Sociology research proposal

The Effect of Telling Someone You are a Feminist: Will They Treat You the Same?

SOC 220: Intro to Social Research

Feminism has been around since the 1800s and will continue to prosper for hundreds of years to come. Feminism can be conceptualized as the fight for equality for everyone (not just men and women, as feminists are fighting with the LGBTQ+ community to make sure those who do not fit in the binary are treated equal as well) and the effort to make sure no one is considered inferior. Many have fought for changes to fix the gender pay gap, not allowing discrimination to happen based on gender, race/ethnicity, or class in any situation (work, getting a job, getting a house or loan, etc.) and have joined forces with other activists such as environmental and disability groups. They are able to do this because many of their core ideas align and they can greatly help each other utilizing each other’s tactics. Feminism’s success can be measured in many different ways. Some ways include: how many more women are in the government, hold positions of power, are the owners or CEOs of a company, how many women are a part of law enforcement, and how many women vote. This can be a very important measure, as these numbers are climbing more than ever before. Feminism has definitely had tremendous growth throughout its’ years of being, with many more successes still needed to come.

There have been three waves come out of feminism, and many might argue that a fourth might take form. First wave feminists, also known as Liberal feminists, focused on getting the right to vote, worked within the governmental regulations, and were called by many: 'white women's feminism' because of its tendency to discriminate against people of color. Second wave feminists, also known as Radical Feminists, pushed 'personal is political', focused on institutions and structures that perpetuated inequality, and were given the label 'man-hating lesbians' because they fought for women's rights in what was seen as a more “masculine” way, and disregarded anything that was considered feminine (dresses, makeup, heterosexual love, etc.). Third Wave

feminists, known only as Third Wave feminists, became known as those who did their own feminism. A woman could be married to a man and be a feminist fighting for women's equality or a woman could be more masculine and be a feminist; in the end there is more than one way to do feminism. Third wave feminists also rely on pop culture to bring awareness to feminism and focus on individual proponents of inequality (such as the #metoo movement). This feminism earned the name “do it yourself feminism”, as its structure is not as rigid as the first two waves. The three waves have all proved that their causes for fighting were due to their time period and each has a set list of “goals” that they want to achieve. Feminism has had many successes, and will have even more as time goes on because of the continued push for equality for all.

This research proposal will examine whether or not someone will treat you the same after telling someone you are a feminist. My thesis is that a person will either be accepting or treat you differently after you tell them that you are a feminist based on a variety of aspects of their everyday experience. Many may treat you the same after telling them that you are a feminist because they understand the cause, identify as one themselves, or because they have no opinion on that topic. A lot more people have self-identified as a feminist, because they want equality for everybody. Many companies have also claimed that they are feminist, even though their definition of what it means to be a feminist and the ideology that they promote might not be in the best nature for feminism. Not everyone of course (namely those who are traditional, conservative, and grew up in households where the man was superior) believes in feminism, and when one self identifies as a feminist, they are ready to criticize them as soon as the word feminist leaves their mouth. Many believe in the thought of women being inferior and the ideas from the patriarchy of a man should be the one to run a society clouds over the possibility of

times changing. Those willing to accept you are more likely to be more liberal and have most likely grown up in a time where becoming a feminist (or being a feminist) is acceptable and the preferred way of living. Whereas those who will treat you negatively will most likely be from a time where the man ruled the house and society with no exceptions.

Many people have started to (or have already) realized how much good feminism can do for society. Feminism not only benefits women, but can also benefit men by combating toxic masculinity, pushing for men to show emotion and what has been considered a more “feminine” side and helping those who do not fit into the binary push back against the strict gender “requirements”. People are also going against the traditional way of doing things. The article “I’m Not a Feminist But...” talks about how many women have taken what was normally considered the male’s traditional role in the family, in the home, and in the workplace (Buschman and Lenart, 1996). Even those who were in the traditional gender roles were open to having everybody be flexible and not stay constrained into the ideal gender “job”. (Job in this case refers not only to a career or a working job, but also taking care of the kids, doing the housework, etc.) One study done in this article showed that a majority of college women supported the core ideas of feminism and were willing to label themselves as feminists (Buschman and Lenart, 1996). In many instances, people support the ideas behind feminism, but because of the negative stereotype surrounding being feminists, they will refuse to call themselves so. To see this study’s results, especially in 1987, shows the growing acceptance of feminism, and this acceptance has only grown during the 32 years since this study. When some people hear feminism and hear you call yourself a feminist, they can be very accepting and might even identify as one themself.

