialization attitudes. U.S. children (6–12-years-old; 37 girls; 40 boys) completed self-report measures assessing (a) felt pressure to conform to gender roles and (b) responses to children described as making sexist remarks to peers (12 vignettes). Parents (66 mothers; 7 fathers) completed a gender-socialization measure of attitudes toward their children's gender-typical and atypical behaviors. As hypothesized, children who reported more felt pressure were less likely to confront—and more likely to agree with—vignette peers' sexist comments to another child. Specifically, felt pressure from parents was negatively related to children's confrontation of vignette peers' sexist comments, and felt pressure from peers was positively related to children's agreement with vignette peers' sexist comments. Children's felt pressure was unrelated to parents' self-reported attitudes. Findings suggest that felt pressure experiences with parents and peers are differentially related to children's peer interactions, suggesting a possible mechanism by which levels of sexism may be shaped in peer groups. Results may inform interventions aimed at gender-related bullying, identifying the groups (i.e., parents or peers) most influential for various bullying behaviors and bystander responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article responds to calls for further research on ethical issues in advertising. The study examines whether advertising strategies which use female-disparaging themes are perceived as ethical, and what effect this has on ad and brand attitudes. It also examines whether or not humour assuages ethical evaluations of female-disparaging ads. The findings from an experimental research design, which included 336 British respondents, show that non-disparaging and non-humorous ads are considered to be the most ethical, while disparaging ads (regardless of the level of humour) are considered the least ethical. Across the board, female-disparaging ads are not perceived as ethical; however, high benevolent sexists appear to favour them most. Finally, an ad's perceived ethicality mediates the relationship between ad disparagement and ad attitudes; likewise, an ad's perceived ethicality and ad attitudes mediate the relationship between an ad's female disparagement and brand attitudes. Female-disparaging ads should be avoided given that they are perceived as less ethical and given the impact that advertising has on behaviour, as well as on societal and moral values. Advertisers should also avoid using female-disparaging advertising themes, even light-hearted ones, since they constitute a risky strategy for the ad and the brand as they can backfire and alienate consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that language can be gender-biased; however, little research has investigated the prevalence of this bias in everyday speech. Using recordings sampled from undergraduates' daily conversations, we investigated two forms of gender bias: paternalism through use of the infantilizing label girl to refer to women and androcentrism through a tendency to use more masculine (e.g., man, guy) than feminine (e.g., girl, woman) labels in everyday speech. U.S. participants (n = 175) wore the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), a device that recorded sound samples from their environments for 30 s every 12.5 min, for up to 4 days. Verbatim transcripts were then analyzed for instances of commonly used labels for females and males (e.g., girl, woman, boy, man). Results indicated that the label girl surpassed all other labels for women, as well as boy labels for men. We also found evidence of a masculine-label bias: Participants used masculine labels more frequently than feminine labels overall. These findings indicate the need for future research to investigate the potential consequences of infantilizing and androcentric language as well as the need for teachers, professors, clinicians, and practitioners of all types to be mindful of how their speech may include, exclude, or infantilize people based on gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different strategies of gender-fair language have been applied to reduce a male bias, which means the implicit belief that a word describing an undefined person describes a man. This male bias might be caused by the words themselves in terms of generic masculine or masculine forms or by androcentrism (the conflation of men with humanity). In two experiments, we tested how different gender-fair strategies used as labels of an unknown social target (an applicant in a recruitment situation) could eliminate the male bias. The three types of gender-fair strategies tested were: (a) paired forms (he/she), (b) traditional neutral words (e.g., singular they, "the applicant"), or (c) gender-neutral third-person pronouns actively created to challenge the binary gender system (ze, Swedish hen). The two experiments were performed in Swedish with 417 undergraduates in Sweden and in English with 411 U.S. participants recruited online. In Swedish, the third-person gender-neutral pronoun singular (hen) was used. In English, several forms of such gender-neutral pronouns have been suggested (e.g., ze). In both experiments, results indicated that paired forms and actively created gender-neutral pronouns eliminated the male bias, whereas traditional neutral words contained a male bias. Thus, gender-fair language strategies should avoid using traditional words. Consequences of using paired forms and creating new gender-neutral words are discussed. We argue that an actively created gender-neutral pronoun is of highest value because it is more inclusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, philosophers of education have begun taking a renewed interest in Rousseau's educational thought. This is a welcome development as his ideas are rich with educational insights. His philosophy is not without its flaws, however. One significant flaw is his educational project for females, which is sexist in the highest degree. Rousseau argues that females should be taught to 'please men...and make [men's] lives agreeable and sweet.' The question becomes how could Rousseau make such strident claims, especially in light of his far more insightful ideas concerning the education of males. This paper attempts to make sense of Rousseau's ideas on the education of females. While I maintain that Rousseau's project for Sophie ought to be rejected, I argue that we should try to understand how this otherwise insightful thinker could make such surprising claims. Is it a bizarre inconsistency in his philosophical reasoning or an expression of his unabashed misogyny, as so many have claimed? I argue that it is neither. Rather, it is a product of his