Psychology Today Blogs - Daisy Grewal, Ph.D.

Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?

Daisy Grewal, Ph.D. — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:29:26 -0700

I lifted the title of this blog from Susan Moller Okin who wrote a seminal article on the topic almost ten years ago. Ten years later it’s still as relevant as ever, as society grapples with issues such as the Texas polygamy scandal, the Taliban, and widespread efforts to diversify schools, organizations, and political parties.

As the so-called “melting pot” of the world, America has never been pro-assimilation when it comes to cultural traditions. While individuals might disagree with each other, the government itself has tried its best to promote an atmosphere of inclusion. Layered on top of our multicultural ideals is an additionally strong belief in fairness and justice for all. America has a long way to go in terms of gender equality, but the overarching law of the land is that nobody ought to be discriminated against because of their sex – or their culture. But what happens when those two things collide?

In April 2008 a polygamist ranch in Texas was ransacked by police for suspected widespread child abuse. As details of the sect emerged to the public, controversy was set in motion as members of the sect defended their right to live as they pleased (allegations of child abuse were strongly denied). Polygamy, which some believe is oppressive to women, is condoned by several states in the name of religious freedom. Scandals such as these put Americans in a sticky situation, where they are forced to choose between two cherished ideals: cultural tolerance and religious rights.

In some parts of the Middle East, family members are culturally obligated to murder female relatives who engage in adultery. In certain cases, women have been murdered because they were raped through no fault of their own. For some cultures, allowing a violated woman to live could destroy the honor of the entire family. In extreme cases like this, one belief (the sanctity of life) might seem clearly outweigh any support for cultural beliefs about the consequences of women’s purity. They also seem relegated to other countries that value gender equality far less than Americans. But similar incidents have occurred in the United States and surprisingly, culture has been successfully used as a justification for murder. In her original article, Okin discusses a case wherein a Chinese immigrant man living in New York battered his wife to death for committing adultery. A defense based on cultural beliefs and traditions successfully softened first-degree murder changes to charges of involuntary manslaughter.

Americans have by no means chosen the inherent rights of women over support for tolerating different cultural beliefs. We have struggled, and will no doubt continue to struggle, with finding a balance between respecting different cultural backgrounds and protecting people from abusing one another. Here is an arena where even so-called “liberal” attitudes that typically encompass multiculturalism can end up seeming anti-feminist. As Okin writes, “When liberal arguments are made for the rights of groups, then, special care must be taken to look at within-group inequalities.”

Some feminists argue that Western culture itself is contradictory in its beliefs; on the one hand we support women’s equality, but on the other, we espouse cultural ideals that over-value women for possessing beauty and thin bodies. I’m very much interested in hearing others opinions on this. Do you think that Western cultural ideals are similarly oppressive towards women? If so, should there be efforts to limit those ideals? And finally, in general, how can we reconcile our cultural beliefs with our ideals that support gender equality?

Why Gender Doesn't Matter

Daisy Grewal, Ph.D. — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:02:07 -0700

One of the most important ideas in gender today is the Gender Similarities Hypothesis. This hypothesis was proposed by Janet Shibley Hyde, a professor at UW-Madison. It was originally published in American Psychologist, as a direct contradiction to the more commonly held Gender Differences model. The Differences model argues that male and females are vastly different from one another biologically and psychologically.

Hyde tested the opposite hypothesis, that men and women are actually more similar to each other than different, by analyzing meta-analyses of gender differences. A meta-analysis is a procedure by which researchers will review hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of studies in order to determine whether a hypothesis is true or not. Meta-analyses are important since one study alone is unlikely to prove an effect. Furthermore, meta-analyses often include studies in their review that were not published in an academic journal. This gets around the "file-drawer" problem: presumably, many studies which prove that something is untrue are lying around in the file drawers of scientists. This happens because it is nearly impossible to publish a study that proves something is not true, only something that suggests that it is true.

Hyde examined the major meta-analyses that had already been conducted on gender differences. In a sense, she did a meta meta-analysis in order to see what gender differences are true or not. She started out with the hypothesis that most differences between the two sexes are negligent to non-existent. In fact, that is exactly what she found-with a few exceptions. The largest gender differences are in the domain of motor performance (such as throwing velocity and distance). A second area is sexuality, particularly in reported masturbation activity, and attitudes about casual and uncommitted relationships. Although much publicity has been given to gender differences in aggression, the differences are only moderate. Furthermore "relational" aggression which has been publicized as more common among girls shows no consistent gender difference.