However, there is a countless number of other people who still believe that all feminists are “man-hating lesbians”. Many refuse to see how many are not and will not ever be. Feminism is not made to discriminate against men or make all women “become” lesbians (become in quotations because love is not a choice), or make women hate all men because men are the sole reason that women face the inequalities they do. So, for many, feminist comes with a negative connotation. Many have very radical second wave feminists come to mind (not all radical feminists were like this either), so when someone says they are a feminist, they are treated very negatively after. In “A Little Bit of a Dirty Word: Feminism” by Lucinda McKnight, McKnight talks about her experiences with proclaiming that she is a feminist and her effort to push feminism to be taught in schools in Australia. When she first asked a couple of faculty members and students at the school she had just begun working at about feminism, one of the first replies was that it had become some kind of “dirty” word (McKnight, 2018). These people had automatically assumed the stereotypes and negative images that were being spread about feminists. When McKnight would give talks about feminism, everything she said after she called herself a feminist was questioned. Some questions that were brought up were: are you really trying to empower girls, or telling them that they should be a lesbian and hate men? Why do you wear suits to all of these events? Does being a feminist mean that you can’t wear dresses and makeup? Another article, “What’s in a Label”, showed how people reacted to hearing the word feminist. McCabe (2015) does a study documenting their reactions and a lot of people quoted negative stereotypes surrounding women; they say that women were biologically made to be housewives and nothing else, God put women in the place they are so that means they were destined to stay there, and others (McCabe, 2015). Many will never accept the fact that feminism can indeed have a good meaning attached to it. Feminism is not only masculine women who don’t like to wear dresses with a sole purpose of burning the patriarchy and therefore society down, creating havoc. Feminism is about creating an equal society for everyone, where no one is considered inferior for any reason, especially gender.

For my research proposal, I have three hypotheses that I would want to test to see the effect of telling someone you are a feminist. They are as follows and for each individual hypothesis, the independent variable, dependent variable and the unit of analysis will also be listed:

1. Women are more likely to be accepting and treat someone the same after that person tells them they identify as a feminist than men.

1. Independent Variable: Gender.

2. Dependent Variable: Whether someone will be accepting after you tell

them you are a feminist.

3. Unit of Analysis: Individual.

2. White people are more likely to be accepting and treat someone the same after that person tells them they identify as a feminist than non-white people.

1. Independent Variable: Race.

2. Dependent Variable: Whether someone will be accepting after you tell

them you are a feminist.

3. Unit of Analysis: Individual.

3. People with a higher educational level with more likely to be accepting and treat someone the same after that person tells them they identify as a feminist than those with a low education background.

a. Independent Variable: Amount of education. b. Dependent Variable: Whether someone will be accepting after you tell

them you are a feminist. c. Unit of Analysis: Individual.

In general, the independent variables are: gender, race, and amount of education. The dependent variable is whether someone will be accepting after you tell them you are a feminist. The unit of analysis for my research will always be individual as this will produce the best results.

