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Attitudes toward women and the influence of gender on political decision making.

• Mary-Kate Lizotte Mary-Kate Lizotte Department of Social Sciences, Augusta University
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.771
• Published online: 28 August 2018

There is a great deal of research, spanning social psychology, sociology, and political science, on politically relevant attitudes toward women and the influence of gender on individual’s political decision making. First, there are several measures of attitudes toward women, including measures of sexism and gender role attitudes, such as the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, the Old-Fashioned Sexism Scale, the Modern Sexism Scale, and the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory. There are advantages and disadvantages of these existing measures. Moreover, there are important correlates and consequences of these attitudes. Correlates include education level and the labor force participation of one’s mother or spouse. The consequences of sexist and non-egalitarian gender role attitudes include negative evaluations of female candidates for political office and lower levels of gender equality at the state level. Understanding the sources and effects of attitudes toward women is relevant to public policy and electoral scholars.

Second, gender appears to have a strong effect on shaping men’s and women’s attitudes and political decisions. Gender differences in public opinion consistently arise across several issue areas, and there are consistent gender differences in vote choice and party identification. Various issues produce gender gaps, including the domestic and international use of force, compassion issues such as social welfare spending, equal rights, and government spending more broadly. Women are consistently more liberal on all of these policies. On average, women are more likely than men to vote for a Democratic Party candidate and identify as a Democrat. There is also a great deal of research investigating various origins of these gender differences. Comprehending when and why gender differences in political decision making emerge is important to policymakers, politicians, the political parties, and scholars.

• public opinion
• attitudes toward women
• political behavior
• gender role attitudes
• feminist identification
• party identification
• political ideology
• political decision making

Introduction

Historically, gendered attitudes toward women effectively excluded women from political participation, silencing women’s policy preferences and public opinion, and preventing them from contributing to political institutions. American women supporting the abolition of slavery attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840 . These women, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, were not allowed to participate in the conference proceedings. Realizing that their desire to effect change was hindered by their inability to participate in politics, a desire for change—via women’s rights and eventually suffrage—soon began to develop (Ford, 2017 ). Attitudes toward women were making it impossible for women’s policy preferences to be heard by other citizens or heeded by government officials. This historical example illustrates the importance of understanding attitudes toward women and the influence of gender on public opinion and other political decisions. Stanton and Mott epitomize the importance of studying gender and political decision making. This essay discusses both attitudes toward women and gender differences in political decision making. The first section provides an overview of politically relevant attitudes toward women. A discussion of the role of gender in shaping individuals’ political attitudes and decisions follows. This article focuses primarily on political decision makers as its unit of analysis. For more on how candidates are gender stereotyped and its implications, see Bauer (“Gender Stereotyping in Political Decision Making,” this work).

Attitudes Toward Women and Gender Equality

An abundance of research exists studying attitudes toward women, much of which has a particular focus on sexist attitudes and gender role attitudes. This research is predominantly from social psychology and sociology but is relevant to politics and political science because of the consequences such attitudes have for policy preferences and support for women in politics. This section provides a critical overview of several measures of attitudes toward women and their consequences. Gender differences are an important component of this research and are noted throughout this section on attitudes toward women. This section does not provide an exhaustive list of measures of attitudes toward women and does not discuss the reliability or validity of the measures (see McHugh & Frieze, 1997 , for a discussion).

Sexism, Gender Role Attitudes, and Feminism

One of the older measures is the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, which was developed in the early 1970s to measure attitudes about women’s rights, gender roles, proper behavior of women, and women’s responsibilities in the public and private spheres (Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1973 ). Women are consistently more egalitarian in their scores on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (Spence & Hahn, 1997 ), meaning that women are more likely to endorse equal opportunity in the workplace, to advocate shared household and parenting duties between men and women, and to oppose a double standard for sex before marriage. Overtime, men’s and women’s attitudes have on average become more egalitarian (Spence & Hahn, 1997 ). Although its widespread usage over the decades makes it useful for comparisons over time, the scale may now be outdated and no longer properly discriminates between individuals with differing attitudes, particularly at the liberal end of the spectrum. This may be due to changes in attitudes and possibly also because of social desirability (Fassinger, 1994 ; Spence & Hahn, 1997 ). For example, this scale measures support for equal opportunity in the workplace, the acceptability for women to engage in sex before marriage, and the sharing of household and parenting responsibilities, all of which have become much more mainstream attitudes and behaviors compared to in the 1970s when the scale originated.

Two more recent measures of sexism exist, which were developed to better capture contemporary sexist attitudes. First, the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory measures hostile sexism and benevolent sexism (Glick & Fiske, 1996 ). Hostile sexism includes antagonism toward women seeking special favors in the workplace, the belief that women are overly sensitive to sexist remarks, and the belief that women use of their sexuality to control men. Benevolent sexism consists of the desire to protect women, placing women on a pedestal, and believing that women are morally superior. Men are more likely to endorse hostile sexism, and women often endorse benevolent sexism while opposing hostile sexism (Glick & Fiske, 2001 ).

The second category of contemporary measures of sexism, the Modern Sexism Scale and the Old-Fashioned Sexism Scale, measure nuances within contemporary sexist attitudes (Swim, Aikin, Hall, & Hunter, 1995 ). The Modern Sexism Scale is a measure of sexism including the denial of gender discrimination, a lack of understanding for the concerns of women’s groups, and denial of sexism on television (Swim et al., 1995 ). The Old-Fashioned Sexism Scale includes beliefs that women are not as smart as men, that mothers should take on the burden of child care to a greater extent than men, and that having a woman as a boss would be uncomfortable (Swim et al., 1995 ). Men are more likely than women to endorse the measures of Modern Sexism and Old-Fashioned Sexism (Barreto & Ellemers, 2005 ; Swim et al., 1995 ).

It may seem as though there has been an unnecessary proliferation of scales measuring attitudes toward women. While historical and contemporary sexism scales do correlate with one another, they are measuring somewhat distinct underlying beliefs. For example, the Attitudes Toward Women Scale and the Modern Sexism Scale are distinct but correlated measures (Swim & Cohen, 1997 ). The Old-Fashioned Sexism Scale, however, appears to measure the same underlying beliefs as the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (Swim & Cohen, 1997 ). The Hostile Dimension of the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory moderately correlates with the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, the Modern Sexism Scale, and the Old-Fashioned Sexism Scale (Glick & Fiske, 1997 ). There is a low correlation between the benevolent dimension and these other measures of sexism (Glick & Fiske, 1997 ). As time goes on, attitudes of interest to researchers change, as does how to best capture culturally prevalent attitudes.

Feminist identity, endorsement of feminist beliefs, or support for the feminist movement are other ways to measure politically relevant attitudes toward women. Gender differences are significant, particularly for male respondents who are less likely to identify as feminists, shaping their attitudes toward women in general. Analysis of 1996 General Social Survey (GSS) data reveals that women are more likely than men to identify as a feminist (McCabe, 2005 ; Schnittker, Freese, & Powell, 2003 ). In the 1996 ANES, men were 8 percentage points less likely to support equal rights for women and 11 percentage points less likely to report favorable views toward the women’s movement (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). In the 2004 ANES, men were 4 percentage points less likely to support equal rights (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). The gender gap in feminist identification appears to range between 9 to 40 percentage points depending on available response options (Huddy, Neely, & Lafay, 2000 ). Attitudes around feminism even shape men’s attitudes toward women who self-identify as feminists: according to feeling thermometer ratings in the 1988 American National Election Study (ANES), men rated feminists less favorably than women (Cook & Wilcox, 1991 ). It is important to note that researchers do not always find gender differences in feminist identification or feminist beliefs (Clark & Clark, 2009 ; Rhodebeck, 1996 ).

Gender ideology, the belief in separate spheres for men and women, and gender role attitudes may be rooted in interest-based or exposure-based explanations (Davis & Greenstein, 2009 ). The interest-based explanation is that women benefit from more egalitarian attitudes and are therefore more likely than men to hold egalitarian gender attitudes, and the exposure-based explanation includes that socialization, like being raised by an educated and/or working mother, leads to more egalitarian gender views (Davis & Greenstein, 2009 ). There is support for the interest-based explanation as women are more likely to identify as feminist, endorse feminist beliefs, and feel positively toward the feminist movement (Clark & Clark, 2009 ; Huddy et al., 2000 ; McCabe, 2005 ; Schnittker et al., 2003 ). Additionally, women have less sexist/more egalitarian views than men on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, the Ambivalence Sexism Inventory, the Modern Sexism Scale, and the Old-Fashioned Sexism Scale (Barreto & Ellemers, 2005 ; Glick & Fiske, 2001 ; Spence & Hahn, 1997 ; Swim et al., 1995 ).

There is also evidence to support the interest-based explanation using other measures of gender role attitudes. Generally, women have more egalitarian gender attitudes than men (Brewster & Padavic, 2000 ). In one study of GSS data from 1974 to 2006 , black females are the most liberal on gender role attitudes, measured as women’s suitability for politics and women’s traditional family responsibilities, than white females, white males, and black males; there is also a main effect of gender, with females more liberal than males (Carter, Corra, & Carter, 2009 ). Among women, working outside the home and higher education levels lead to greater support for equal gender roles, while frequent church attendance predicts more conservative views (Bolzendahl & Myers, 2004 ). Using a two-wave study of married individuals across both waves, support exists for the interest-based explanation, including female employment and the presence of a small child positively related to women’s levels of egalitarianism (Kroska & Elman, 2009 ).

Evidence exists supporting the exposure-based explanation as well. First, exposure via parents or a spouse appears to lead to more egalitarian gender role attitudes. Among men, having a spouse in the labor force and higher education of one’s mother are associated with more liberal views toward gender roles, while church attendance is associated with more conservative views (Bolzendahl & Myers, 2004 ). A two-wave study of married individuals finds support for the exposure-based explanation with a positive relationship between spouse and individual levels of gender role egalitarianism (Kroska & Elman, 2009 ). For men, having an employed mother is positively associated with feminist identity and holding feminist opinions (Rhodebeck, 1996 ).

Second, exposure via higher levels of education or liberal/Democratic identification leads to attitudes that are more egalitarian on gender roles. For men and women higher education levels predict more egalitarian gender attitudes (Brewster & Padavic, 2000 ). Among men, higher levels of education are positively associated with feminist identity and holding feminist opinions (Rhodebeck, 1996 ). In the 1996 GSS, men and women with higher levels of education, liberal ideology, and Democratic partisanship are also more likely to identify as feminist (McCabe, 2005 ). It is possible that egalitarian gender role attitudes lead to liberal/Democratic identification and not vice versa. Additionally, it may be the case that African Americans are more likely exposed to egalitarian gender roles because of a longer history of black women working outside the home. There are racial and gender differences, with whites and men being less liberal (Carter et al., 2009 ). 1

Consequences

Understanding how sexism, feminist identity, and gender role attitudes correlate with or predict other attitudes and outcomes is important in shaping attitudes toward women in the public sphere, particularly in politics. This section also discusses other evidence of politically relevant attitudes toward women, such as women’s suitability for politics.

With respect to policy preferences, less research has focused on these attitudes as predictors of issue positions. Benevolent sexism predicts support for and hostile sexism predicts opposition to affirmative action policies to promote the hiring of women among New Zealanders (Fraser, Osborne, & Sibley, 2015 ). A recent study employing 2006 Cooperative Congressional Election Study data finds that “modern sexism” predicts anti-abortion attitudes, support for the Iraq War, and less support for employment discrimination legislation to protect women; support for traditional women’s roles also predicts opposition to abortion and support for the war in Iraq (Burns, Jardina, Kinder, & Reynolds, 2016 ).

More research has investigated these attitudes as predictors of candidate evaluations (see “Gender Stereotyping in Political Decision Making,” this work). In an experiment, individuals with more egalitarian scores on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale rated female candidates as more effective at solving problems of the disabled, the aged, and the educational system as well as at guaranteeing rights for racial minorities (Rosenwasser, Rogers, Fling, Silvers-Pickens, & Butemeyer, 1987 ). Individuals with less egalitarian scores on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale rated male candidates as more effective at dealing with military issues (Rosenwasser et al., 1987 ). Men possessing hostile sexist attitudes evaluate women in nontraditional roles such as career women more negatively than women in traditional roles (Glick, Diebold, Bailey-Werner, & Zhu, 1997 ). “Hostile sexism” influences competence ratings of female political candidates in an experiment (Carey & Lizotte, 2017 ). Modern sexism and hostile sexism are associated with a greater likelihood of favorability and voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election (Blair, 2017 ; Bock, Byrd-Craven, & Burkley, 2017 ; Cassese & Holman, 2016 ; Valentino, Wayne, & Oceno, 2018 ) and voting for Romney among men in the 2012 presidential election (Simas & Bumgardner, 2017 ). In slight contrast, “benevolent sexism” predicted greater support for Clinton after exposure to a Trump attack on Clinton for “playing the woman’s card” (Cassese & Holman, 2016 ).

In the 1996 GSS, feminist identifiers, which are more likely to be women, are more likely to support abortion legality, affirmative action for women, and gender equality in employment as well as in the home (Schnittker et al., 2003 ). For men, feminist identification is associated with positive views toward women in politics, mothers working outside the home, and career-focused women but is not associated with those attitudes for women according to analysis of the 1996 GSS (McCabe, 2005 ). Perceptions of candidate positions on the issue of equal gender roles leads to greater support for Democratic presidential candidates in the 1988 through 2012 presidential elections (Hansen, 2016 ). Feminism appears to have a substantial influence on partisanship particularly among women, with feminist women being very likely to identify as Democrats and anti-feminist women being increasingly likely to identify as Republican (Beinart, 2017 ; Huddy & Willmann, 2017 ).

There is comparative cross-country data showing that individual attitudes toward women correlate with or predict gender inequality at the national level. Sexism at the individual level, measured as a belief that men make better political leaders and business executives than women, is associated with gender inequality at the nation level across 57 different countries including the United States (Brandt, 2011 ). Similar results exist for hostile and benevolent sexism; men’s average level of sexism, both hostile and benevolent, is correlated with gender inequality at the state level in 19 countries (Glick & Fiske, 2001 ). Egalitarian gender role attitudes, compared to traditional gender role attitudes, predicts higher income levels among women in data including individuals from 28 different countries (Stickney & Konrad, 2007 ).