For those who are at all curious, I highly recommend downloading the full article here. Many of the results are surprising - gender differences in math and verbal ability overall are quite small. Moreover, gender differences in traits like assertiveness, self-esteem, and even height are also quite small.

The question is then, why do most of us believe so strongly in gender differences despite the evidence that shows they are minimal for most things? For one, overinflated claims of gender differences appeal more to our intuitions. They sell more magazines and newspapers. They make for interesting non-fiction book titles, and they allow researchers to publish papers that gain them scientific recognition. Perhaps we start out believing in gender differences and therefore see them wherever we look.

Unfortunately, as Hyde points out, there are big costs to our beliefs in gender differences. Social psychologists have shown that beliefs often lead to self-fulfilling prophecies. In other words, the more we believe something is true, the more we are likely to act in a way that makes it come true. Men are taught to believe that they aren't good at communicating, that they lack tact, and are not good at interpreting emotions. Women are taught to believe that they aren't cut out for leadership, they're bad at math, and they should stick to certain careers that bring out their "natural" abilities. The costs for our beliefs are huge for both genders; and, given the lack of scientific data to support any of them, ought to be seriously re-evaluated. At the very least, I hope that anyone who has read this blog will have an extra grain of skepticism the next time they encounter a so-called gender difference in print or in person.

Explaining the Math Gender Gap

Daisy Grewal, Ph.D. — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:52:36 -0700

Larry Summers might be long gone, but gender gaps in the math and sciences persist in America. For those who might lean towards Summers' arguments that women's brains aren't wired for math, new research that's been published in Science magazine might help change your mind.

A group of researchers studied 276,000 teenagers in 40 countries by having them take the same tests in math, reading, science, and problem-solving ability. They also assessed the prevailing views about gender equality in each country, e.g. how people answered questions such as "Should women work outside the home?" and "Is it more important for a man to get a college education than a woman?"

The first finding of interest is that the gender gap in math is huge in some countries and non-existent in others. If biology were mostly to blame, we wouldn't expect to find such wide differences. Moreover, the researchers found a correlation between traditional gender attitudes and math scores. In countries that had the most egalitarian views about men and women, the gender gap in math was the smallest. These countries included Iceland, Sweden, and Norway - all countries that are also known for having very progressive policies that help working mothers. The biggest gender gap was found in Turkey; Turkey also scored the lowest on gender equality. The United States fell somewhere in the middle of the countries surveyed.

Adding more evidence are findings that women's scores on math in America have been improving over time, which further suggests that abilities in math are culturally determined. If you are a parent who is concerned about fostering your daughter's interest in the math and science (or at least not dampening them), it may help to do the following:

1) Emphasize to your daughter that math ability is something you learn not something you are born with.
2) Praise her for the effort she exerts not for how "smart" she is.
3) Remind her that tests are a measure of how well you've learned the material, not a measure of academic worth.

But perhaps the most important thing Americans can do as a whole is to start changing their own attitudes about gender and math. The more women demonstrate to younger women that math is about practice, the less likely girls are to label themselves as "bad as math." The future of our world depends on it.

Real Men do Yoga

Daisy Grewal, Ph.D. — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:40:11 -0700

I used to know a graduate student who was perpetually stressed out. He was so anxious that he had insomnia on a nightly basis. When I suggested that perhaps he try a yoga class, his reaction was almost violent. I asked why he seemed so anti-yoga and he proceeded to explain to me that no man - even one who is highly in tune with his feminine side - would be caught dead in a yoga class. Now I know for a fact that not all men feel this way about yoga, but there seem to be quite a few that do.

I've been practicing yoga for almost 10 years; I spent the first 7 doing Hatha yoga in rooms full of lithe young women wearing shirts with words like "Namaste" and "Shakti" written on them. Usually our yoga class would be about an hour long and begin and end with a period of meditation. Careful stretching and balancing would be set to the soothing sounds of rustling leaves and Native American flutes. To be honest, these classes were at times boring, but they made me feel a lot less stressed out.

