A recent study has found that men who have daughters who are of school age are less likely to be sexist. A group of researchers from the London School of Economics decided to explore how men's stances on gender norms can change when raising a daughter in primary or secondary school education.
The researchers claim that men who have daughters become more aware of the challenges and issues that girls face in the society. This consequence is named the "mighty girl" effect. Also, they conclude that people's views on gender norms can change over the years, meaning that the stereotypical views on the differing roles of girls and boys are not really fixed in adulthood.
Changing views on gender roles
For the research, which was published in the journal Oxford Economic Papers, the group assessed data that had been collated by the British Household Panel Survey on a yearly basis between 19991 to 2012. The researchers studied and examined the responses of more than 5,000 men and more than 6,300 women. All of the participants had kids under the age of 21 living in their homes.
The male participants were then asked whether they agreed with statements like it is a husband's job to earn money and it is a wife's job to look after the family and home. They had to choose their answer from a five-point scale, with options ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree.
According to the findings of the study, men with daughters who are in primary and secondary school are more likely to disagree with statements regarding conventional attitudes towards gender. While the men who did not have a child or only had sons had a 37 percent likelihood of holding traditional views about gender. Around 33 percent of those participants who had at least one daughter in secondary school felt the same way.
The key is being understanding
The co-author of the study, Dr. Joan Costa-i-Font, explains that having a better understanding of the challenges that women face can influence the preconceived ideas that fathers have about gender roles. He said that fathers experience first-hand all the issues that exist in the female world and then that moderates their attitudes towards gender norms and they also become closer to seeing the whole picture from the female perspective.
A mental health and body image campaigner, Natasha Devon, said that it is important for all men to demonstrate that they care about the issues that women face, regardless of whether they are daughters or not. She said that men need to see women as human beings even if they do not have a good relationship with their mother or sister or even if they do not have a daughter.
We need to find out what it is specifically about having a daughter that changes the minds of men and we need to look at how we can ingrain that more into the socialization process for all boys from an early age. In December 2019, the Advertising Standards Authority issues new guidelines stating that adverts made by British companies that endorse harmful gender stereotypes will be banned.
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