10 Depressing Experiments About Sex And Gender

[A Little Weird]

We’ve covered a lot of depressing experiments in the past, and because the world isn’t a nice place, we’ve found a lot more. Today, we’re talking about experiments conducted by scientists and even curious members of the public that reveal uncomfortable truths about sexism and how it rears its ugly head in everyday life.

http://listverse.com/2014/06/27/10-depressing-experiments-about-sex-and-gender/

Kind of interesting list, I've heard of some of these but not others. #4 is one I've experienced. I used a feminine username in an online game and was inundated with messages - from mildly flirtatious to explicit threats of violence. I learned my lesson and now I always make a point of using a gender-neutral username.

[petronius]

1. Interesting, thanks. #8 is certainly insidious:

Sexists jokes are annoyingly common in our culture, but they’re not hurting anyone, right? In actual fact, they may be a lot more harmful than they appear. In an experiment by psychologist Thomas Ford, it was observed that the simple act of telling a sexist joke could influence men’s attitudes toward women. After watching a sexist comedy skit, men were more inclined to agree with cutting funding to a women’s student organization. Even men who previously reported solidly progressive attitudes were more susceptible to sexist behavior after being exposed to sexist humor.

The researchers believe that this effect can be attributed to humor’s tendency to defang a subject and make certain behavior seem acceptable. “We believe this shows that humorous disparagement creates the perception of a shared standard of tolerance of discrimination that may guide behavior when people believe others feel the same way,” Ford concluded. You may think your sexist buddy’s joke is offensive, but it’s likely making you think more offensively.

#2 was particularly disappointing for me, as a faculty member...

[A Little Weird]

2. Humor can be very important at shaping opinions.

It can be positive too. I think about the amazing job that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are doing by keeping people informed with humor. I think they are responsible for a lot of young people becoming more engaged in politics.

As for sexist jokes, I wish I could say I never participated, but there have been times that I have laughed right along with everyone else at some pretty offensive stuff. Hopefully I can be more aware in the future.

[TheFrenchRazor]

5. exactly; that's why i never buy the "but he's a comedian!" excuse. jokes influence people,

and can be a passive-aggressive way of expressing true feelings.

[ZombieHorde]

3. My Playstation name used to be

PEN1Spuncher (which was banned after a few years for censor bypassing) and people would ask me what my sex was. I would usually respond, "I'm whatever you want me to be."

[SheilaT]

4. Over the years I've experienced my share of sexism.

In younger days I was a brunette. Now I have silver gray hair. While I like to think I look young for my age, I have noticed that the gray hair is a definite benefit. For instance, I never get a ticket any more, when stopped by a cop for any reason. Even when they should give me one. Of course, I behave very politely, but my guess is that I look like Mom, or maybe even Grandma, and most cops aren't going to ticket Mom or Grandma. Lucky me.

It almost makes up for everything else that happened.

[A Little Weird]

8. I was distressed when I started noticing a few gray hairs

I guess I can't stop the march of time so I'm glad to hear that there may be a little bit of an upside to going gray.

[SheilaT]

10. A few gray hairs are the worst.

I would never criticize anyone else for coloring their hair, but once you're around 50% gray, you must be vigilant about the roots. I think it looks totally dreadful to have half an inch or more of gray roots underneath some other color. My hair grows pretty fast, and I stopped coloring it about six years ago when to keep it looking good and not having those awful roots, I was going to have to do it every week. This is better.

[Squinch]

6. Great article. And putting all the

"experiments" together in one place like that does illustrate the way that underlying attitudes affect the lives of half the population.

[chervilant]

7. The fact that many of us are subjected to sexist

and misogynistic interactions with members of this forum is unarguable.

This:

“We believe this shows that humorous disparagement creates the perception of a shared standard of tolerance of discrimination that may guide behavior when people believe others feel the same way,” Ford concluded. You may think your sexist buddy’s joke is offensive, but it’s likely making you think more offensively.

This is what bothers me about the "c-word," and every other "comedic" sexist slur the resident anti-feminist DUers insist is their right to sling at women. And, we're supposed to "grow a set," or "toughen up," or "get over ourselves." Not likely! I want our younglings to have a better chance of high self esteem and healthy intimacy than I or my peers have had. So, I will continue to address sexism and misogyny wherever I see it, and applaud those whose advocacy follows a similar path.

That being said, thank you most sincerely for this OP.

[A Little Weird]

9. I am surprised by some of the sexist stuff on DU

I guess it's kind of like #6 and #2 in the list. I was surprised by those as well. I guess I felt like scientists, university faculty, and democrats would be more conscious of sexism. But I think it is so steeped into our culture that everyone can be blind to it at times.
But many times on DU I think it's just straight up trolling - just saying something sexist that is sure to start a fight. Still, DU is a lot better than many of the online forums I've visited in the past.

[G_j]

11. K&R