Talena Wingfield

Sociology 1
Section 0542
May 7, 2015

Annotated Bibliography of Sexism

Introduction
For my research I will look into sexism and how it affects women in everyday life. I seek to
answer the question of how sexism affects women and if it really exists. This annotated
bibliography serves as the basis of my research documentation. I will use the articles listed below
to answer my questions and further my research and hopefully achieve my desired goal.
Derks, B., Ellemers, N., Laar, C., & Groot, K. (n.d.). Do sexist organizational cultures
create the Queen Bee? British Journal of Social Psychology, 519-535.
'Queen Bees' are senior women in masculine organizational cultures who have fulfilled their
career aspirations by dissociating themselves from their gender while simultaneously
contributing to the gender stereotyping of other women. It is often assumed that this
phenomenon contributes to gender discrimination in organizations, and is inherent to the
personalities of successful career women. We argue for a social identity explanation and examine
organizational conditions that foster the Queen Bee phenomenon. Participants were 94 women
holding senior positions in diverse companies in The Netherlands who participated in an on-line
survey. In line with predictions, indicators of the Queen Bee phenomenon (increased gender
stereotyping and masculine self-descriptions) were found mostly among women who indicated
they had started their career with low gender identification and who had subsequently
experienced a high degree of gender discrimination on their way up. By contrast, the experience
of gender discrimination was unrelated to signs of the Queen Bee phenomenon among women
who indicated to be highly identified when they started their career. Results are discussed in light
of social identity theory, interpreting the Queen Bee phenomenon as an individual mobility
response of low gender identified women to the gender discrimination they encounter in their
work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] This study was useful to my research it showed how
sexism perpetuates stereotypes and even behaviors of women who have deviated from social
norms. For a woman to have the same position of power as a man she must become more
masculine in order to be taken seriously; which generates the Queen Bee.
Forbes, G., Jung, J., & Haas, K. (n.d.). Benevolent Sexism and Cosmetic Use: A Replication
With Three College Samples and One Adult Sample. The Journal of Social Psychology, 635640.
The article presents a study that attempts to correlate cosmetic use with benevolent sexism,
which idealizes traditional women by "protecting" and giving limited privilege to women in
traditional roles. This opposes hostile sexism, which is overt animosity towards women in
general. A study of hundreds of women found that a woman's level of benevolent or hostile

Talena Wingfield
Sociology 1
Section 0542
May 7, 2015

sexism is not related to her perceptions of her sexual attractiveness, and there is no relationship
between hostile sexism and cosmetic use. This study was hard to follow and added nothing to my
research.
Ford, T., Wentzel, E., & Lorion, J. (n.d.). Effects Of Exposure To Sexist Humor On
Perceptions Of Normative Tolerance Of Sexism. European Journal of Social Psychology,
677-691.
The results of an experiment supported the hypotheses that (1) for men high in hostile sexism,
exposure to sexist humor creates a perceived social norm of tolerance of sexism relative to
exposure to non-humorous sexist communication or neutral humor, and (2) due to this relaxed
normative standard in the context of sexist humor, men high in hostile sexism anticipated feeling
less self-directed negative affect upon imagining that they had behaved in a sexist manner.
Finally, exposure to sexist humor did not affect the evaluative content of men's stereotypes of
women relative to exposure to neutral humor or non-humorous sexist communication for
participants high or low in hostile sexism. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
[ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] This study showed the normalization of sexism as it appears in
humor. With constant exposure and acceptance from both genders this type of sexism is
dangerous and even hard to take serious. It hurts the female in the end because women shouldnt
be offended my male humor no matter how sexist it is. I found this article to be helpful with my
research.
Kahn, L. (n.d.). Sexism in Everyday Speech. Social Work. Jan75,,, P65. 3p.-P65. 3p.
The article presents comments on an article on the use of sexist and racist terminology in the
workplace. In an issue of social work a provocative article, on frequently used terms and
concepts in speech that have racist connotations appeared. It describes that invisible but
influential hand of sexism is at work in everyday speech and professional jargon. It is difficult to
make claims about the relationship between sexist or racist terminology and discriminatory
practices. It explains that one is so surrounded by ones native language because of which one
fails to recognize the problem. It also defines terms man, mankind and womankind. It discusses
implications of sexism for the social work sector and adds that too many social workers take the
position that women's rights and the Women's Liberation movement are not serious social causes.
This must be translated to mean that the only oppression with which the social work profession
needs be concerned is that which hurts men. It points out; social workers are part of this
oppression if they pretend that this is not real. This article presented issues much like article
about sexist humor. Sexist terminology has been so normalized in everyday speech that many
claim it is not an issue or that women are making it up because of their emotional tendencies. I
found this article helpful.