Finally, there is research in political science that looks at support for women in politics but does not include measures of sexism, feminist identity, or gender role attitudes. This research area is vast, and the following discussion is not exhaustive. Some of this research does not find gender differences. According to analysis of GSS data from 1972 , 1974 , and 1978 , there were no consistent gender differences on women’s suitability for politics, while younger people, more educated individuals, and less religious respondents were more likely to view women as suitable for politics (Welch & Sigelman, 1982 ). In 1974 and 1978 GSS data, white women did not significantly differ from white men in their support for a female president (Sigelman & Welch, 1984 ). In the United States, there has been considerable research and polling that finds men are less likely to believe women are suitable for politics, particularly in higher levels of executive office. Men are less likely to report willingness to vote for a woman for president (Dolan, 2004 ; Lawless, 2004 ) and are less likely to report voting for a woman for the House of Representatives (Dolan, 2004 ). Controlling for a number of other demographic and attitudinal variables, men are more likely to believe that men are better suited to handle a military crisis, to punish terrorists, to prevent terrorism, and to bring peace in the Middle East (Lawless, 2004 ). Analysis of 2000 National Annenberg Election Survey data finds that men were less likely than women to be favorable toward a female president (Kenski & Falk, 2004 ). Finally, men were less likely to vote for Hillary Clinton for president (Burden, Crawford, & DeCrescenzo, 2016 ).

Gender Differences in Political Attitudes

As noted in the prior section, gender has an effect on shaping women’s and men’s attitudes on sexism, feminism, and gender roles. Gender also has a strong effect on shaping men’s and women’s attitudes and issue preferences with gender differences in ideology, party identification, vote choice, and public opinion across several issue areas consistently arising. In the following sections is, first, a summary of the literature on how women are more likely to identify as liberal, to identify as Democrat, and to vote for Democratic candidates. Second, there is an overview of gender differences in policy preferences. Third, there is a critical discussion of existing and potential explanations for gender differences in attitudes and policy preferences.

Gender influences political ideology, party identification, and vote choice. The gender gap in ideology is also a modest gap, in which women tend to identify as more liberal than men (Condon & Wichowsky, 2015 ; Norrander & Wilcox, 2008 ). Well-educated and single women are more likely to identify as liberal, and religiosity predicts conservatism for men and women (Norrander & Wilcox, 2008 ). Abortion and gender role attitudes contribute more to women’s ideology, while social welfare issues contribute more to men’s ideology (Norrander & Wilcox, 2008 ). In contrast, other research finds evidence that the gender gap in ideology results from differences in opinion, not differential prioritizing or weighting of issues (Condon & Wichowsky, 2015 ). In other words, men are more ideologically conservative than women because of different policy preferences, not because men and women differ in how they connect issue positions to ideology with positions on social welfare and abortion contributing equally to men’s and women’s ideological constructs (Condon & Wichowsky, 2015 ). Finally, ideological differences exist among partisans. Within the Republican primary electorate, men are more likely to describe themselves as conservative and women are more likely to identify as moderates (Norrander, 2003 ).

Party Identification

Consistent gender differences in party identification exist, with women more likely to identify with the Democratic Party (Huddy, Cassese, & Lizotte, 2008b ). Additionally, there are gender differences in the propensity to identify with a party at all. Men are more likely than women to identify as Independents (Norrander, 1997 ). Women are more likely to identify as weak partisans, while men identify as leaning Independents (Norrander, 1997 , 2003 ). This has consequences for the partisan gap overall. Failing to take into account the leaning Independents makes the gender gap in partisanship appear to be caused by women’s attraction to the Democratic Party; including leaning Independents shows the partisan gap to be equally due to men’s attraction to the Republican Party and women’s attraction to the Democratic Party (Norrander, 1997 ). Other research argues that the evidence suggests the partisan gender gap is mostly the result of white men leaving the Democratic Party (Kaufmann & Petrocik, 1999 ; Norrander, 1999 ). The most recent analysis finds that the gender in partisanship appears to be the result of both men’s and women’s response to the symbolic images of the political parties, including the gender make-up of congressional delegations and partisan realignments, not simply men’s movement away from the Democratic Party as earlier work often claimed (Ondercin, 2017 ).

Vote Choice

According to analysis of cumulative ANES data ( 1980–2004 ), women are consistently more likely to vote for the Democratic presidential nominee over the Republican (Huddy et al., 2008b ). The gender gap in vote choice exists across several demographic groups (Clark & Clark, 2009 ; Huddy et al., 2008b ). For example, in the 1980 presidential election, women were more likely than men to vote for Carter across most income categories, among all education levels, regardless of union membership, among all racial/ethnic groups, regardless of parental status, among all ages, and across all regions (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). Similar findings exist for presidential vote choice for the 1996 , 2000 , and 2004 elections (Clark & Clark, 2009 ) as well as the 2016 election, which featured a woman major-party candidate (Burden, Crawford, & DeCrescenzo, 2016 ). Gender gaps even emerge within parties; women and men within the same party primaries tend to support different candidates on average (Norrander, 2003 ). For example, in the 2000 presidential primaries, female Democrats were more likely to vote for Gore in comparison to male Democrats, who were more likely to vote for Bradley, and female Republicans were more likely to vote for George W. Bush compared to male Republicans, who were more likely to vote for McCain (Norrander, 2003 ). This was also true in the 2016 presidential primaries, with female Democrats more likely to vote for Clinton and male Democrats more likely to vote for Sanders and female Republicans being consistently less likely than male Republicans to vote for Trump (Presidential Gender Watch, 2016 ). In Europe, women also tend to vote for left-leaning political parties (Abendschön & Steinmetz, 2014 ; Annesley & Gains, 2014 ; Emmenegger & Manow, 2014 ; Harteveld & Ivarsflaten, 2016 ; Immerzeel, Coffé, & Van der Lippe, 2015 ). 2

Issue Preferences

There are gender gaps on various policy issues, including the domestic and international use of force, compassion issues such as social welfare spending, equal rights, and government spending more broadly. Women are consistently more liberal on all of these policies, but the size of gender differences vary. Gender differences on the use of force, social welfare, equal rights, the environment, and morality have been the gaps most studied in the literature. Gender gaps in policy preferences are politically consequential. These issue gaps contribute to the gender gap in voting (Chaney, Alvarez, & Nagler, 1998 ; Clark & Clark, 2009 ). Moreover, the gender gap in party identification does not completely account for the gender gap in vote choice (Kaufmann & Petrocik, 1999 ). In recent elections, women have turned out to vote at consistently higher levels than men, increasing the likelihood that these opinion differences could be politically consequential (CAWP, 2015 ). Hence, a gender gap on a single issue, especially a salient issue, could have significant electoral effects.

Use of Force Attitudes

There are robust gender differences on support for the use of force, with women less likely to support the use of force both internationally and domestically. Women are less likely to support defense spending and the use of the military to solve international crises. The gap on defense spending and use of the military was 10 percentage points and 5 percentage points in 1996 and 10 percentage points and 7 percentage points in 2004 (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). Differences on support for war in the abstract, troops in Afghanistan, and military intervention in Libya also appear to exist outside of the United States but considerably vary in size across Europe and Turkey, ranging from 0 to 23 percentage points (Eichenberg & Read, 2016 ). Gender differences on the use of international force do not always materialize outside of the United States. For example, only women in the United States have greater support for peacekeeping forces in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and greater favorability for the United Nations (Eichenberg & Read, 2016 ). Moreover, the gender gap on the use of military force consistently fails to appear in the Middle East (Ben Shitrit, Elad-Strenger, & Hirsch-Hoefler, 2017 ; Tessler, Nachtwey, & Grant, 1999 ). Finally, women are also less likely to support the use of torture to prevent terrorist attacks (Lizotte, 2017a ).

With respect to domestic force issues, women are also more supportive of gun control and less supportive of the death penalty. The gap on gun control was 23 percentage points and the gap on the death penalty was 8 percentage points in the 1996 ANES, and in the 2004 ANES the gaps were 19 percentage points and 9 percentage points, respectively (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). Women are consistently less likely than men to support the death penalty (Stack, 2000 ; Whitehead & Blankenship, 2000 ). Many studies show a robust gender gap on gun control (Filindra & Kaplan, 2016 ; Haider-Markel & Joslyn, 2001 ; Howell & Day, 2000 ), with women being less likely to own a gun and less likely to see owning a gun as a means of self-protection (Kleck, Gertz, & Bratton, 2009 ). There are, however, important differences in terms of party identification and ideology in support for the death penalty and gun control among women—women, who identify as Democrats and liberals, are more likely than Republican and conservative women to oppose the death penalty and to support gun control (Deckman, 2016 ).

Social Welfare Attitudes

Women are generally more supportive of social welfare spending and domestic spending on services. Generally, women are more supportive of a bigger government with a more activist role (Fox & Oxley, 2015 ). Social welfare issues include support for increased government spending on Social Security, the homeless, welfare, food stamps, child care, aid to the poor, and schools as well as government guaranteeing jobs, providing more services, and providing health insurance (Clark & Clark, 1996 , 2008 ; Howell & Day, 2000 ; Kaufmann & Petrocik, 1999 ). Women are also more likely than men to support the Affordable Care Act (Lizotte, 2016a ). Recent analysis finds small and consistent gender differences on government provision of services, government-guaranteed jobs, government-guaranteed standard of living, government provision of health insurance, and increased government spending on public schools, child care, social security, welfare aid to the poor, and food stamps (Fox & Oxley, 2015 ). Not all women are supportive of increased government aid to the poor; in particular, Tea Party women and Republican women are less supportive than women nationally (Deckman, 2012 ).

These gaps differ in size across these varied issue areas and are generally robust to the inclusion of control variables. For example, on government-funded health insurance and government-guaranteed jobs, the gap ranges from 4 to 5 percentage points (Clark & Clark, 1996 ). In contrast, on Social Security spending the gap has been much larger at 14 or 15 percentage points (Clark & Clark, 1996 ). Spending on the poor, welfare, food stamps, and the homeless tends to produce gaps of 4 to 7 percentage points (Kaufmann & Petrocik, 1999 ). The gap on social welfare spending has recently been the second largest opinion gap at around 10 percentage points (Norrander, 2008 ). These gaps remain significant, controlling for educational attainment, marital status, income, children, age, cohort, occupational status, party identification, religious identification, parental status, and race (Howell & Day, 2000 ; Lizotte, 2017b ). Gender differences on income inequality, however, do not exist in many countries outside of the United States and Western Europe (Jaime-Castillo, Fernández, Valiente, & Mayrl, 2016 ).

Minority Rights Attitudes

There is less consistent evidence of gender differences on racial policy or racial attitudes. In the 1996 ANES and in the 2004 ANES, the gender gap on support for government aid to blacks was only 3 percentage points (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). There appears to be a 4 or 5 percentage point gender gap in support for government spending to help blacks (Clark & Clark, 1996 ; Kaufmann & Petrocik, 1999 ). Women are slightly more likely to support affirmative action (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). For support of affirmative action, the gap for jobs is 4 to 6 percentage points, while support for education quotas results in a 9 percentage point difference, both without control variables (Clark & Clark, 1996 ). Much of the research finds that the gender gap no longer exists when control variables and/or party identification are included (Howell & Day, 2000 ; Hughes & Tuch, 2003 ).

Women are more supportive of gay rights than men. Women are more likely to support civil rights for gays (Clark & Clark, 1996 ; Herek, 2002 ). Women are more supportive of consensual sexual relations between same-sex partners being legal, gay adoption rights, the right to serve in the military, and employment protections (Brewer, 2003 ; Clark & Clark, 2009 ; Herek, 2002 ; Stoutenborough, Haider-Markel, & Allen, 2006 ). Women are more likely to support equal rights and to support same-sex marriage controlling for various demographic and religious variables (Haider-Markel & Joslyn, 2008 ). Of course, not all women are supportive of gay rights; Republican women and Tea Party women are less favorable toward gay rights than women as a whole (Deckman, 2012 ).

Environmental Attitudes

Gender differences often emerge on environmental policy preferences. Women are more likely to support environmental protections even if it reduces the number of jobs (Clark & Clark, 2009 ). Conservative women are less likely compared to women nationally to support environmental protections (Deckman, 2012 ). There is also a gender gap on environmental concern (McCright, 2010 ; Mohai, 1992 ). The gap remains significant when demographic variables, ideology, party identification, knowledge about climate change, and parenthood/motherhood are controlled for in the analysis (McCright, 2010 ; Mohai, 1992 ). This gap is not as big as the gaps on the use of force or some of the social welfare gaps. Women are more likely by 5 percentage points to believe global warming is occurring and are more likely by 8 percentage points to believe that humans are causing it (McCright, 2010 ). Women also express by 6 percentage points greater worry about global warming and are more likely by 9 percentage points to believe that it will threaten their way of life (McCright, 2010 ). Additionally, women are more likely to agree that climate change will cause coastal flooding, drought, and loss of animal and plant species (Blocker & Eckberg, 1997 ).

Religiosity and Morality Attitudes

There are gender differences in religiosity, religious fundamentalism, commitment to religion, and frequency of religious behaviors, with women being more religious than men (Cook & Wilcox, 1991 ; Tolleson-Rinehart & Perkins, 1989 ). Republican women and Tea Party women are more religious than women as a whole (Deckman, 2012 ). This could translate into policy preferences. Women are more supportive of school prayer, more opposed to the legalization of marijuana, and more supportive of legal access restrictions on pornography (Eagly, Diekman, Johannesen-Schmidt, & Koenig, 2004 ). Religious belief does not always influence women to be more conservative on moral issues (e.g., the gender gap on gay rights). Gender differences in religiosity and traditional morality may be due to gender role socialization that promotes traits such as passivity and obedience in women (Thompson, 1991 ) or that prepares women for the role of motherhood in which they have the primary responsibility for the moral development of children (Eagly et al., 2004 ).