conception of human happiness and his belief in the irreducible role human sexual relations has in achieving and prolonging that happiness. For Rousseau, sex, love and happiness are inextricably connected, and he believes that men and women will be happiest when they inhabit certain sex roles-not because sex roles are valuable in themselves, but because only through them can either men or women hope to be happy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the present study was to examine the effect of nonprejudiced credentialing on men who are confronted for sexism. Specifically, this study explored whether providing a male perpetrator with nonsexist credentials intensifies or ameliorates the negative interpersonal outcomes that female confronters often incur. In this experimental study, 147 male undergraduate participants from a university in southern Louisiana, United States, were given false feedback on a gender IAT indicating that they held nonsexist attitudes towards women (or not) and were subsequently confronted by a female experimenter for making a sexist remark (or not). The findings revealed that men who had nonprejudiced credentials viewed a woman who confronted them as less competent and had a stronger preference to avoid her in the future as compared to men who did not have nonprejudiced credentials. Furthermore, confronting was not effective at lowering men's expressions of gender prejudice. Theoretical implications and practical implications for confronting sexism are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the policies proposed by three international organisations to eliminate the use of sexist language. This research compares the main guidelines and recommendations presented at supranational level by the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the European Union to avoid the use of sexist language. It then evaluates the success of these policies via an analysis of texts. The use of sexist language within official documentation allows us to assess the success of language and gender policies and the extent to which recommendations have been implemented. Results of this research suggest that while significant attempts have been made to eliminate the use of sexist language in these three organisations, the implementation of the language and gender policies is sporadic at best. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feminists have long argued that sexist language can have real world consequences for gender relations and the relative status of men and women, and recent research suggests that grammatical gender can shape how people interpret the world around them along gender lines (Boroditsky ). Although others have theorized about the connection between grammatical gender in language and societal gender equality (Stahlberg et al. ), the current work tests this link empirically by examining differences in gender equality between countries with gendered, natural gender, and genderless language systems. Of the 111 countries investigated, our findings suggest that countries where gendered languages are spoken evidence less gender equality compared to countries with other grammatical gender systems. Furthermore, countries where natural gender languages are spoken demonstrate greater gender equality, which may be due to the ease of creating gender symmetric revisions to instances of sexist language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was to provide information on the acceptability of some selected gender-exclusive and inclusive usages and lexis in Hong Kong English. They include the selection of generic he or gender-neutral pronouns anaphoric to indefinite pronouns (e.g., everybody, someone) and occupational terms (e.g., doctor, lawyer, cleaner). A number of generic nouns and sex-unspecified nouns with or without morphologically marked gender were also examined (e.g., chairman vs chairperson, fireman vs fire fighter). The findings reveal that linguistic sexism is still prevalent in Hong Kong. However, the strong feminist movement in Western countries and in the education field has had an impact among young people, some of whom have shown concern to avoid gender-biased language. Although consistent gender differences were not found in the present study, some significant differences between men and women were revealed; a relatively higher proportion of women opted for the coordinate pronoun he/she and gender-neutral occupational terms, whereas more men opted for generic they. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authors are routinely advised to avoid using masculine pronouns to refer to both men and women. Some style guides recommend alternating between masculine and feminine pronouns instead. Unfortunately, previous research with gender-neutral text indicates that readers perceive alternating pronouns to be biased in favor of women. We tested readers' perceptions of alternating pronouns in an essay on a traditionally feminine topic, on a traditionally masculine topic, and on a gender-neutral topic. There were four versions of each essay. One version alternated between masculine and feminine pronouns, a second version used paired masculine and feminine pronouns throughout the passage (e.g., ‘he or she’), and the remaining two versions used exclusively masculine pronouns or feminine pronouns. Readers overestimated the frequency of feminine pronouns in alternating text except when they occurred in an essay on a traditionally feminine topic. Readers also thought alternating pronouns were gender-biased and low in overall quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present research we examined the association between Modern Sexist beliefs and identifying and engaging in subtle sexist behavior. In Study 1, we found that those who endorsed Modern Sexist beliefs were less likely to detect the occurrence of normative sexist behavior (i.e., the use of sexist language), and this oversight was a function of their failure to define such behavior as sexist. In Study 2, we found that those who endorsed Modern Sexist beliefs were more likely to use sexist language and less likely to use nonsexist language. Use of nonsexist language was a function of personal definitions of sexist language. Results are discussed in terms of motivations to self-correct discriminatory behavior and conceptualizations of current forms of sexism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides information on a study which reported the construction and validation of the Inventory of Attitudes Toward Sexist/Nonsexist Language (IASNL). Primary instruments that have been used in studies of attitudes toward sexist language; Development of the IASNL; Format and scoring of the IASNL; Validity and reliability of the IASNL.