A few years ago I tried a new form of yoga, Bikram yoga, and in my very first class I immediately noticed something different: there were men in my class! Not a lot, but I saw at least a few. In the Bay Area I've been to Bikram yoga classes that are nearly divided 50/50 in terms of gender.

Now for those who aren't familiar with Bikram yoga its important to know that its much more like military boot camp than a peaceful trek through the woods. A Bikram class consists of 90 minutes of 26 postures, done in a heated room with a temperature of approximately 105 degrees (although I've been in studios that are much hotter). You will stretch every muscle in your body during the class while sweating buckets. You'll also find your heart beating rapidly, which is not something I'd ever experienced in a yoga class before.

So given this description of Bikram, its not too hard to figure out why it seems to be the one form of yoga that's recruited a male following. In fact, it's not just a more masculine form of yoga - it's a more American form of yoga, with its emphasis on physical performance and sculpting the body.

But enough about Bikram - where does this leave us in terms of gender and exercise? My point is really that there are definitely "acceptable" ways of exercising for men and women. This seems silly in a way, but given that most people exercise in the presence of others, it's not that surprising. The good news is that yoga is very beneficial. After only one session, there is a noticeable drop of stress hormones in a person's body. To me, that means that whatever it takes to get somebody to the yoga mat is probably a good thing.

Eat Like a Man and Die of a Heart Attack?

Daisy Grewal, Ph.D. — Mon, 19 May 2008 10:26:02 -0700

One of the most important areas of our lives influenced by gender is how we choose to take care of our bodies. For many decades Western medicine was ignorant to many gender (as well as ethnic) differences in susceptibility to disease because men were used as standard patients in controlled studies. Doctors assumed that "people are people" and that what applies to men would apply to women.

Now most people know that isn't the case. But what interests me the most is how prevailing gender stereotypes and societal beliefs influence people's lifestyles. Health is one area where men get the short end of the stick. Stereotypes and beliefs about "real men" are often at odds with conventional wisdom about health. In this post I'd like to talk about gender and diet, and I'd like to focus my thoughts on men only.

It doesn't take a sociologist to point out that single men who live alone tend to eat more poorly than single women. There are a lot of different reasons for this, but stereotypes play a large role. For example, men are expected and encouraged to eat meat, and preferably a lot of it. This might explain why there are far fewer male than female American vegetarians.

Not long ago Burger King launched a campaign with the slogan "Eat like a man!" One particularly humorous commercial featured a young couple out to eat at a fancy French restaurant. The woman is obviously pleased with her boyfriend for taking her to such a place while he seems uneasy. When their miniscule portions arrive, the man can no longer conceal his discomfort. He's hungry. He's a man, and he needs more than just a few sprigs of lettuce for dinner.

In a powerful show of masculine liberation, he storms out of the restaurant and runs across the street to order a gigantic burger from Burger King. He's followed by an entourage of men who have similarly decided to take control of their diets. The image of all these men walking together with burgers in hand is a powerful display of masculine solidarity.

The problem with Burger King's message is that it suggests that men who choose to eat less meat are not really "men." Of course, if you're selling burgers that's what you want people to think. But given that heart disease is a leading cause of death in this country, the message seems less than benign.

My next post will look at the different ways in which men and women try to get (and stay) in shape...

Fantasy Weddings Can Hurt More Than Your Wallet

Daisy Grewal, Ph.D. — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:35:21 -0700

Brides-to-be are told they are allowed to be a princess for day. Besides making a dent in the bridal pocketbook, does wanting to be a princess undermine women’s power?

Marriage in this country might be about a man and a woman, but planning a wedding is really about the bride. This is more than just tradition—it’s a capitalist driven idea that has managed to create a huge economic windfall for wedding vendors. It’s a fact that as the divorce rate has continued the increase, the annual cost of an American wedding has also increased. The estimated average cost ranges from $19,000 - $30,000.

Now the price wouldn’t bother me so much if it wasn’t laced with so much fairytale propaganda. Advertisers are no dummies, and they know how to make even the most secure woman feel cheap for not wanting to spend more than $1,000 on a dress she’ll wear only once in her lifetime.

