April 11, 2013

Women active in feminist causes harassed more at work




Working women who engage in feminist activism report more experiences of gender harassment on the job, regardless of whether or not they identify themselves as feminists, a new University of Michigan study indicates.

"A woman who personally adopts the feminist label may not 'out' herself as such to others," said Kathryn Holland, the study's lead author and a graduate student in women's studies and psychology. "Women openly engaging in activism for women's rights may pose a more obvious threat to the existing gender hierarchy—a hierarchy that grants more power to men than women."