Gender differences on reproductive issues, which are often framed as morality issues, tend to be small and inconsistent in comparison to other gender gaps. Gender differences do not always emerge on abortion legality—it appears to depend on how abortion attitudes are modeled. In particular, if religious and religiosity indicators are included, women are more likely to support legality under all circumstances (Lizotte, 2015 ). Women are more likely to believe that abortion is morally wrong (Scott, 1989 ). No gender differences exist on the influence of abortion attitudes on party identification or vote choice (Lizotte, 2016b ). Relatedly, women were more likely to support the birth control mandate included in the Affordable Care Act, but men and women were both likely to have their support influence their 2012 presidential vote choice (Deckman & McTague, 2014 ).

Explanations

There are several explanations for gender differences in political attitudes and behavior, with varying levels of evidence to support each one. Examining the different theories put forth in the literature is integral to understanding how and why gender influences political attitudes. The following theories exist in the literature: Feminist Identity, Economic Circumstances, Social Role Theory and Motherhood, Risk and Threat Perceptions, Personality, and Values. There are varying degrees of support for each of these explanations. These explanations are not mutually exclusive, and it may be that more than one explanation simultaneously contributes to each gap, or that different explanations explain different gaps.

Feminist Identity

First, there is the feminist identity or feminist consciousness explanation. There are several different types of feminism, but commonalities exist across the different forms. Specifically, most types of feminism include the following: a belief in sex/gender equality; the belief that historical gender equality is socially constructed and not natural or intended by God; and the recognition of shared experience among women, which ought to inspire a longing for change (Cott, 1987 ). Evidence exists that feminist identity contributes to gender differences on defense spending, environmental attitudes, social welfare spending, and anti-war attitudes (Conover, 1988 ; Conover & Sapiro, 1993 ; Cook & Wilcox, 1991 ; Feinstein, 2017 ; Somma & Tolleson-Rinehart, 1997 ). Early work investigating this explanation finds a link between feminist consciousness and gender gaps on unemployment spending, child care spending, equal opportunity for African Americans, and foreign policy positions (Conover, 1988 ). Much of this research argues that feminist identity likely has an indirect influence on political attitudes and behavior. This research finds that feminist identity correlates with lower endorsement of traditionalism, individualism, and symbolic racism as well as greater endorsement of egalitarianism (Conover, 1988 ; Cook & Wilcox, 1991 ).

Economic Circumstances

Second, there are two economic explanations in the literature: economically independent women or economically vulnerable women are causing gender differences. Economically independent women are more likely than men to work in the public sector, such as in public schools and as health providers, and consequently would be more likely to support the Democratic Party, which is perceived as wanting to maintain or increase funding for that sector (Huddy et al., 2008b ). There is mixed evidence for this explanation. In 1980–2004 ANES data, professional and high-income women are not significantly more likely to vote or identify as Democrats (Huddy et al., 2008b ). Increases in women’s workforce participation explains the gender gap in presidential vote choice in the ANES 1952–1992 data (Manza & Brooks, 1998 ). Educated women as well as women and men working in the public sector are more likely to support social welfare spending, the men even more than the women (Howell & Day, 2000 ).

Economically vulnerable women may support the Democratic Party and greater government spending on social welfare programs because of the potential for them to benefit from such policies and spending. Additionally, economically vulnerable women may oppose defense spending and military interventions because it could lead to less funding of the welfare state. There is moderate evidence for this explanation in that income level is a predictor but does not fully account for gender differences in the following research. In some years but not all of the ANES 1980–2004 , low-income women are more likely to identify as and vote for Democrats (Huddy et al., 2008b ). Time-series analysis shows an association at the aggregate level between the size of the partisan gap and the proportion of economically vulnerable (Box-Steffensmeier, De Boef, & Lin, 2004 ). Low income explains some but not all of the gender differences in wanting more government services and spending (Clark & Clark, 2009 ) and in support for the Affordable Care Act (Lizotte, 2016a ). Finally, low-income individuals are less supportive of military interventions (Nincic & Nincic, 2002 ), but equalizing men’s and women’s income would only reduce the gender gap by about 9% (Feinstein, 2017 ).

Social Role Theory and Motherhood

Third, there is the Social Role Theory explanation, which posits that gender gaps result from gender role socialization (Diekman & Schneider, 2010 ; Eagly et al., 2004 ). Social Role Theory argues for an interaction between the physical characteristics and the features of the local environment leading to a particular male–female division of labor in a given society. Consequently, this division of labor brings about certain gender roles and gender socialization of agentic traits among males and communal traits among females (Eagly & Wood, 2012 ). Communal traits include anti-conflict and nurturance, and agentic traits include aggression and assertiveness. Therefore, women’s anti-force and pro-equality attitudes fit with these gendered socialized traits (Eagly et al., 2004 ). It is somewhat difficult to test this explanation because of the assumption that the vast majority of individuals will receive the same gendered socialization within a given society. Motherhood, however, predicts greater support for aid to the poor, government healthcare, child care spending, public school spending, preference for greater government services, and food stamp spending (Elder & Greene, 2007 ; Greenlee, 2014 ; Howell & Day, 2000 ; Lizotte, 2017b ). These findings show that motherhood contributes to these gaps but does not fully explain the gender differences. Motherhood also predicts opposition to the legalization of marijuana (Deckman, 2016 ; Greenlee, 2014 ); in a piece employing 2013 Pew Research Center data, however, motherhood actually does not predict attitudes toward the legalization of marijuana (Elder & Greene, 2019 ). There is no evidence that mothers are causing gender differences on security and foreign policy (Carroll, 2008 ; Elder & Greene, 2007 ).

Relatedly, gender identity, which may vary as a result of differences in gendered socialization, and the salience of gender identity produce even stronger gender differences in public opinion. In a Canadian sample, greater gender identity salience predicts increased support for social programs, welfare spending, marriage equality, and women in the legislature (Bittner & Goodyear-Grant, 2017a ). Similarly, in an Australian twin study sample, gender identity had a greater influence on vote choice than sex (Hatemi, McDermott, Bailey, & Martin, 2012 ). Sex, however, approximates gender identity well for most people except about a quarter (Bittner & Goodyear-Grant, 2017b ).

Risk and Threat Perceptions

Fourth, gender differences in risk and threat perceptions are a promising, potential explanation for the gender gap in force and environmental attitudes. There is a lot of evidence that women and men differ in risk perceptions. Although men and women often perceive the same things as risky, women perceive greater risk than men with regard to the same risky event or behavior (Gustafsod, 1998 ). Women perceive greater risks than do men in four out of five domains and are less likely than men to report engaging in risky behaviors (Weber, Blais, & Betz, 2002 ). The extant literature provides much evidence of gender differences in risk aversion. Women tend to be more risk averse or avoidant of risky behavior (Byrnes, Miller, & Schafer, 1999 ); this difference even appears to exist between male and female children (Ginsburg & Miller, 1982 ). Women are more likely to feel anxious in response to terrorism and, therefore, be more risk averse about retaliatory measures (Huddy, Feldman, & Cassese, 2009 ). Increased threat perceptions of future terrorist attacks lead men to be more likely to support the use of torture, while perceived threat does not increase women’s support for torture (Lizotte, 2017a ). In non–gender focused work, threat perceptions and risk orientations influence policy views and vote choice (Huddy, Feldman, Taber, & Lahav, 2005 ; Huddy, Feldman, & Weber, 2007 ; Kam & Simas, 2010 , 2012 ).

Relatedly in the biopsychology literature, Taylor and colleagues ( 2000 ) provide a compelling theory based on prior research that women are less likely than men to respond to stress in terms of “fight or flight.” They argue that women’s response to stress is better characterized as “tend and befriend.” Evolutionarily, women have been the primary caregivers of offspring. Taylor et al. ( 2000 ) argue that to prevent harm to themselves and offspring, women may have evolved to tend, which they define as keeping offspring quiet in order to hide from threat, and befriend, which they describe as building networks and making effective use of social groups to provide aid and protection during stressful or threatening times. The idea that women do not exhibit the “fight-or-flight” response could explain why they respond differently than men to threat such as force-related issues.

Personality Traits

Fifth, personality traits is for the most part an untested theory for gender differences in political attitudes. The Big Five Personality Traits, including neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, constitute a widely accepted measure (Goldberg, 1993 ). Studies of the Big Five Personality Traits have found significant, though small, average gender differences in self-reported traits. Meta-analysis found gender differences across cultures on subcomponents of neuroticism, agreeableness, extraversion, and openness to experience (Costa, Terracciano, & McCrae, 2001 ). Specifically, women score higher on anxiety, a subcomponent of neuroticism; higher on altruism, a subcomponent of agreeableness; lower on assertiveness/dominance, a subcomponent of extraversion; and higher on the feelings subcomponent of openness to experience (Costa et al., 2001 ). These differences in personality could explain many gaps in political decision making. Ideological differences among men and women appear to exist partially because of women being more open to experience, more agreeable, and more emotionally stable than men (Morton, Tyran, & Wengström, 2016 ). Agreeableness appears to have differing consequences for men and women’s partisanship, with increased agreeableness among men being associated with Democratic Party identification and among women with Republican Party identification (Wang, 2017 ). More research on personality and political attitudes could be informative. For example, anxiety and assertiveness differences may explain women’s lower support for military interventions and their greater concerns about climate change. There is a link between altruism and women’s concern about the environment (Dietz, Kalof, & Stern, 2002 ). Altruism may also explain women’s higher levels of support for social welfare spending and equal rights for African Americans and the LGBTQ+ community.

Sixth, value differences offer another explanation for gender gaps in political attitudes. Values are more abstract than attitudes, making them applicable across different attitude objects, and are evaluative expressions of desired behaviors and goals for individuals and society (Feldman, 2003 ). Prior work provides evidence that values such as egalitarianism, humanitarianism, and militarism influence political attitudes (Peffley & Hurwitz, 1985 ; Schwartz, Caprara, & Vecchione, 2010 ). Schwartz ( 1992 ) developed the study of values through the examination of 10 value types, each of which is a set of values that are closely linked conceptually. According to Schwartz, values such as social justice, equality, tolerance, and peace belong to one of 10 key value types known as universalism. The other 9 types are benevolence, tradition, conformity, security, power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, and self-direction.

There are modest gender differences in value endorsements (Feldman & Steenbergen, 2001 ; Howell & Day, 2000 ; Schwartz & Rubel, 2005 ). For example, gender differences exist on benevolence, which measures individuals’ concern for the welfare of others; on power, which encompasses a desire for control of others; and all of the other types (Schwartz & Rubel, 2005 ). Benevolence and universalism could explain gender differences on aid to the poor and environmental protections, while power and security could explain differences in support for the use of force. Women also score higher on measures of egalitarianism (Feldman & Steenbergen, 2001 ; Howell & Day, 2000 ). Value differences reduce the gap on social welfare attitudes, gun control attitudes, and support for the Affordable Care Act (Howell & Day, 2000 ; Lizotte, 2016a ).

Future Directions and Conclusions

Gender is an important factor in understanding attitudes toward women, including sexism and feminist identity, and gender differences in political decision making, such as gender differences in ideology, party identification, vote choice, and issue positions. Future work is needed to better understand the sources and effects of attitudes toward women and to further comprehend the origins and consequences of gender differences in political decision making.

There is little known about the political leanings of those with sexist attitudes or traditional gender role attitudes. For example, are those endorsing hostile sexism more likely to identify as Republican compared to those endorsing benevolent sexism? Do women who score higher on sexism measures identify as Republican? Presumably, the answer to both of these questions is yes because of the overlap between the GOP and conservative ideology. Anti-feminist women are more likely to identify as Republican (Huddy & Willmann, 2017 ). There is some evidence that in 2016 and in 2012 , among men, sexism predicts support for Republican presidential candidates (Blair, 2017 ; Bock et al., 2017 ; Cassese & Holman, 2016 ; Simas & Bumgardner, 2017 ; Valentino et al., 2018 ). In addition, men, whites, and Republicans have higher scores on measures of sexism compared to women, non-whites, and Democrats (Simas & Bumgardner, 2017 ). More research in this area should further explore the electoral consequences of sexism and feminist identity. It would also be of value to understand how these attitudes relate to policy preferences. One recent piece finds that support for traditional roles for women is associated with opposition to abortion legality and support for the War in Iraq; modern sexism also predicts opposition to abortion, opposition to job discrimination protections for women, and support for the Iraq War (Burns et al., 2016 ). The Attitudes Toward Women Scale and other sexism measures could also predict positions on a wide range of policies such as child care spending, insurance coverage of birth control, equal pay, sexual harassment, and Title IX. Additionally, it is unclear what the implications of these types of attitudes are for voter decisions, in particular for female candidates. There is some recent work finding that modern sexism and hostile sexism predict greater favorability of and a greater likelihood of voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election (Blair, 2017 ; Bock et al., 2017 ; Cassese & Holman, 2016 ; Valentino et al., 2018 ). More of the work on voter evaluations of female candidates should strive to measure attitudes toward women. In fact, similar items have been included in the 2016 ANES and presumably will provide insight into presidential and congressional vote choice.

With respect to how gender influences political attitudes, there are a number of unanswered questions. First, there is very little research looking at the gender gap in public opinion among African Americans (for exceptions, see Lien, 1998 ; Welch & Sigelman, 1989 ). There is a great deal of research that looks at gender differences in public opinion and controls for race. There is emerging evidence that black women are more likely to turn out to vote than black men, as well as the fact that according to exit polls, black men were more likely than black women to vote for Trump in 2016 (Dittmar & Carr, 2016 ). This suggests that there may be gender differences in policy preferences among African Americans. There is also work showing gender differences among Latinos in public opinion and ideology (Bejarano, 2014 ; Bejarano, Manzano, & Montoya, 2011 ). Lack of existing data is likely one of the most prominent reasons for the lack of research. It would be of interest to better understand how gender intersects with race/ethnicity when it comes to policy preferences.