A casual flip through a bridal magazine found me face to face with an ad in which a young bride-to-be was sitting on a throne in a shaded forest. In front of her, down one knee, was her groom, or rather “prince charming” by the way he was dressed. The ad was brilliant because it captured just what advertisers would love for women to believe – that a wedding is a temporary suspension of disbelief in fairytales and that a bride is in fact a princess. After all, princesses are unlikely to be found shopping in the bargain bin.

And what’s wrong with that you might ask? Besides unloading your hard-earned cash, is there any real problem with the idea that a bride ought to be treated like a princess? Is there really any harm for wanting to be Cinderella for a day?

I recently came across a study that attempted to provide a partial answer to these questions. Dr. Laurie Rudman at Rutgers University was interested in finding out the effects of romantic fantasies on women’s psyches. She measured women’s implicit, i.e. subconscious, endorsement of romantic fantasies. She also measured their conscious endorsement of the same romantic fantasies, i.e. how much they actually said they believed in them. Rudman’s first finding was that there was a large divergence between what women reported desiring and their subconscious feelings.

Her second finding was that only women’s subconscious endorsement of romantic fantasies predicted their interest in achieving personal power. Women who subconsciously endorsed romantic fantasies reported a lower desire for personal power.

It’s only one study, I know, but I offer it as some food for thought as to the effect of romantic fantasies on women. A desire for personal power need not be exploitive – it could also denote a desire to achieve, to lead, or to make an impact on others.

Regardless of their possible negative effects, romantic fantasies aren’t going away. Not only do they make for good movie plotlines, they are something that society – especially advertisers – would hate to lose.

Source: Rudman, L. A. & Heppen, J. (2003). Implicit romantic fantasies and women's interest in personal power: A glass slipper effect? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 1357-1370.

Does Listening to Eminem Make People Sexist?

Daisy Grewal, Ph.D. — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:00:22 -0700

For decades now people have been debating whether listening to rap music causes people to have more negative (and sometimes violent) attitudes towards women.

A study published this year examined whether exposure to misogynistic rap music, in the form of Eminem, increases sexism towards women. Participants were assigned to one of three experimental conditions: 1) no music; 2) misogynistic rap music; 3) non-misogynistic rap music. Afterwards, all of the participants filled out a survey designed to measure sexist attitudes.

The researchers found that listening to Eminem did in fact increase participants' negative attitudes towards women. In addition, the study found a relationship between listening to the rap music, whether or not it was misogynistic, and more negative attitudes towards women - particularly among male participants. Out of fairness, the statistical effects were weak but nonetheless significant.

Although hardly definitive, the study suggests that rap music may play a role in fostering negative attitudes towards women. Even more disturbingly, it suggests that rap music doesn't need to be outwardly hostile towards women in order to increase sexist attitudes. The finding is open to interpretation, but it is possible there might be an association in people's heads between rap music and misogyny.

In the meantime, findings like this only fuel the ongoing debate about music censorship. I can see both sides on this one. Given that the largest audience for rap artists like Eminem are teenage boys, the findings seem to support censorship. However, I'm not a big fan of censoring as a substitute parenting. Plus, censorship and controversy can often backfire as both make for very good publicity.

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Source: Cobb, M. & Boettcher, W. (2008). Ambivalent sexism and misogynistic rap music: Does exposure to Eminem increase sexism? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37, 3025-3042.

Why Hillary Can't Win

Daisy Grewal, Ph.D. — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:22:25 -0700

Regardless of Hillary's political fate, she'll never be able to win the challenge of being perceived as both a good candidate and a likable person.

Two years ago when Clinton was gearing up for the presidential race, Time magazine hit the nail on the head with a cover that featured Hillary's face and the words: "Love her, Hate her (check one)."

My cousin and I wrote an op-ed on the topic last February. Many of our critics thought we were endorsing Hillary and accusing her opponents of being prejudiced against women. I admit the editorial could have been written in a less biased way, and I hope I won't make the same mistake in this blog entry.

My goal was to point out that the widespread polarized reactions to Hillary can be explained by several lines of psychological research. Susan Fiske at Princeton has demonstrated that people's stereotypes about women tend to fall along two disparate dimensions: warmth and competence. Consequently, women must walk a precarious tightrope -- the more competent they seem, the less people like them.