Focuses on a study which examined whether alternating the pronouns `he' and `she' in a text is an effective way to avoid sexist language. Profiles of the participants; Design and hypotheses of the study; Methodology; Results; Discussion.

Presents a study which examined whether the enjoyment of sexist humor is associated with aggressive attitudes and behavior in college men. Examination of the relationship between sexist humor, rape-supportive attitudes and aggression in college women; Correlation of the enjoyment of sexist humor with rape-related attitudes and beliefs, likelihood of forcing sex, and sexual aggression in men.

Presents a study which examined the impact of age and gender on attitudes toward sexist and nonsexist language in sport and nonsport contexts. Differentiation between sport and nonsport contexts; Methodology used to conduct the study; Results of the study.

Examines how modeling, grade in school, gender, and attitudes toward women relate to sexist or nonsexist language usage in high school students. Sexist language defined; Ways to eliminate sexist language; Use of the Sexist Language Detector (SLD).

Describes the development and teaching uses of the Gender-Specific Language Scale (GSLS), an instrument designed to assess recognition of sexist language. Importance of teaching recognition of sexist language in the social sciences; Evaluation of the reliability and validity of the GSLS; Implications for teaching of the findings.

Proposals for gender-inclusive language reforms have been institutionalized by many organizations, but a number of factors may affect individuals' own language behaviors and attitudes in this domain. Previous resesarch has shown the influence of respondents' gender and social affiliations on their willingness to accept gender-inclusive language reforms. Study 1 builds upon those earlier surveys by adapting their questions for use in face-to-face interviews. Factors explored in Study 1 included interviewees' gender and age cohort and the situational variable of interviewer gender. Results showed that women were more concerned about sexist language than men, more likely to evaluate it negatively, and likely to use more gender-inclusive methods to avoid it. Older subjects were more attentive to gender-exclusive language than current college students. Interviewer gender also exerted effects such that female interviewers elicited more negative attitudes toward gender-exclusive language than did male interviewers. Young men interviewed by males reported using fewest gender-inclusive constructions, while older females interviewed by women used the most. Study 2 demonstrated the effect of psychological gender role types on attitudes toward gender-inclusive language. Androgynous individuals reported using more methods to avoid gender-exclusive reference than did either gender-neutral or instrumental (traditionally masculine) participants. Implications for diffusing gender-inclusive language reform are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment investigated the propensity of the generic he to evoke images of males relative to he/she and the plural they. Undergraduates read sentences aloud and verbally described the images that came to mind. The results provide strong support for the hypothesis that the generic he evokes a disproportionate number of male images. Results also suggest that while the plural they functions as a generic pronoun for both males and females, males may comprehend he/she in a manner similar to he. Theoretical implications for a critique of sexist language and prescribing generic pronoun usage are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated whether or not sexist language in written form can be linked to traditional views of sex roles, assertiveness, psychological androgyny, Christian beliefs, or sexist language in oral form. In Experiment 1, under- graduates were given an essay designed to test written sexist language and several pencil-and-paper personality inventories. No relationship between sexist language and interpersonal assertiveness or psychological androgyny was found. However, those who avoided sexist language were less traditional in their sex role perceptions scored lower on a scale of Christian beliefs. In Experient 2, the method of measuring sexist language was expanded by using three essay responses and a brief oral interview. Those who used sexist language in written form were more likely than others to use sexist language in oral form on some responses. Interpretations and implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since nicknames are a very fluid component of language, they become a useful tool for revealing current sex role stereotypes. A study of 380 nicknames collected from 175 young women and men ages 14-19 shows that males assign most nicknames and males receive more names based on surnames; also, connotations of strength, largeness, hardness, and maturity are typical of male nicknames. For female nicknames, physical attributes are more important, and connotations are typically of beauty, pleasantness, kindness, and