Second, it is clear that gender differences in political attitudes are not the result of biological factors. The essentialist notion that all women are born more caring or conflict-avoidant is not borne out in the modestly to moderately sized gaps that exist in public opinion. This approach should simply be put to rest. Relatedly, via gendered socialization and/or because of lived experiences, men and women on average differ slightly in their positions on a number of issues. It would be quite beneficial to further investigate to what extent gendered socialization versus lived experiences explains these gaps. Perhaps including measures of each one in future survey collections could provide insight. For example, are women, who support greater government aid to the needy, more likely to have been raised to care and nurture others through playing with dolls? Or are women, who are opposed to military interventions, past victims or observers of violence, making them reluctant to use violent means to solve conflict?

Third, further research is needed to understand the usefulness of the personality and values explanations discussed here. It may be the case that gender differences in altruism lead to greater support for government aid to the poor. Or, that differences in the power value type account for the gap in gun control attitudes. The 2012 ANES data include a short personality inventory. The inclusion of values beyond egalitarianism in nationally representative data sets would make it possible to better investigate the values explanations. Finally, for both of these explanations (but also for the others discussed throughout), more work is needed to understand how multiple explanations may simultaneously contribute. For example, altruism as a personality trait may lead to greater endorsement of humanitarianism, which then contributes to the gender gap on aid to the poor.

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1. Although sexism and gender role attitudes scales focus mainly on women as the central subject, there are also a few different scales measuring attitudes toward men, including two different Attitudes Toward Men scales (Downs & Engleson, 1982 ; Iazzo, 1983 ) and the Ambivalence Toward Men Inventory (Glick & Fiske, 1999 ). One of the Attitudes Toward Men scales measures attitudes such as men’s enjoyment of power, men’s greater confidence, and men’s household chores (Downs & Engleson, 1982 ). The other scale measures men’s supposed preoccupation with their sexual desire for women and men’s prioritizing of their career over their family (Iazzo, 1983 ). The Ambivalence Toward Men Scale includes a hostile dimension, measuring the belief that men attempt to have power over women and men try to dupe women into sexual relations, and a benevolent dimension, measuring the belief that men provide financial security, men are more stable in emergencies, and men deserve special care from women at home (Glick & Fiske, 1999 ).

2. There are gender differences in political engagement not discussed in depth here with women more likely than men to vote (CAWP, 2015 ) but less likely to participate in other ways (Burns, Schlozman, & Verba, 1997 ).

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What does gender equality look like today?

Date: Wednesday, 6 October 2021

Progress towards gender equality is looking bleak. But it doesn’t need to.

A new global analysis of progress on gender equality and women’s rights shows women and girls remain disproportionately affected by the socioeconomic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, struggling with disproportionately high job and livelihood losses, education disruptions and increased burdens of unpaid care work. Women’s health services, poorly funded even before the pandemic, faced major disruptions, undermining women’s sexual and reproductive health. And despite women’s central role in responding to COVID-19, including as front-line health workers, they are still largely bypassed for leadership positions they deserve.

UN Women’s latest report, together with UN DESA, Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2021 presents the latest data on gender equality across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The report highlights the progress made since 2015 but also the continued alarm over the COVID-19 pandemic, its immediate effect on women’s well-being and the threat it poses to future generations.

We’re breaking down some of the findings from the report, and calling for the action needed to accelerate progress.

The pandemic is making matters worse

One and a half years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, the toll on the poorest and most vulnerable people remains devastating and disproportionate. The combined impact of conflict, extreme weather events and COVID-19 has deprived women and girls of even basic needs such as food security. Without urgent action to stem rising poverty, hunger and inequality, especially in countries affected by conflict and other acute forms of crisis, millions will continue to suffer.

A global goal by global goal reality check:

Goal 1. Poverty

In 2021, extreme poverty is on the rise and progress towards its elimination has reversed. An estimated 435 million women and girls globally are living in extreme poverty.

And yet we can change this .

Over 150 million women and girls could emerge from poverty by 2030 if governments implement a comprehensive strategy to improve access to education and family planning, achieve equal wages and extend social transfers.

Goal 2. Zero hunger

The global gender gap in food security has risen dramatically during the pandemic, with more women and girls going hungry. Women’s food insecurity levels were 10 per cent higher than men’s in 2020, compared with 6 per cent higher in 2019.

This trend can be reversed , including by supporting women small-scale producers, who typically earn far less than men, through increased funding, training and land rights reforms.

Goal 3. Good health and well-being

Disruptions in essential health services due to COVID-19 are taking a tragic toll on women and girls. In the first year of the pandemic, there were an estimated 1.4 million additional unintended pregnancies in lower and middle-income countries.

We need to do better .

Response to the pandemic must include prioritizing sexual and reproductive health services, ensuring they continue to operate safely now and after the pandemic is long over. In addition, more support is needed to ensure life-saving personal protection equipment, tests, oxygen and especially vaccines are available in rich and poor countries alike as well as to vulnerable population within countries.

Goal 4. Quality education

A year and a half into the pandemic, schools remain partially or fully closed in 42 per cent of the world’s countries and territories. School closures spell lost opportunities for girls and an increased risk of violence, exploitation and early marriage .

Governments can do more to protect girls education .

Measures focused specifically on supporting girls returning to school are urgently needed, including measures focused on girls from marginalized communities who are most at risk.

Goal 5. Gender equality

The pandemic has tested and even reversed progress in expanding women’s rights and opportunities. Reports of violence against women and girls, a “shadow” pandemic to COVID-19, are increasing in many parts of the world. COVID-19 is also intensifying women’s workload at home, forcing many to leave the labour force altogether.

Building forward differently and better will hinge on placing women and girls at the centre of all aspects of response and recovery, including through gender-responsive laws, policies and budgeting.

Goal 6. Clean water and sanitation

In 2018, nearly 2.3 billion people lived in water-stressed countries. Without safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and menstrual hygiene facilities, women and girls find it harder to lead safe, productive and healthy lives.

Change is possible .

Involve those most impacted in water management processes, including women. Women’s voices are often missing in water management processes. 

Goal 7. Affordable and clean energy

Increased demand for clean energy and low-carbon solutions is driving an unprecedented transformation of the energy sector. But women are being left out. Women hold only 32 per cent of renewable energy jobs.

We can do better .

Expose girls early on to STEM education, provide training and support to women entering the energy field, close the pay gap and increase women’s leadership in the energy sector.

Goal 8. Decent work and economic growth

The number of employed women declined by 54 million in 2020 and 45 million women left the labour market altogether. Women have suffered steeper job losses than men, along with increased unpaid care burdens at home.

We must do more to support women in the workforce .

Guarantee decent work for all, introduce labour laws/reforms, removing legal barriers for married women entering the workforce, support access to affordable/quality childcare.

Goal 9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure

The COVID-19 crisis has spurred striking achievements in medical research and innovation. Women’s contribution has been profound. But still only a little over a third of graduates in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics field are female.

We can take action today.

 Quotas mandating that a proportion of research grants are awarded to women-led teams or teams that include women is one concrete way to support women researchers. 

Goal 10. Reduced inequalities

Limited progress for women is being eroded by the pandemic. Women facing multiple forms of discrimination, including women and girls with disabilities, migrant women, women discriminated against because of their race/ethnicity are especially affected.

Commit to end racism and discrimination in all its forms, invest in inclusive, universal, gender responsive social protection systems that support all women. 

Goal 11. Sustainable cities and communities

Globally, more than 1 billion people live in informal settlements and slums. Women and girls, often overrepresented in these densely populated areas, suffer from lack of access to basic water and sanitation, health care and transportation.

The needs of urban poor women must be prioritized .

Increase the provision of durable and adequate housing and equitable access to land; included women in urban planning and development processes.

Goal 12. Sustainable consumption and production; Goal 13. Climate action; Goal 14. Life below water; and Goal 15. Life on land

Women activists, scientists and researchers are working hard to solve the climate crisis but often without the same platforms as men to share their knowledge and skills. Only 29 per cent of featured speakers at international ocean science conferences are women.

 And yet we can change this .

Ensure women activists, scientists and researchers have equal voice, representation and access to forums where these issues are being discussed and debated. 

Goal 16. Peace, justice and strong institutions

The lack of women in decision-making limits the reach and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other emergency recovery efforts. In conflict-affected countries, 18.9 per cent of parliamentary seats are held by women, much lower than the global average of 25.6 per cent.

This is unacceptable .

It's time for women to have an equal share of power and decision-making at all levels.

Goal 17. Global partnerships for the goals

There are just 9 years left to achieve the Global Goals by 2030, and gender equality cuts across all 17 of them. With COVID-19 slowing progress on women's rights, the time to act is now.

Looking ahead

As it stands today, only one indicator under the global goal for gender equality (SDG5) is ‘close to target’: proportion of seats held by women in local government. In other areas critical to women’s empowerment, equality in time spent on unpaid care and domestic work and decision making regarding sexual and reproductive health the world is far from target. Without a bold commitment to accelerate progress, the global community will fail to achieve gender equality. Building forward differently and better will require placing women and girls at the centre of all aspects of response and recovery, including through gender-responsive laws, policies and budgeting.

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Attitudes Toward Women's Roles in Society: A Replication After 20 Years

• Published: December 1998
• Volume 39 , pages 903–912, ( 1998 )

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• Robert Loo &
• Karran Thorpe  

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In many parts of the world, attitudes towardwomen's roles in society have been changing over the pastseveral decades due to changes in laws regarding womenand educational systems among other significant factors. The present study provides a 20-yearreplication, using the full version of Spence andHelmreich's (1972) well-known Attitudes toward WomenScale (AWS) with samples of mainly white undergraduates including nursing undergraduates at WesternCanadian universities in the mid-1970s and mid-1990s.Results based upon the full and subscale scores show asignificant liberalization in attitudes for both genders since the mid-1970s and a narrowing ofthe gender gap in the 1990s. Finally, the utility of theAWS after some 20-odd years is challenged.

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Loo, R., Thorpe, K. Attitudes Toward Women's Roles in Society: A Replication After 20 Years. Sex Roles 39 , 903–912 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018832823010

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Issue Date : December 1998

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018832823010

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Attitude towards gender roles and violence against women and girls (VAWG): baseline findings from an RCT of 1752 youths in Pakistan

Tazeen saeed ali.

a School of Nursing and Midwifery and Department of Community Health Sciences , Aga Khan University , Karachi, Pakistan

Rozina Karmaliani

b Health Policy & Management, School of Nursing and Midwifery and Department of Community health sciences , Aga Khan University , Karachi, Pakistan

Judith Mcfarlane

c College of Nursing, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs , Texas Women’s University , Houston, TX, USA

Hussain M. A. Khuwaja

d Health Policy and Management , Aga Khan University , Karachi, Pakistan

Yasmeen Somani

e School of Nursing and Midwifery , Aga Khan University , Karachi, Pakistan

Esnat D. Chirwa

f Gender & Health Research Unit , South African Medical Research Council , Pretoria, South Africa

Rachel Jewkes

g Gender & Health Research Unit , South African Medical Research Council , Pretoria, South Africa

Background : Violence against women is driven by gender norms that normalize and justify gender inequality and violence. Gender norms are substantially shaped during adolescence. Programs offered through schools offer an opportunity to influence gender attitudes toward gender equity if we understand these to be partly shaped by peers and the school environment.

Objective : We present an analysis of the baseline research conducted for a randomized controlled trial with 1752 grade 6 boys and girls and their attitudes toward gender roles, VAWG, and associated factors.

Methods : We used baseline data from a  cluster randomised control study. Interviews were conducted in 40 public schools in Hyderabad, with 25–65 children per school. Questions were asked about attitudes toward gender roles, peer-to-peer perpetration, and victimization experiences, and family life, including father- or in-law-to- mother violence and food security. Multiple regression models were built of factors associated with gender attitudes for boys and girls.

Results : Our result have shown youth attitudes endorsing patriarchal gender beliefs were higher for boys, compared to girls. The multiple regression model showed that for boys, patriarchal gender attitudes were positively associated with hunger, depression, being promised already in marriage, and being a victim and/or perpetrator of peer violence. For girls gender attitudes were associated with hunger, experiencing corporal punishment at home, and being a perpetrator (for some, and victim) of peer violence.

Conclusion : Youth patriarchal attitudes are closely related to their experience of violence at school and for girl’s physical punishment, at home and for boys being promised in early marriage. We suggest that these variables are indicators of gender norms among peers and in the family. The significance of peer norms is that it provides the possibility that school-based interventions which work with school peers have the potential to positively impact youth patriarchal gender attitudes and foster attitudes of gender equality and respect, and potentially to decrease youth victimization and perpetration.

Violence against women occurs and continues, in a large part, because of gender norms occurring at the societal and family levels. Patriarchal gender norms and values reinforce and sustain the low status of girls and women in society and increase the likelihood that boys and men will perpetrate violence against girls and women. Gender attitudes and roles are usually learned in childhood and research documents that peer group norms regarding acceptable masculine and feminine behaviors and gender values are incorporated into self-concept as strongly as role modeling observed in the nuclear family [ 1 ]. Research also documents that gender inequity and early subordination of females places adult females in greater risk of intimate partner violence [ 2 ]. If gender inequitable attitudes are held and roles imposed or embraced in adolescence, adult women are at greater risk of intimate partner violence. According to Kagesten systematic review of literature on factors that shape gender attitudes in early adolescence across different cultural settings globally found 82 articles but 90% of these were from North America and Western Europe [ 3 ]. There were three papers from South Asia, India, and none from Pakistan. It was found that young adolescents commonly voice gender inequitable attitudes, with some variation by social and demographic characteristics. It was found that influences of key groups in adolescents’ lives including family and peers are central in young adolescents’ construction of gender attitudes. Further, that gender socialization processes differed for boys and girls [ 3 ].