Alice Eagly of Northwestern University has devoted decades to understanding people's reactions to women's leaders. She's found that people tend to evaluate female leaders unfavorably because the traits that people typically associate with women (e.g. warm, caring, nurturance) are antithetical to the traits people typically associate with good leaders (e.g. strong and assertive). Eagly has also found that women who lead in masculine ways tend to be disliked.

Granted the research mentioned above was done primarily with college students, a sample hardly representative of the general population. However, to this I must argue: college students tend to be more liberal in their political and gender attitudes than the rest of the country. If college students can't allow a woman to be both nice and competent, where does that leave the voter sample at large? Its also worth noting that in most studies, women are just as likely as men to dislike a woman leader.

Regardless of whether Hillary wins, it is my hope she will help us better understand the role gender plays in politics. Hopefully, in time we will realize that gender discrimination doesn't have to be motivated by hatred or insecurity; instead, our deeply cherished beliefs about the roles played by men and women in society can sometimes lead to unfortunate prejudices.

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Gender Outlaws: Switching from a man to a woman (or vice versa)

Daisy Grewal, Ph.D. — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:27:01 -0700

Transsexuals and transgendered people can often tell us a great deal about our society because they've experienced what most of us never will: being perceived as a man or a woman in the same lifetime.

A worthy read on this topic is Kate Bornstein's Gender Outlaw, which chronicles some of her experiences as a transsexual woman. One memorable passage describes the first time Kate walked into a store after being able to successfully pass as a woman. She was shocked to find that nobody was treating her with any respect. A so-called "normal" woman who's been a woman her entire life would never know the difference.

Ben A. Barres, a neurobiologist who happens to be a transsexual man, wrote a commentary for Nature about sex differences in scientific ability. Barres started out his career as a female scientist and then transitioned to being male. Consequently, he personally experienced how differently people treat male and female scientists. Largely spurred by the Larry Summers controversy, Barres' article makes a convincing case against purely biological explanations for gender differences. If you're interested, the full article can be viewed here.

In Gender Outlaw Kate Bornstein writes, "I know I'm not a man...and I've come to the conclusion that I'm probably not a woman, either...The trouble is, we're living in a world that insists we be one or the other."

But are we really? Most people reading this blog probably think so, but there are cultures on our planet that recognize more than just two genders...more on what that looks like later.

Gender Makes the World Go Round

Daisy Grewal, Ph.D. — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:03:50 -0700

Have you ever had the experience of walking down the street with friends and spotting somebody who doesn't quite look like a man or a woman?

"Is that a man...or a woman...?" you wonder out loud just as your friends are about to say the exact same thing. You find yourself staring at the person, transfixed, and strangely bothered that you can't figure it out.

Most of us can deal with not knowing immediately what somebody's occupation, race, religion, or favorite sports team is (although we might ask these burning questions during an initial conversation). But not knowing somebody's gender leaves us thoroughly baffled. In fact, not knowing somebody's gender is likely to bring social interaction to a standstill.

Anyone who's ever watched the popular SNL skit "It's Pat!" knows this as the truth. In the skit, the gender ambiguous "Pat" stymies, irritates, and exasperates everyone he/she interacts with. Jokes and hilarity ensue as the characters on the skit try their hardest to reveal Pat's gender by asking Pat probing questions. The skit is amusing for a lot of reasons, but I think it's a great example of illustrating how important gender is in relating to others.

It's not just gender ambiguous adults that can leave us tongue-tied: people also feel uneasy around a newborn until they know whether it's a boy or a girl. It's often the first question that we ask to a pregnant woman, "Is it a boy or a girl?"

Unbeknownst to this unborn fetus is that this simple distinction of being a boy or a girl will profoundly alter its experience here on earth in almost every way possible.

In this blog, I will attempt to explore the important role that gender plays in our lives. I believe that gender is the most fundamental category that we use to understand ourselves and our world. It defines who we are and how we expect ourselves and others to be. The reason that most of us don't realize this is because of the simple fact that we spend our entire lives as one gender or the other. My next post will explore the experiences of people who have switched genders and were brave enough to tell the world about it.