To conduct my study, I would select every fifth person that walks into Penfield Library at SUNY Oswego using systematic sampling, stopping when I reach one hundred people. I would use the social distance scale as I believe this would produce the best results. By starting at a point where someone who is a feminist is not interacting with another person, all the way down to where contact is very close; it can give the closest accurate representation to how comfortable that person is when someone is a feminist. This comfort will then show how they will treat a person after they tell the other person they are a feminist face to face. Before handing them my questionnaire, I would make sure they were willing to participate in my study. I would prepare a speech ahead of time, so I know exactly what I would tell them. This speech would include the reason behind my study, what feminism is in case they were unsure, and to let them know that there is a place on the survey to make themselves completely anonymous. If a person were to

decline, I would continue on with every fifth person after the person who declined. After receiving their verbal willingness, I would give them the social distance scale on a piece of paper so I could have a written response from them. To start, I would ask them to fill out a background box on top of the social distance scale survey sheet. The background box would include a place so they could put: their name (optional), contact information if I have follow up questions or continue this study (again, this would also be optional depending on their willingness to give me this information), their race, their gender, and the amount of education they have completed (below high school, GED, high school graduate, two year degree, etc.). The social distance scale statements would be as follows:

1. I am comfortable with the idea of feminism.

2. I am comfortable having someone who identifies as a feminist visiting SUNY Oswego

for a week.

3. I am comfortable having someone who identifies as a feminist go to school with me all

year round.

4. I am comfortable having someone who identifies as a feminist live in the same building

as me.

5. I am comfortable having someone who identifies as a feminist be my roommate.

6. I am comfortable with having my best friend being a feminist.

7. I am comfortable having someone who identifies as a feminist ask me out on a date.

8. I am comfortable self identifying as a feminist.

9. I am comfortable with someone labeling me as a feminist.

The respondents would then choose Yes or No which would be directly across the

question so there was no confusion on which answer was to what question. After they fill out this, if they were willing, I would have a separate question at the bottom asking them what they would do if someone called them a feminist, and what they would do if their best friend told them they were a feminist, to see if the answers compared. After they were done, I would have them seal it in an envelope that I would provide, so no one could tamper with their responses. I would then study the results first by gender, then by race, then by educational level.

There is a possibility of several limitations and problems with my study. One, by doing every 5th person that walks in the library door and giving a speech about my research proposal, there is a chance that I will miss some people (or skip over them), as I am talking to the people that I have. This can create a problem because I will not have exactly what I aimed to in the study. Another problem that I might come across is that this is not representative of the entire population of society. Since I am doing it on a mostly liberal campus, I can expect to get very positive answers and conclusions. If I were to do this at a Catholic Private University down South, the answers might look completely different. Since there is no possible way to get everyone in American to answer my survey, these answers and conclusions will have to do. Another limitation that I might come across is the day I pick there might not be enough people to where I can pick every 5th person and get one hundred in a day. Since I do not have any time limit listed, but it would be convenient to do it in a day, this might be a problem. Many people might also give more positive reviews if they put their name on it, as they want to make themselves look better. I also would not be able to tell them that I am a feminist, as this could make them pick more “yes” answers than if I had kept my stance out of the study.

Feminism has been around since the 1800s and will continue to prosper for many years to come. Three waves have come out to advocate for feminism and each earned their own image. My research proposal would aim to look at the effect of telling someone you are a feminist and if they would treat you the same afterwards. To do this, I would conduct a survey, select every 5th person that walks into Penfield Library at SUNY Oswego using systematic sampling, and then use the social distance scale with some background questions to study how accepting a person would be based on their gender, race, and amount of education. The results would be used to test my three hypotheses, and then I would draw a conclusion based on that. I would expect that a white, woman, with a high degree of education would be more accepting than any other group. This study is basic research for now, so no huge conclusions can be made, but it has the potential to provide very helpful insight into why some people are accepting of people self identifying as a feminist, and why others are not.

References Buschman, Joan K and Silvo Lenart. 1996. "I am not a Feminist but... College Women,

Feminism, and Negative Experiences." International Society of Political Psychology. 17(1): 59-76.

McCabe, Janice. 2005. "What's in a Label: The Relationship Between Feminist Self-Identification and 'Feminist' Attitudes Among U.S. Women and Men." Sociologists for Women in Society. 19(4):480-505.

McKnight, Lucinda. 2018. "A Bit of a Dirty Word: 'Feminism and Female Teachers Identifying as a Feminist." Journal of Gender and Women's Studies. 27(2): 220-30.

Merriam-Webster. 2019. Feminism. Retrieved on November 25 2019. (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feminism).