Gender inequity is common in Pakistan because of the prevalence of conservative cultural traditions based on male superiority and entitlement [ 2 , 4 ]. Society reinforces gender inequity in Pakistan with over half of the adult women illiterate. Young girls are raised to tolerate and accept intimate partner violence (IPV) as a part of life in Pakistan, with United Nations statistics 2015 reporting over 50% of teenage girls believed that violence enacted upon them is justified [ 5 ]. Furthermore, misinterpretation of religion is often used to justify intimate partner violence (IPV) [ 6 ]. Patriarchal gender norms and associated gender inequity result in high rates of IPV in Pakistan, with over 70% of wives reporting abuse [ 6 ]. Recently, ‘street macho’ has been described as the attitude of masculinity amongst the male youth of Pakistan, even among those from educated backgrounds. This street macho is reported as many young men feeling that it is acceptable to oppress women. These same young men embrace a violent masculinity, that draws strength from the aura of power that they perceive emanates from men who abuse women [ 7 ]. Clearly, social and cultural norms can create a climate in which violence against girls and women is encouraged and normalized.

Peer youth victimization and perpetration is a global epidemic that intersects with patriarchal gender attitudes to accentuate youth violence. The report from the World Health Organization (WHO) on preventing youth violence calls for strategies to strengthen norms and values that support non-violent, respectful, nurturing, positive, and gender equitable relationships among children and adolescents [ 2 ]. Strategies are needed to modify deeply ingrained societal and cultural norms and behaviors, especially the notion that some forms of violence, such as beating girls and women, is normal and justified.

To learn what works to prevent youth violence in Pakistan an evaluation is being conducted in urban public schools of a two-year long intervention delivered by the NGO Right to Play which used the transformative power of sport to empower children and build more equitable and non-violent attitudes [ 8 ]. This paper draws on the baseline data from the evaluation and describes gender attitudes and the factors associated with holding more patriarchal attitudes among 1752 school-going boys and girls of Grade 6 in Pakistan. The model which guided the analysis started from the premise that gender attitudes of boys and girls are likely to be influenced by factors in the ecological context of their lives. These include socio-demographic factors and individual mental health (indicated by depressive symptoms), gender attitudes at home (expressed through the use of violence at home which we connect to masculinity of the father), and gender attitudes of peers and other schooling factors.

This paper is based on an analysis of the baseline data collected as part of a cluster randomized controlled trial. Further details of the trial are described elsewhere [ 9 ]. Following Ethics Review Approval (Aga Khan University Review Document number 3705), data were collected in 40 single gender government schools (20 for each gender) in the city of Hyderabad over a time period of 60 days. Hyderabad is located in the southern province of Sindh, at about 160 km from the large city of Karachi. Recruitment was done in the sixth grade of 12–14 years of age after consent was obtained from their parents and themselves. The children needed to understand the national (Urdu) or provincial (Sindhi) language so they could self-complete the questionnaire which was read to them in small groups by a trained data collector. Among the children who returned the signed parental consent, 95% of the youth offered their assent. A total of 1752 children filled the self-reported instruments

Variables in the instruments

Gender attitudes were measured in a 12-item, investigator derived measure that assessed child agreement on a Likert scale (i.e., Strongly agree = 1, Agree = 2, Disagree = 3, and Strongly disagree = 4) to a series of statements. Items include girls going to school, wives having a say in family finances, husband’s right to punish wives, and women’s participation in social events and employment (items are shown in Table 1 ). The 12 items were summed into a composite score that ranged from 12 to 48. Higher values on this scale represented greater disagreement with aspects of women’s autonomy and participation in society, which we term patriarchal gender attitudes. Coefficient alpha for this variable were 0.763 (boys) and 0.821(girls).

Summary of gender attitudes items by Gender.

Peer violence is measured with the Peer Victimization Scale (PVS), a 16-item measure with four subscales, each with four questions, assessing physical and verbal victimization, social manipulation, and property attacks [ 10 ]. Respondents were asked over the last four weeks, how often (i.e., never, once, a few times (2–3) or many times (4 or more) an act happened to them (i.e. victimization). Responses were scored (range of 0 to 48). An example of peer victimization is ‘hurt me physically’. Coefficient alpha for this variable was 0.862 (boys) and 0.861 (girls). Peer violence perpetration was measured on a scale which was designed as a mirror image of the victimization scale. An example of peer perpetration is ‘Tripped another child to make him or her fall’. Coefficient alpha for this variable was 0.886 (boys) and 0.864 (girls).

A childhood hunger index was created from two items that asked children how often in the last -four weeks they went to school without breakfast and how often they went to sleep without dinner because of lack of food at home. The hunger index was measured with four-point response categories from ‘never’ to ‘all or most days’. The two items were summed to create a score with a maximum of 8 points.

Child marriage preparation for the child interviewed and in the family was captured by three items asking if the child is promised for marriage, if there have been marriage preparations made, and if female siblings or cousins of a similar age are married.

School performance is measured by asking about performance in the four courses including language, math, science, and social studies. Response categories were measured through the scale of three (fail, average, and excellent). Data is also collected about the number of days of school missed in the last four weeks with its main reason, including whether the child is working at home or for money outside of home.

We measured depression with the Child Depression Inventory II (CDI-2) [ 11 ]. This has not been validated in Pakistan. However, it was not used for diagnostic purpose but to measure symptoms and there is no reason to expect it to perform very differently in Pakistan from the many settings in which it has been more formally tested. This is a 28-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess the severity of current or recent depressive symptoms in children aged 7 to 17. The CDI-2 items are rated on a 3-point scale as 0 = no symptom, 1 = probable or mild symptom, and 2 = definite, marked symptom. A CDI-2 score was derived from the 28-items with higher scores representing increased depressive symptoms. Coefficient alpha for this study were 0.723 (boys) and 0.719 (girls). For this study, the raw scores for the CDI-2 were converted into t-scores based on age and gender attributes of the participants according to the specifications in the CDI-2 technical manual [ 12 ]. The T-scores range from ≤40 to ≥90, and a score of 65 or more is considered by Kovacs as indicative of a high level of depressive symptomatology which may indicate depression.

In order to provide indicators of gender norms and use of violence at home we asked about violence used against the child’s mother in the last four weeks: seeing or hearing father hitting mother, and seeing or hearing mother being beaten by other relatives. These items were measured on four point scale (0 = never, 1 = once, 2 = few times, 3 = many times), which was later transformed into dichotomous (ever/never) items. We also asked about whether the child had seen or heard the father having a physical fight with other men in the last four weeks.

To measure use of physical punishment we asked if the child have been ‘slapped, beaten, or otherwise physically punished by a parent and whether they had been beaten so hard that they got injured.

Data analysis

All analysis took into account the study design, which is a cluster randomized control design, with participants clustered within schools. All potential explanatory variables of gender attitudes were summarized by gender of participant. Summary statistics for categorical explanatory variables were frequencies and percentages, while means and standard deviations were used as summary statistics for continuous variables. Chi-square tests were used to compare gender attitudes between boys and girls, using the standard linearization methods for clustered data and a t-test for the comparison of means.

Generalized linear mixed effect models were used to assess the bivariate relationships between possible explanatory variables and gender attitude score for boys and girls. Prior to modeling factors associated with gender attitudes, the distribution of the gender attitude score was assessed for normality.

Generalized linear multivariate model was used to present factors associated with gender attitudes amongst learners, with school as a random effect. Gauss-Hermite quadrature integration method was used to obtain likelihood functions [ 13 ]. The multiple regression models were built in groups. The first model looked at household factors and violent behavior and gender norms factors as explanatory variable. The second model explored the schooling factors that are associated with gender attitudes, while the third model examined the relationship between gender attitude and depression subscales. Backward elimination was used to determine associations in each group (up to p = 0.15), and only factors that were associated at this level in the bivariate analysis were considered for the multiple regression. The final model combined more strongly associated factors from the three models, using the backward elimination method to get the final model. The inclusion criteria initially for the backward elimination was a p-value of 0.15, as suggested by Vittinghoff et al. [ 14 ]. Only factors with p-value less than 5% were retained in the final model. Model diagnostics (using deviance residuals) were performed on the final model to examine normality and also check for lack of fit. All analyses were done using Stata 14 software package.

The mean age for boys was 12.5, (SD 1.5) and mean age for girls was12.3 (SD 1.38) ( Table 2 ).Boys experienced higher levels of hunger (as shown on the hunger index) compared to girls, with the mean for boys 0.65 (SD 1.09), and for girls 0.48 (SD 0.97). The proportion of boys who did not always have breakfast before school as there was no food at home was 24%, compared to 18% of girls respectively.

Descriptive statistics by gender of participant.

a Summary stats for continuous variables represented as mean and standard deviation.

School attendance was irregular for many boys and girls in the last four weeks, where the average number of days missed from schools for boys was 4.1 (SD 4.2) and for girls was 3.1 (SD 2.8). The mean self-rated school performance for boys (9.2) was lower than girls (9.5), and the proportion of children reporting the main reason for their last day missed from school as due to work at home was 24.5% for boys and 14.2% for girls. The proportion of adolescents that missed school in last four weeks to earn money was 7.7% for boys and 1.6% for girls.

Overall engagement in peer violence in the prior four weeks was common with the proportion only having experience of victimization among boys was 17.8% and among girls, 28.5%. In addition, 75.5% of boys and 50.6% of girls had been a perpetrator of violence and many of these were victims as well. The proportion of boys and girls who had experienced physical punishment at home in the previous four weeks was 60.3% and 37.1% respectively. The proportion of children who observed their father fight at home in the last four weeks was very high (25.7% of boys and 17.7% of girls). Many of them had also witnessed violence against their mother by their father (9.1% boys and 6.0% girls), or another relative (3.4% of boys and 3.9% of girls). The measure of depression showed boys scoring somewhat higher than girls, with a mean of 56.8 versus 54.6.

Boys scored more highly than girls on the measure of gender attitudes, with the mean for boys 20.8 and for girls 19.1. A small proportion of the children had already been promised in marriage and this was less common for girls (2.7%) than boys (6.3%). For most of these girls (n = 23/35) preparation had already started for the marriage, whereas this was only reported for 38% of the promised boys (n = 19/50). Girls more commonly reported that they had a similar aged sister or cousin (7.9% of girls and 4.7% of boys) who had been married.

Frequencies and percentages for the items of the gender attitudes scale, stratified by gender, are presented in Table 1 . The direction of scoring is such that higher values signify more patriarchal gender attitudes. There was a significant difference in gender attitudes between boys and girls on all but one question. Girls were in greater disagreement with aspects of patriarchal gender attitudes than boys. For example, 81.2% of girls strongly agreed that girls in their family should go to school, whereas for boys only 71.7% strongly agreed. However, only one item ‘I think my mother should be able to ask a religious scholar about the solution of issues’ was not different and 60.1% of boys and 63. 0% of girls agreed with the question.

Table 3 shows bivariate analyses of associations between variables and gender attitudes among boys and girls. For both genders, the hunger and depression scores were significantly associated with patriarchal gender attitudes as was the number of days missed from school for girls.

Bivariable analysis of factors associated with of gender attitudes among boys and girls.

NB: All analyses adjusted for clustering by school (random component). a Continuous variables. UCL: upper confidence limit; LCL: lower confidence limit.

The patriarchal gender attitudes score was associated with children reporting experiences of violence for boys only and any perpetration (with/without victimization) for both boys and girls. Similarly, there were associations with aspects of experience of violence at home, including having experienced physical punishment (boys and girls), witnessing their father beat their mother (girls only), witnessing relatives hitting their mother (boys only) and being promised in marriage (boys only).

Table 4 shows results from a multivariable generalized linear mixed model of factors associated with gender attitude scores among boys and girls This shows that for both genders having more patriarchal gender attitudes towards women was associated with having more experience of hunger (boys p value = 0.002 and girls p value = < 0.001), and perpetrating peer violence (boys p value = 0.002 and girls p value = < 0.001). In the case of boys, experiencing peer violence is significantly associated with gender attitudes, but not for girls. Experiencing physical punishment at home was significantly associated in girls but not boys (girls p value = 0.043). Being promised in marriage and depression were positively associated to patriarchal gender attitude for boys only (p value = 0.039; and p-value = 0.047, respectively).

Multivariable regression models of factors associated with gender attitudes among boys and girls adjusted for age.

NB: All models adjusted for age of the learner and clustering by school (random component). UCL: upper confidence limit; LCL: lower confidence limit.

This sample of 1752 sixth grade students in Pakistani public schools demonstrates several key differences between gender attitudes of boys and girls and the relationship to violence exposure at home and among peers. Additionally, data is presented on hunger, depression, and early marriage plans. Gender attitudes of youth can potentially contribute to our understanding of root causes of violence against women. The overall findings that boys report significantly higher levels of patriarchal gender attitudes compared to girls is similar to those from other studies conducted in Egypt [ 15 ], USA [ 16 ], and Brazil [ 17 ].

The association between patriarchal attitudes and violent behavior among adolescents has been previously observed [ 18 ]. Some research suggests that patriarchal attitudes may lead to violence, as was found amongst grade 8 children in South Africa [ 19 ], and this was also supported by structural models of a pathway from food insecurity to peer violence in this dataset [ 20 ]. Research from elsewhere shows that experience of victimization decreases empathy towards others and contributes to individual behavior moving from victimization to perpetration [ 21 , 22 ]. This transformative process from victimization to perpetration is most pronounced during adolescence [ 23 ]. A recent review found that male peer groups enforce competition, toughness, and heterosexual prowess. Boys who fail to achieve local masculinity standards are bullied and ridiculed by their peers [ 3 ].

Perhaps peer violence engagement is operating in our model as an indicator variable for peer group gender attitudes, and it is the peer group attitudes which drive youth violence. This may explain why the association between violence and gender attitude is most pronounced in both genders for perpetration. Among girls there are many girls who are only victimized and may not be part of perpetuating peer violence, whereas for boys, the group that is only victimized is very small. Boys who are victimized are also perpetrators on some occasions and hence these boys may be more similar to the perpetrating group than the report from the last four weeks suggests. This pattern for males has been supported by other literature [ 19 ].