goodness. Nicknames do not reflect much difference in activity, however, a quality that in earlier studies is associated predominantly with males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subjects of both sexes were shown several sentences that contained a blank space where a third-person singular pronoun should be, and were asked to indicate what pronoun they would choose to complete the sentence. Some sentences referred to traditionally masculine positions (e.g., lawyer), some referred to traditionally feminine positions (e.g., secretary), and some referred to positions with generic titles (e.g., spokesman). As hypothesized, subjects with high scores on Spence and Helmreich's (1972) Attitudes toward Women Scale (AWS) chose nonsexist pronouns more frequently on all three types of sentences than did subjects with low AWS scores. Less feminist trends in the subjects' pronoun choices are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of sexist labeling. Sixty males and 60 females were asked to evaluate an artist and a series of paintings on a variety of cognitive and affective measures. For half the subjects, the artist was identified as a male with either a high status label (‘man’), a low status label (‘guy’), or a neutral label (‘person’); for the other half of the subjects, the artist was identified as a female with either a high status label (‘woman’), a low status label (‘girl’), or a neutral label (‘person’). The findings indicated that for the female artist, the low and high status labels had an equally negative effect on subjects' judgments; for the male artist, the low and high status labels had an equally positive effect on subjects' judgments. There were no significant differences between male and female subjects. The social and psychological implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite recent efforts to eliminate sexist language from journal and other publications, controversy persists over whether sexist language contributes to the perpetuation of sex bias. Seventy-two female and 57 male undergraduates were exposed to three levels of sexist noun and pronoun usage in a description of ‘Ethical Standards of Psychologists.‘ All subjects then rated the attractiveness of a career in psychology for males and females, and their own willingness to refer a male or female friend to a psychologist. In several instances, ratings of career attractiveness and willingness to refer were found to vary in sex-role stereotypic directions as a function of degree of exposure to sexist language. Recent demands for nonsexist language may be supportable on the basis of a genuine relationship between sexist language and the maintenance of sex-biased perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Use of sexist language significantly affects the evaluation and perception of candidates for office. Simulated newspaper articles describing a candidate were presented to subjects who rated candidates on evaluation and gender-stereotyping measures. Variables of degree of linguistic sexism, stimulus person sex, gender appropriateness of elective office, and subject sex were manipulated in a 2 × 2 × 3 × 2 factorial design. A significant three-way evaluation interaction indicated that linguistic sexism causes women to be negatively evaluated when seeking a ‘masculine’ or ‘neutral’ office. A significant two-way stereotype interaction suggested that linguistic sexism made more salient the gender appropriateness of the offices — candidates running for the ‘masculine’ offices were perceived as more ‘masculine,’ and candidates for the ‘feminine’ offices as more ‘feminine.’ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has suggested that in certain contexts male terms may fail to be gender neutral (Moulton, Robinson, & Elias, 1978). Stricker (1977) has proposed that even explicitly generic terms such as ‘adult’ and ‘person’ may not be gender neutral. The conclusions of the highly controversial and influential Broverman, Vogel, Broverman, Clarkson, and Rosenkrantz (1970) study were based directly on the assumption that ‘adult’ is a gender-neutral term. The present study consisted of a modified replication of the Broverman et al. study followed by an addendum that asked subjects in the ‘gender-neutral’ condition to indicate whether they had thought of a neutral, male, or female stimulus person. As predicted, subjects did not tend to think of a neutral stimulus person. The implications of this finding for sex-role stereotype research as well as for ‘guidlines for nonsexist language’ are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent article by Friedman published in this journal alleges that a study by Whitcher and Fisher (1979) in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology is sexist research. An examination of his critique reveals that the facts are not as he purports. A reading of the Whitcher and Fisher (1979) study shows that the authors followed explicitly APA (1977) guidelines for nonsexist language in writing their article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]