Similarly, for both boys and girls, higher levels of food insecurity (i.e., hunger, which is indicative of poverty) is associated with more patriarchal gender attitudes. Research among Pakistani adults and South African children shows an association between poverty and more patriarchal gender attitudes [ 19 , 24 ]. This may be an indication of the gender norms that prevail in more impoverished communities that in multiple settings have often been described as highly patriarchal [ 25 , 26 ]. It is also possible that the patriarchal endorsement of women’s limited participation in income generating activities, endorsed by more than a third of boys and nearly a quarter of girls in our study, reflects ideas from the home and impacts on food availability in the home.

For boys, there was a significant relationship between symptoms of childhood depression and patriarchal gender attitudes. Our findings are similar to the study conducted in South Africa where older adolescent and young adult men with more highly gender inequitable attitudes show more depressive symptomatology [ 27 ]. We have not found any study in Pakistan which aimed to explore association between childhood depression and patriarchal gender attitudes.

The variables measuring the violence at home against the child’s mother, father engaging in fights with other men, physical punishment of the child, and questions related to child marriage are indicators of the social environment within which the child lives with respect to gender relations and the use of violence. On all indicators apart from whether a cousin/sibling of a similar age was married, boys report more violent and patriarchal homes compare to girls. The bivariate analysis shows that these variables are associated with more patriarchal attitudes in boys and girls and thus there is a strong correlation between indicators of gender relations at home and use of violence, and children having patriarchal attitudes. However, in the adjusted model only one indicator of patriarchy at home, whether they had been promised in marriage, was associated with gender attitudes in boys. For girls, being beaten at home was associated with more patriarchal attitudes. It may be that beaten at home is an indicator of patriarchy in the Pakistan setting as girls report much less corporal punishment at home than boys [ 28 ].

Although significantly more boys report being promised in marriage compared to girls, the girls report significantly more same-age sisters or cousins who are married compared to boys. It is important to note, of those sisters or cousins who are married their median age when married was 16 years for boy participants and 14 years for girl participants. Although more boys report being promised for marriage, girls report more actual marriages of sisters or cousins and at a significantly younger age of 14 compared to male marriage reports at age 16. The global problem of child brides is well documented in the literature [ 29 , 30 ] and the young median age of 14 for girl brides in this study offers further documentation; however, child marriage information did not predict patriarchal gender attitudes scores for girls.

Limitations

Our research methodology has limitations that it may under- or over-represent youth attitudes toward gender norms and women’s participation, youth-to-youth victimization and perpetration as well as characteristics of family life and youth academic performance. The questions may miss some episodes of youth victimization or perpetration and incorrectly classify others, particularly with respect to the four-week reporting period. Children may not accurately recall the timing and type of victimization or perpetration they experienced (i.e., whether or not the exposure occurred within the last four weeks). The researchers acknowledge recall bias in all questions. With cross-sectional data it is hard to know if a relationship is causal, but in this case it’s likely to be bi-directional, meaning patriarchal gender attitudes may influence peer violence, and engagement in peer violence may directly impact gender attitudes as it is possible that victimized youth tend to gravitate towards more restrictive and patriarchal attitudes [ 20 , 31 ]. Finally, our participants were limited to Sindhi and Urdu speakers, although these are the languages of teaching in the participating schools. Despite these limitations, the researchers feel this study provides a framework for examining youth attitudes toward gender norms within the context of youth-to-youth violence, family life characteristics, and youth academic performance.

Conclusions

This is the first study on gender attitudes in early adolescence in Pakistan and from the literature review it appears that it is the first to look at factors such as hunger, engagement in peer violence, corporal punishment at home, and depression as associated factors. Research on social norms and gender attitudes shows that these are generally influenced by both peers and family behavior [ 3 ]. Our analysis supports that peer violence is associated with patriarchal gender attitudes. Moreover, child marriage and corporal punishment are indicative of the gender attitude in the home. This is an important finding as it raises the possibility that an intervention targeting children in school might impact gender attitudes and norms in school, and at home. Further, since violence perpetration among boys is associated with higher levels of patriarchal gender attitudes, a community based intervention might be necessary, which addresses the patriarchal gender attitudes to potentially decrease youth violence perpetration and victimization. Moreover, youth violence perpetration is also associated with adult violence perpetration and so the potential for a long-term impact is raised [ 32 ]. Gender attitudes are important as they form gender norms, and research has shown that women who live in areas with most inequitable gender norms are most likely to experience partner violence victimization [ 33 ]. Women’s risk of violence is particularly high when women and their partners share beliefs about the acceptability of violence [ 34 ]. There is a need to develop and implement comprehensive effective strategies at the youth level to potentially prevent the occurrence of violence against women and girls.

Acknowledgments

This document is an output from the What Works to Prevent Violence: A Global Programme which is funded by UK Aid from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. The funding was managed by the South African Medical Research Council. However, the views expressed and information contained in it are not necessarily those of or endorsed by DFID, which can accept no responsibility for such views or information or for any reliance placed on them.

We would like to thank all the children and their parents who agreed to participate in the research and the Right To Play intervention, the schools which hosted Right To Play and their teachers, the Sindh and Hyderabad Education Departments who have supported our study, and the Right to Play staff, coaches, and volunteers who have been helpful.

Biographies

TS-A: conceptualization of analysis, drafted the original manuscript, participated in data collection and tool validity, and incorporated the feedback from the co-authors.

RK: funding acquisition, refining of methodology, participated in data collection and tool validity, reviewed the final manuscript before submission.

JM: conceptualization, and supervision, review and editing of manuscript.

YS: contributed in the analysis conceptualization and a part in formatting the reference.

HMAK: participated in reviewing and writing of some paragraphs in the discussion section and a part in formatting the reference.

EDC: data curation and formal analysis, Writing in analysis part of methodology section.

RJ: conceptualization of manuscript, funding acquisition, investigation, methodology, supervision, visualization, and reviewed and edited final manuscript

Funding Statement

DFID of UK Aid.

Responsible editor: Stig Wall, Umeå University, Sweden

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethics and consent

The ethical approval was acquired from Ethical Review Committee of Aga Khan University, and the Ethics Committee of the Medical Research Council of South Africa approved this study. Permission was later acquired from school principals, school teachers, and parents. Details of the ethical review process is published elsewhere. McFarlane, J., et al., Preventing peer violence against children: methods and baseline data of a cluster randomized controlled trial in Pakistan. Global Health: Science and Practice. 2017;5(1):115–137.

Paper context

Gender inequality drives violence against women and girls through gender norms established in childhood. Among Pakistani grade 6 children, poverty and depression drive patriarchal gender attitudes, alongside gender norms at home and among peers, as shown by the links to youth violence. Interventions are needed in schools to empower girls and boys to challenge prevailing gender norms, such as the intervention of the NGO Right To Play. It is very important that we understand its impact.

Early Nineteenth Century Attitudes Toward Women and Their Roles as Represented By Literature Popular in Worcester, Massachusetts

by Elaine Fortin

Type Papers and Articles: OSV Research Paper

This paper will deal with the attitudes of the early nineteenth century toward women and their roles. The paper will examine these attitudes by utilizing primary sources such as newspapers and advice and housekeeping books and by comparing them to books written today on the topic of nineteenth century women. Many examples taken from period newspapers represent the opinion of historian Barbara Welter that attitudes of women were based on their possession of certain well?defined virtues. This paper will concentrate on the vitues of piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity. This paper will also address the question of female education, as an issue of the period was whether a formal or practical education would accent these virtues and better prepare women for their stations in life. The attitudes represented are those of the working class. The locations concentrated on are small or medium sized towns such as Athol, Barre, Fitchburg, Millbury and Southbridge that are influenced by the city of Worcester. The sources represented are those available to the common man. They tend to exclude the feelings of the upper and lower classes.

Newspapers were written for the purpose of informing the community of world and national events. The varied topics suggests they catered to a diversified audience. Newspapers included stories about people in history, anecdotes which represented moral attitudes, sentimental poems and advertisements. The classifieds indicate that the audience was made up of both men and women. There were advertisements for boy apprentices and tailoresses, and manufacturers advertised everything from harnesses to bonnets. To afford these, the audience need not have had a large income nor have held a powerful position in the community. The advertisements represented items in which the average citizens might have an interest.

Magazines were published less frequently than newspapers and, therefore, one issue of a magazine printed quarterly would include the same amount of information found in twelve newspapers. Unlike the newspapers, which were distributed at the local level, magazines had a larger audience. This audience was national and represented people from different backgrounds and different experiences. Though topics discussed were the same as those in newspapers, magazines included articles from different points of view.

Books were written for a more selective audience. The books used in this paper were housekeeping and advice books. Interestingly enough, much advice was written on the topic of housekeeping. These books were expected to be read by women. One of the major topics of discussion was the most efficient utilization of a husband's income. If the books were for men as well, they would not have excluded the husband from advice on managing something of his wife's.

Novels were written as a form of entertainment for women. They were often sentimental, a characteristic attributed in the nineteenth century to women. In a single novel, the topics discussed were fewer than in other forms of literature. Novels presented a very limited view of the society in which they were written. The novel Live and Let Live, for example, discussed intemperance, piety, and the proper treatment of servants. It studied the lives of the lower and upper classes and did not deal with the middle classes who neither depended solely on their daughter's income, nor maintained servants enough to abuse. A novel's audience was smaller and more selective. It involved a conscious decision to purchase and read a single novel unlike receiving the weekly newspaper or the quarterly magazine. Diaries and journals were written with no audience in mind. They were personal records of progress in school, of harvests, of religious salvation and of individual thoughts. They represent personalized accounts of events. The same events might appear in a newspaper but they are far removed from the person who experienced them. Letters differed in that they intended to be read, but they were composed with a particular individual in mind. The topics and approaches may be specific and limited. For example, information about life, which would be obvious to persons living in the early nineteenth century, might be intentionally omitted for that reason. This is also the case in diaries and journals, which is why they are not concentrated on in this paper. Other sources have proven much too useful to condense them and include sources which provide only sketches of information. The opinions in this paper have developed from reading all these sources. These opinions are maintained because of the frequency with which the same attitudes were expressed by people of the period.

Carried into the specialized and industrialized communities of the nineteenth century, the eighteenth century agrarian view of women participating in the work close to the home while their husbands went into the fields, dominated. Traditionally, it was believed that women were essentially different in character from men. This was a convenient necessity because, it was maintained, they were here on earth for a different purpose than a man. Women were homemakers. They nourished their families and kept them safe from the cruel world. Husbands depended on their wives to maintain solace in their homes. In an article written for Freedom's Sentinel, the characteristics of the feminine mind were described as tenderness and simplicity, characteristics which made home life more amiable to the man who had to deal with the corrupt, complex world. Men were encouraged to trust a woman as a confident and a friend. Women expressed disappointment if they were not able to serve their husbands as mental, as well as physical, companions. "For if the character of women were thoroughly understood, they would be found too good to be hated and yet not good enough to be idolized."1 It was determined that the more virtuous women maintained a more stable home life.

"What virtues do you wish more of?"

Patience, Love, Silence, Obedience, Generosity, Perseverance, Industry, Respect, Self?denial.

"What vices less of?"

Idleness, Wilfulness, Vanity, Impatience, Imprudence, Pride, Selfishness, Activity, Love of cats.2

Piety was a valued asset in a woman. Piety brought her social advantages in the form of active participation in the community as a member of a church?affiliated charitable society. Such a useful, Christian position commanded the respect and praise of the community. Particpation in religion encouraged women's self?esteem.

The trend in the belief of feminine inferiority was halted as women effectively managed organizations not directly related to the family. To alleviate the fears of men that their wives were concentrating on issues unrelated to the family, piety did not keep a wife from her proper sphere. Meetings could be held in the home. Young children could be brought along the same way they would be when visiting friends. The lady of the house would demonstrate her domestic skills by cleaning the house before her guests arrived and by making sure they had something to accompany the tea which could be served during a meeting.

It was believed that a woman's gentler nature better suited her to piety and charity. The number of women that ministers found among their congregations was great. The obituary in June, 1835, of Mrs. Debby Thompson, the wife of the minister, cited the benefits of religion to women. The virtuous character of the deceased gave example of how religion could bring pleasure to the mind and be the controlling power over the conduct of life. Furthermore, other women could take example from Mrs. Thompson who did not regard the duties of domestic life as beneath the Christian notice of character and professed it was not inconsistent with her obligations to God and the Savior.

Women may have found peace from the corruption of the world through religion. It also provided an outlet for the personal trials which women were forced to confront from day to day. Men could use their job to take their mind off of trouble at home, but women's job was at home. The death of a child was one example of a woman's involvement with religion. Religion instructed to love God before all others. The mother was often torn between the belief that her piety had provided salvation for her child and the thought that a moment of impiety on her part may have invoked God's wrath.

Piety was not always good for all women. It had its dangers and disadvantages. "Mental derangement caused by religious excitement" was given as the cause of suicides among women.3 And men were not to be excluded from piety. An article in the National Aegis, from the Boston Centinel, examined how religion tended to form a manly character.

Women were expected to be pure and magazines provided sufficient fear of the dangers of impurity. But, only women were coached directly on remaining pure. Men were advised what to do to get back on the track once they had strayed. They were first advised about the importance of their desires and satisfaction. The fact that it was basic to educate a woman on keeping her husband's heart as pure as possible indicates that women expected a high rate of activity on the part of the man. A man of the period was expected to respect purity. If he made any overtures and a woman stopped him from violating her purity, he was expected to be grateful to her. The implication was that he would think much more of a woman who saved him from himself than he would of a woman who allowed him to ruin her purity. A woman's wisdom in these matters of delicacy was her means of influence over the nature of man.

Women, through religion and purity were helping others. Being self?sacrificing by nature, they could only damage their own character by asking more of themselves. Women were taught that to be true, they were required to submerge their own talents to work for their husbands. It was totally acceptable for a wife to complement her husband by paying lip service to him. One husband praised his wife for her "quick, womanly perception," when all she had done was agree with him.4

Women, it was supposed, had no reason not to be submissive, as their men would only give them the best. The Fitchburg Gazette of July 22, 1828, reported a tale of "Cruelty and Suicide" in which a young lady, long subject to the beatings of her father, in anticipation of another, committed suicide.

"But the treatment which she received at the hand of her father, we rejoice to believe, is as uncommon as it is outrageous." The tone implies that the young lady had fictionalized most of the danger, men rewarded submissive women. Submissive wives, who followed the, advice not to retort an abusive husband, received praise and were supposedly rewarded with a happy home and a faithful husband. Assertive women were bound to be punished for violating the natural order of the universe. The December 18, 1827 issue of the same paper ran a story called "The Mitten" in which a woman's vanity had precipitated her to respond negatively to a humble gentleman's advances. Later, he came into some money and the young lady was reduced to the station of governess of his children. Women were caught in the middle of a society where men complained that companionship was difficult with women because they had to treat them as little children, at the same time women were encouraged to act that way. Women were told that men only asked their opinions out of politeness and not out of a genuine interest in their conclusions. And their concern for the feelings of their husbands increased women's desire to submit.

"The World Corrupts, Home Should Refine," according to Mrs. William Parkes, author of Domestic Duties. This basic notion gave rise to the importance of the virtue of domesticity. This was the ability of women to make their homes refuges from the problems of the world. The focus of domesticity was on the wife and mother of the household. The only way to become a wife and mother was through marriage. Marriage was, therefore, the proper state in which to exercise domesticity.

Advisors warned women against marrying for the wrong reasons. They favored a sensible over a romantic choice. They felt the romantic choice would not satisfy the ideas of a young woman. This would lead to her unhappiness and her home would suffer as a result. If a woman chose a sensible partner, then her awareness of the responsibilities of marriage would not be clouded by romance and she would be better able to perform her duties as a wife.5

The wife's role was to complement her husband, reflecting credit on him and herself. A man took a wife to look after his affairs, and to prepare his children for their proper stations in life. It was a wife's duty to care for her husband's interests.6 To these ends, she was to be mistress of the family and run it well enough so that her husband would only enjoy it and could focus his attention on the matters of the world.7 As long as the household could be managed within the bounds of the husband's income by a woman who practiced and taught piety, purity and submissiveness, then "all [was] as it should be."8 Books devoted to housekeeping and cooking, made it perfectly clear that a woman's domain was her home and she was expected to have total charge of all within. If she was unfamiliar with family management, she was urged to consult the authorities.9

Men had pretty particular ideas about the qualifications of their wives. They had been trained since ancient times to look for specific examples of perfection. The January 10, 1832 issue of the Fitchburg Gazette included this poem to give prospective husbands an example of the prerequisites they might want to require:

"I'd have her reason, all her passions away??? "Easy in company—in private gay??? "Coy to a fop—to the deserving free??? "Still constant to herself, and true to me; "I'd have the expression of her thoughts be such "She should not seem reserv'd, not talk too much. "Her conduct regular—her mirth refined??? "Civil to strangers—to her neighbors kind."

If the spouse was not quite what was in mind prior to marriage, there was direction given to men on how to make a perfect wife after marriage.

Articles were just as specific about what a woman should look for in her husband. She was urged to avoid men who used profanity as these might corrupt the children. She was asked to avoid men who frequented taverns or were known as gamblers. Later, wives were advised on how to make men love marriage, and consequently, be good husbands. The Plebian and Millbury Workingman's Advocate ran an article entitled "Female Accomplishments" which emphasized that when a man married, he wanted a companion, not an artist. She should be someone to comfort and counsel, someone who is able to reason and reflect. This would insure that she could think on her own and would not have to bother her husband with petty problems. She should have the capacity to feel, judge, discourse and discriminate. She should be able to assist her husband in his affairs, lighten his cares, soothe his sorrows, strengthen his principles and educate his children.

The early life, it was believed, was the determining factor in the character of a child. Most of the child's early life was spent with its mother. It was important that she set a proper example. As mothers, women were endowed with the specialized task of raising a generation of Christian statesmen.10 Entrusted with such an important mission, public opinion tended to favor full?time mothering. Women in Montpelier, Vermont were reprimanded in the Fitchburg Gazette. The paper expressed curiosity as to how patriotic mothers managed "to get rid of their responsibility for a day of sentiment and song," in celebration of Independence Day in July, 1831. The paper presumed the women were negligent in their responsibilities as mothers. It was their patriotic duty to be with their children. The paper did not express preference to keeping the mothers at home or including the children in the celebration. In contrast, there was an article in which the author expressed annoyance that so many parents should bring their children to church. He found them distracting. Again, no solutions were suggested.11

Women were commended for their devotion to their families. A lawyer wrote in the Barre Gazette, in regard to women comforting their loved ones appearing in court, that shame, sorrow, degradation, contempt were all forgotten in the strength of a woman's love. This love extended beyond the living. Many could sympathize with the widow of DeWitt Clinton who "since the deep bereavement which has occurred to her, has sunk beneath the weight of her affliction, and has been in a situation of total mental alienation, insisting that he is not dead, but only sleeping, and imploring those around her to awaken him."12

The importance of domesticity incited a great debate over the issue of female education. For the most part, it was decided that females should receive some education, but many disagreed about the subjects to be included. Many believed a "finished" education took away from the practical knowledge required for housewives. Men feared that an emphasis on academics would take away from her domesticity and the home life would suffer. Many believed that the natural order of things was with women cooking and performing other household tasks. Fearing the possible upset of this order, men created a defense mechanism to keep women from venturing from the domestic sphere.

They became openly hostile agaist women's education. Hostility toward women's education was thwarted by convincing men that an educated wife could only be an asset to him. Marriage could be jeapodized by a wife who could not keep house.13 One who had been properly trained, would not keep her husband from his business because she could not manage a house. Women were encouraged to go to school in hopes of getting a good husband.14

Foreigners commented on American women as being well?read, good company as they were educated with the duties they would have to their husbands in mind.15 Roman women, they compared, were not so nearly allied with barbarianism, as to only know motherhood and wifery.16 Used as arguments in favor of female education, these statements suggest that few expected women to be solely wives and mothers and expected them to cultivate their own talents if their situation allowed. An article entitled "Female Education," from the North American Review, reported that evils happened in the uncultivated mind. This would explain the condition of Grecian females who owed their degradation to faulty education and seclusion from society.17

Many sources emphasized the need for female propriety???behavior.18 One interested party stated, "little things, are everything with females. As you have no opportunity to display an extraordinary intellect in public, provided heaven has endowed you with one, as sphere of action is limited to domestic fireside, and an estimate is formed of your character from the commonest appearances. Elegance and grace and polite conversation among friends as well as in front of strangers....If it were in my power to endow my daughter with only one of two faculties???taste or genius???I would for a female select good taste."19 Newspapers encouraged the practical education of women, citing the difficulty with which a child raised by an ignorant mother had adjusting.20 They also included advertisements for less practical and more academic subjects, but these were few and far between. In October, 1831, Miss E. Gardner began advertising for the Fitchburg Academy which would instruct young ladies in reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, history, natural philosophy drawing, painting, French and plain and ornamental needlework, if desired. Some found shortcomings in an academic education. Women were dangerously adicted to novels according to literature of the period. They would not have gotten this way if their education had not exposed them to the novels. Reading became a very dangerous pasttime in the case of "a young lady, a passenger in a Canal Boat between Schenectady and Amsterdam, New York, was instantly killed while the boat was passing under a low bridge, her head being dreadfully crushed between the timbers of the bridge, and a trunk on which she was leaning. She was intently engaged in reading a book at the time of the accident."21 An argument against the education of females might have found its way into this example.

It was the issue of education and the natural order of the universe which most brought out the question of feminine inferiority. Public opinion supported the notion that virtue, innocence and submissiveness were the positive attributes of womanhood. These virtues symbolized the order of nature which enlightened thinkers agreed reflected the structure of the mind. Taught in a tradition which, for their sex, emphasized sentimentality, women deliberately avoided reason. Those who argued against women's education shared the assumption that the feminine mind had only limited capabilities. People continued to evaluate the feminine intellect and its accomplishments by how directly they manifested the established female virtues.22

The examples in the sources followed a trend. There were certain written and understood laws governing the behavior of women. These were very strict and limiting on the women. And then there were the real actions. There were the husbands who asked their wives' opinion even though some members of society thought it shortsighted and useless. And there were the wives who wanted the mental, as well as physical, relationship with their husbands that society said they were not qualified to receive.

Attitudes were harshly defined, but the roles performed were based on the practicality of performing them. For example, women were forced to remain at home because their husbands were expected to go out into the world, and someone had to manage the house and care for the children. If attitudes had allowed women to work outside the home, their roles may have been different, but they would still have been based on the practicality of their actions.

These conclusions, and any represented in the text, have been the result of comparisons and interpretations of the different sources involved. Some attitudes, for example, recurred in different sources and agreed with what has been written about the period. It is these opinions which this paper represents.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"American Women," from NY Mirror, Fitchburg Gazette, Fitchburg, MA, December 11, 1832.

"A Victim of Fanacticism," Freedom's Sentinel, Athol, MA, January 8, 1828.

"A Wife," Fitchburg Gazette, Fitchburg, MA, January 10, 1832.

Barre Gazette, Barre, MA, June 5, 1835. Conrad, Susan P., Perish the Thought, Oxford University Press, NY, 1976.

Cott, Nancy, The Bonds of Womanhood.

"Cruelty and Suicide," Fitchburg Gazette, Fitchburg, MA, July 22, 1828.

"Economy in a Family," National Aegis, Worcester, MA, July 21, 1830 (appeared as "Family Economy," Barre Gazette, Barre, MA, February 12, 1836).

The Experienced American Housekeeper, Johnstone and Van Norden, NY, 1823.

"Female Education," from North American Review, Freedom's Sentinel, Athol, MA, October 14, 1828.

Fitchburg Gazette, Fitchburg, MA, July 19, August 2, September 13, 1831.

Freedom's Sentinel, Athol, MA, March 4, 1828.

"Grecian Females," from Hughes' Travels in Greece, National Aegis, Worcester, MA, November 24, 1830.

Henderson, W.A., Modern Domestic Cookery, Isaac Tompkins, Boston, 1847.

Ladies Magazine, L.A. Godey, Philadelphia, 1831, 1832.

Lerner, Gerda, The Female Experience, The Bobbs?Merrill Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1977.

"Letters From a Father to His Daughter," from the Portland (ME) Advertiser, National Aegis, Worcester, MA, November 17, 1830.

"The Mitten," Fitchburg Gazette, Fitchburg, MA, December 18, 1827.

National Aegis, Worcester, MA, June 16, 1830.

"Obituary," Barre Gazette, Barre, MA, June 5, 1835.

Parkes, Mrs. William, Domestic Duties, J. and J. Harper, NY, 1829.

"Religion Tending to Form a Manly Character," from the Boston Centinel, National Aegis, Worcester, MA, December 29, 1830.

"The Roman Women," Freedom's Sentinel, Athol, Ma, February 12, 1828.

"School for Young Ladies," Fitchburg Gazette, Fitchburg, MA, October 18, 1831.

"Suicide," from the Pittsfield Sun, Fitchburg Gazette, Fitchburg, MA, July 19, 1831.

Village Courier, Southbridge, MA.

Welter, Barbara, Dimity Convictions: The American Woman in the 19th Century, Ohio University Press, Athens, 1976. "Woman," Barre Gazette, Barre, MA, April 15, 1836.

"Woman," written for Freedom's Sentinel, Athol, MA, June 24, 1828.

"Young Children at Church," Fitchburg Gazette, Fitchburg, MA, October 25, 1831.

1. National Aegis, Worcester, MA, June 16, 1830.

2. Alcott, Louisa May., "Training the Girl to Patience," The Female Experience, Gerda Lerner, The Bobbs?Merrill Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1977.

3. "Suicide," from the Pittsfield Sun, Fitchburg Gazette, Fitchburg, MA, July 19, 1831.

4. Welter, Barbara, Dimity Convictions; The American Woman in the 19th Century, Ohio University Press, Athens, 1976.

6. "Economy in a Family," National Aegis, Worcester, MA, July 21, 1830 (appeared as "Family Economy," Barre Gazette, Barre, MA, February 12, 1836).

7. The Experienced American Housekeeper, Johnstone and Van Norden, NY, 1823.

8. Henderson, W.A., Modern Domestic Cookery, Isaac Tompkins, Boston, 1847.

9. The Experienced American Housekeeper.

10. Welter.

11. "Young Children at Church," Fitchburg Gazette, Fitchburg, MA, October 25, 1831.

12. Freedom's Sentinel, Athol, MA, March 4, 1828.

13. Welter.

14. Cott, Nancy, The Bonds of Womanhood.

15. "American Women," from NY Mirror, Fitchburg Gazette, Fitchburg, MA, December 11, 1832.

16. "The Roman Women," Freedom's Sentinel, Athol, MA, February 12, 1828.

17. "Grecian Females," from Hughes' Travels in Greece, National Aegis, Worcester, MA, November 24, 1830.

18. Fitchburg Gazette, Fitchburg, MA, September 13, 1831.

19. "Letters From a Father to His Daughter," from the Portland (ME) Advertiser, National Aegis, Worcester, MA, November 17, 1830.

20. Fitchburg Gazette, Fitchburg, MA, August 2, 1831.

21. Barre Gazette, Barre, MA, June 5, 1835.

22. Conrad, Susan P., Perish the Thought, Oxford University Press, NY, 1976.

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Hamlet’s Attitude Toward Women in Shakespear’s “Hamlet” Essay

Hamlet, the fabled Prince of Denmark, is arguably the most enigmatic character in all of William Shakespeare’s plays. One of his trademark characteristics is his belief that women are vastly inferior to men in society – an attitude that existed during the Elizabethan era in which Shakespeare lived.

Hamlet’s overall attitude towards women can be described in 3 parts.

Firstly, Hamlet hates women. The person totally responsible for spawning such feelings of hatred in him is his mother, Queen Gertrude. The event that gives birth to his hatred is Gertrude’s marriage to her brother-in-law Claudius very soon after the untimely death of her husband, King Hamlet. To Hamlet, who loved his father very much, this act is near sacrilege. His devastation is exacerbated when his father’s ghost reveals to him the truth behind his murder at the hands of the man who is now his mother’s new husband.

Hamlet reveals his attitude to Gertrude by enacting The Mousetrap show in Act III, Scene ii where the king is murdered by poison poured in his ear, and his murderer goes on to seduce the queen who capitulates to his charm – an exact replica of the real-life events surrounding the death of Hamlet’s father. When his mother summons him to her room after the play, Hamlet makes up his mind to be brutally frank with her while at the same time not relinquishing his self-control (“I will speak daggers to her, but use none”.

Hamlet reveals his attitude to Ophelia by harshly telling her that while he once loved her, those feelings have now vanished. When Hamlet meets her early in Act III (while Claudius and Polonius eavesdrop behind a tapestry), he flies into a rage, bitterly denouncing women in general for misleading men by applying makeup to look prettier than they actually are, adding that women are liars who do not deserve to be allowed by marrying. The stunned girl can only numbly conclude that her lover has become insane (‘O what a noble mind is here overthrown.

Hamlet’s second attitude is that he has a very low opinion of women. He is convinced that women are morally corrupt and therefore not trustworthy.

He reveals this attitude to Gertrude in Act III, Scene 4, when she scolds him for offending Claudius by enacting The Mousetrap. Hamlet turns on her furiously, saying it is she who has offended his father by getting married to Claudius, and vows to make her totally aware of the enormity of her sinful action (“You go not till I set you up a glass/ Where you may see the inmost part of you”. In the same scene when Hamlet kills the hidden Polonius, Gertrude denounces it as a “rash and bloody” act. This causes her son to sarcastically retort that his act was just as horrendous as what happened to his father (“A bloody deed – almost as bad, good mother/ As kill a king and marry with his brother” . When his shocked mother cries out in horror, “As kill a king,” he stoically retorts that she heard him rightly. He goes on to lavishly praise his dead father as having “Hyperion’s curls, the front of Jove himself” while disparaging Claudius and ends by demanding to know what led Gertrude to marry her despicable brother-in-law. Hamlet’s direct accusation stirs Gertrude’s conscience, making her look deep within herself, into her “very soul,” which she finds besmirched with “black and grained spots”. Her candid admission causes Hamlet’s distrust of her to deepen further.

Hamlet displays this attitude to Ophelia by berating her with bawdy remarks steeped in sexual innuendo. For example, Hamlet tests her to judge if she will tell him the truth about the whereabouts of Polonius. When the girl, the obedient daughter that she is, lies to him, he insults her cruelly: “Get thee to a nunnery” (‘nunnery’ was a coarse translation for ‘whorehouse’ during Elizabethan times) instead of becoming a “breeder of sinners” (III.i.122). In another example, when she praises his keen intellect (“You are keen, my lord, you are keen,” he stingingly retorts, “It would cost you a groaning to take off my edge” (III.ii.227-228).

Hamlet’s third attitude is that women are immoral sexual beings who will stoop even to incestuous relationships to satisfy their bodily hunger.

Hamlet believes his mother has committed incest by marrying her husband’s own brother. To him, this act shows her shallow morality that is superseded by the great need for selfish personal sexual gratification. Gertrude never considers that Hamlet would be feeling sad and lonely after the death of his father and needed his mother to share his sorrow and comfort him during the mourning period. Hamlet forces her to starkly realize that he considers her act of marrying Claudius both incestuous and adulterous. He chides his mother for deviating from morality, urging her to mend her ways: “Go not to my Uncle’s bed. Assume a virtue, if you have it”. Gertrude’s simple-minded response, “What shall I do?” infuriates him further as it denotes she is only thinking of her physical desires, wondering how to appease them if she follows her son’s advice. As it is, Hamlet was earlier furious at his mother’s nonchalant reaction to the role of the queen in The Mouse Trap (Gertrude opined: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks” meaning that in actual life, a widow would naturally want to get married again.

Although he does not openly accuse Ophelia, it is highly possible that Hamlet is aware of the incestuous feelings her brother Laertes harbors towards her (He would surely have heard and understood the frequent remarks steeped in sexual innuendo that Laertes directed at Ophelia). It is very likely that a significant part of Hamlet’s animosity towards Ophelia stems from a suspicion that she either caused such incestuous feelings to develop in Laertes, or did not do enough to discourage such feelings, or worse still, exacerbated such feelings by engaging in incestuous sexual acts with her brother.

Hamlet’s hostile attitude towards women is evident in his condemnation of women in general (“Frailty, thy name is woman!”) in Act II. His attitude affects his relations with the two most important women in his life – Gertrude and Ophelia – so much that it depresses him and makes him frequently think about committing suicide (“To be, or not to be: that is the question”.

Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet.” Thomas Learning Publishers, 2001.

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Example Of Attitudes Towards Women Essay

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Women , Society , Family , Democracy , Literature , Love , Belief , Wife

Words: 1100

Published: 02/01/2020

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Introduction

It is a known fact that throughout the history of humanity, members of the female gender have been facing an uphill battle fighting for equality in a world that has largely been dominated by men. Cases of women discrimination and abuse were very rampant in the olden days and it is only until recently that the society has started to give attention to the equality aspect. However, the equality has not been fully achieved and the assertion that the male race is the superior race continues to thrive. The articles by Judy Brady and Maxine Hong Kingston are testaments of the negative attitude that the society has against women. In addition, the two articles highlight the enormous load of unrealistic expectations that are placed on women every day. Brady’s article, I Want a Wife is a reflection of a person who wants to a new wife and is thinking of the specific qualities and character traits that the potential bride is expected to possess. The article opens in a sarcastic tone where she states that although she is both a wife and a mother, the two aspects are not altogether entirely related. She talks of her male friend who recently went through and is currently looking for a new wife. As she reflects on the role of women in the society, she comes to terms with the load of expectations that the society has on women. It emerges that men expects women to be jacks of all trades and possess a humongous load of qualities that will in fact be only beneficial to men. There is an expectation of a woman to be financially endowed and she is supposed to use these finances to cater for the man’s needs including his further education. At the same time the woman is expected to be a homemaker. This means that she should take care of all household chores and duties including the children, keeping the house tidy, washing clothes and utensils and so on. In addition, she is also expected to hold a job although she should be ready to sacrifice some aspects of her job and prioritize on family matters. The one thing that emanates from all this is that the woman is simply viewed as an object that can easily be played with by members of the male gender. The wife is expected to take care of her man even when she herself is currently engaged in other duties. For example, when her man falls sick, she is expected to stop whatever she is doing and take care of her man by sympathizing g with him about his condition. Brady further states that the woman is essentially expected to be the glue that holds the man and his social life together. For example, when the man makes new friends and invites them over for a meal, it is indeed the woman who is expected to fully entertain the guests and make them feel at home. The woman is in addition supposed to give some personal time to the man whenever he needs it. In addition to all these roles, the woman is also expected to satisfy her man’s physical needs including sexual ones. This means that she should be ready to make love whenever the man desires it and should also ask also not for sex when the man is disinterested. Moreover, the role of birth control lie primarily with the woman .Another interesting thing is that the woman is supposed to understand that the sexual desires of a man may prompt him to engage in sexual activities outside his marriage. The woman is expected to take all this in good faith.The author of the article states that the woman should be ready to pack her bags and move on when the man eventually a better replacement. The sentiments expressed by Maxine Hong Kingston in No Name Woman are complementary to those in I Want a Wife those of by Judy Brady. The discriminatory attitude directed towards women by the society is given emphasis in this article. The author uses a narrative form to show the audacious and heinous acts that are directed towards women simply because they are considered to be inferior to the male gender. Women are expected to completely abide by men’s stipulations. The author uses an example of an aunt back in her native land in China. In this specific culture, the role of women bears a very strong resemblance to that of slaves. Just like the in the article by Brady, the women are not essentially supposed to have any kind of personal opinion, wants or thoughts. The societies views a woman’s life goal as to get married to a man that is prosperous and then serve him for the rest of her life. Since the women are viewed as objects, they go to great lengths to turn into the perfect objects in deed. They endeavor to look perfect with the hope that they will attract a very wealthy male. The woman is expected to maintain the love of her husband by working constantly striving to improve their self image, for example every woman was supposed to pull up her hair tightly using a bus. Another aspect is that the women were supposed to walk in an erect manner with straight knees. Committing adultery or having a child outside wedlock are acts that are completely unforgivable. Engagement in such acts results in severe consequences from the society. The author was told a story by her mother about an aunt who violated these established society norms and thus suffered severe consequences, the ultimate one being death. This can be compared to the views of the author in I Want a Wife where the men are allowed to seek sexual favors outside their marriage framework while such actions in women are completely outlawed. The women are also considered weak and are therefore exposed to certain types of jobs that are considered to be masculine. They receive the treatment of a slave at home while their husbands are at work in companies or industries. Their opinion is absolutely not taken into account when it comes to family decisions even when a situation or a crisis that requires a meeting of minds arises.

Works Cited

Brady, Judy. I want A Wife. Harper Collins Customers Books.1993 Write Work contributors. "“No Name Woman” Maxine Kingston's memoir, The Woman Warrior describes" WriteWork.com. WriteWork.com, 01 February, 2008. Web. 17 Apr. 2013

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The ‘Tale of Filippa’ illustrates new attitudes towards women in Italian society. For example, women became more empowered than before. They are the center of attraction, with calls from all sections of society to promote gender equality. Women now have control of situations in their life, and they make independent sexual choices.

Evolution Of Attitudes Towards Women in Italy

Women are seen as unpredictable in modern society. They may be interested or not interested in something. They may love to take, or love to give. They can be self-centered as well as generous. They do not have a perfected way of thinking or behaving. Women can be a source of suffering or happiness. They can easily accept situations as Monna Giovanna and Filippa did. However, it may sometimes be difficult to accept reality. A woman may behave differently in the same circumstances. She can also behave the same in different circumstances. Men, therefore, have to use their instincts to understand them. They have to accept women for what they are.

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In Italian society, women are seen to be influenced by their own choices. They have changed from being influenced by male dominance. This was the tradition many years ago, as evident from the ‘Tale of Filippa’. They make love as a playful experience, trying to get the best from their relationship. Boccaccio illustrates that love either ends with a permanent tie called marriage or with tragedy. This may not necessarily be true. However, since women can easily become interested or uninterested in their love affairs, such relationships may have or lack direction. Women are viewed as taking everything as either a delightful or serious experience. Therefore, they may just pursue happiness and enjoyment, or they may look for a focused relationship. However, women can pursue both and will sometimes give mixed reactions to what they want (Heffernan).

Boccaccio’s illustration of women’s tendency to love many men reflects a certain type of attitude towards women in Italian society. Their characteristic of being rather changeable affirms this assumption. They tend to be adventurous. Boccaccio’s illustration of immorality as being a consequence of freedom of choice can be related to such assumptions even today. In Italian society, women do not betray their husbands because there is a change of heart and mind. Rather, they reject a conventional bond that is not meaningful to them. This meaning is related to matters of the heart and, thereby, of their senses. Marriage is also born out of free choice, and it is the logical crowning of love. However, it could lead to disaster if it is imposed upon individuals. Marriage could be ended if there is no reciprocity in it. Women are generally accepted to return favors. They are also expected to grant favors. They can adjust quickly. For example, the way Emilia casually settled for a festive wedding with Palemon reveals an overcapacity in adjustment circumstances. This is as opposed to what it was compared to in earlier thinking: chronic and criminal immorality.

In Italian society, women are believed to indulge in bold adventures so that they can be happy. They, therefore, risk much and get much in return. For those who are nervous, love is not their business. They usually have absolute ideals for institutions such as marriage. Women are not treated hypocritically in Italian society. For example, in the ‘Tale of Filippa’, Madonna Filipa knows what she wants and she always tries to achieve her set goal (Franco).

Boccaccio’s Decameron illustrates attitudes towards women in Italian society. Women have been empowered, and they make independent choices. They are no longer influenced by male dominance. They are unpredictable and may sometimes have problems facing reality. They pursue enjoyment and happiness in everything they do. In addition, women are viewed as adventurous and not hypocritical. They know what they want and they take pains to achieve it.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Jane Austen — How Jane Austen Questions The Society In Which She Lives On Its Moral Beliefs And Attitudes Towards Women

How Jane Austen Questions The Society in Which She Lives on Its Moral Beliefs and Attitudes Towards Women

• Categories: Jane Austen Novel Pride and Prejudice

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Published: Feb 8, 2022

Words: 3044 | Pages: 7 | 16 min read

Bibliography

• Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice, Ed. Keith Carabine (Hertfordshire, England: Wordsworth editions, 1992)
• Fordyce, James, Sermons to Young Women, (London: Cadell & Davis, 1814)
• Amis, Martin, ‘Force of Love: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen’ A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen, Ed. Susannah Carson (New York: Random House, 2009)
• Coontz, Stephanie, Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage (USA: Penguin, 2006)
• Gay, Penny, Jane Austen and the Theatre (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002)
• Hudson, Glenda. A, Sibling Love and Incest in Jane Austen’s Fiction (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1999)
• Johnson, Claudia L, Jane Austen: Women, Politics and the Novel (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1998)
• Kelly, Helena, Jane Austen, the Secret Radical (London: Icon Books Ltd, 2016)
• St Clair, William, The Reading Nation in the Romantic Period (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004)
• Kirkham, Margaret, Jane Austen, Feminism and Fiction: Second Edition (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2000)
• Le Faye, Deidre, ‘Jane Austen to Cassandra Austen 29 January 1813’, Jane Austen’s Letters (Oxford: OUP Oxford, 2011)
• Newton, Judith. Lowder, ‘“Pride and Prejudice”: Power, Fantasy, and Subversion in Jane Austen’, Feminist Studies Vol. 4 No. 1 (University of Maryland USA: Feminist Studies Inc, 1978)
• North, Julian, ‘Conservative Austen, Radical Austen: Sense and Sensibility from Text to Screen’ Adaptions: from text to screen, screen to text (London: Routledge, 1999)
• Röpke, Nadine, Jane Austen: A Political Author of her Time? (Munich: GRIN Verlag, 2005), https://www.grin.com/document/57445

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