Talena Wingfield
Sociology 1
Section 0542
May 7, 2015

Oswald, D., Franzoi, S., & Frost, K. (n.d.). Experiencing Sexism and Young Women's Body
Esteem. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 1112-1137.
This two-study investigation examined the relationship between sexist attitudes and experiences
with young women's body esteem. Specifically, we examined whether young women's body
esteem was related to their own and their parents' endorsements of benevolent and hostile sexist
beliefs and also whether women's body esteem was related to their actual everyday experiences
with benevolent and hostile sexism. In Study 1, fathers' endorsement of benevolently sexist
beliefs was positively correlated with daughters' weight-related and physical condition body
esteem. No similar evidence was found for mothers or for either parent's endorsements of hostile
sexist beliefs. In Study 2, young women's body esteem was positively related to their
benevolently sexist experiences and negatively related to their hostile sexist experiences. These
findings are consistent with ambivalent sexism theory. The results are discussed for their clinical
and theoretical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] I found this article interesting but
only mildly helpful. It brought up interesting points about the pressure on women to look a
certain way even from a young age. I thought the contribution of a fathers opinion and the
correlation of the way his daughter felt about herself to be interesting,
Ragatz, L., & Russell, B. (n.d.). Sex, Sexual Orientation, and Sexism: What Influence Do
These Factors Have on Verdicts in a Crime-of-Passion Case? The Journal of Social
Psychology, 341-360.
This study investigated the influence of defendant sex, sexual orientation, and participant sex on
perceptions of a crime-of-passion. An online sample of 458 individuals read a scenario
describing a homicide and provided judgments of verdict, sentence length, legal elements, and
sexism. We hypothesized heterosexual female defendants would most likely receive a verdict of
manslaughter, be found less guilty, and receive shorter sentences. We were also interested in
whether benevolent sexism would contribute to defendant culpability decisions. Lastly,
perceptions of legal elements for manslaughter (e.g., great provocation) and murder (e.g.,
intentionality of actions) were explored. Results demonstrated heterosexual female defendants
were less guilty and received the shortest sentences. Also, heterosexual defendants were most
likely to meet the manslaughter legal elements. Benevolent sexism contributed significantly to
guilt perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] I found this article interesting as it looks at
the way females are treated in court. When the hetero female committed murder it was seen as a
defensive action against a much more aggressive man. The female was also treated more gently
because of her emotional tendencies; she was provoked by the man and couldnt control herself
or something along those lines.
Sev'er, A. (n.d.). Sexual Harassment: Where We Were, Where We Are And Prospects For
The New Millennium Introduction To The Special Issue*. Canadian Review of
Sociology/Revue Canadienne De Sociologie, 469-497.

Talena Wingfield
Sociology 1
Section 0542
May 7, 2015

In this article, I summarize the major highlights of the burgeoning literature on sexual
harassment and briefly review the remaining issues and how they may be addressed. Definitions
and conceptualizations, as well as the incidence and perseverance of sexual harassment are
summarized along with correlates, response strategies and effects. Organizational and patriarchal
power models as well as role and attribution theories are discussed, leading to a proposal of a
multifaceted social responsibility model to better deal with the complexities of sexual
harassment. The paper ends with an assessment of the contribution of this special issue to the
field, and identifies remaining barriers to safe work and leisure environments for women.
[ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] This article shows that the world is moving forward and toward
a more gender equal era but there are still some issues that remain. The author proposes ways to
make streets and other public areas safer for women. She wants women to deal with less if
possible no harassment going forward. I found this article interesting but it did not further my
research or answers my question.
Sthl, T., Eek, D., & Kazemi, A. (n.d.). Rape Victim Blaming as System Justification: The
Role of Gender and Activation of Complementary Stereotypes. Social Justice Research,
239-258.
This research examined reactions towards female rape victims from a system justification
perspective. Study 1 demonstrated that gender-related system justification motivation (Modern
Sexism) predicted the propensity to blame a female rape victim among men, but not among
women. Modern sexism predicted rape victim blaming among men even when statistically
controlling for a general antipathy towards women, and the results were unaffected by social
desirability concerns. Consistent with previous study on system justification theory, we
demonstrated in Study 2 that system justification motivation can predict victim blaming also
among women, provided that complementary stereotypes about women have been activated. By
contrast, system justification motivation predicted men's propensity to blame a rape victim
irrespective of whether complementary stereotypes about women had been experimentally
activated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] I like this article because it discussed a huge issue
that happens all around the world. Rape culture is ever prevalent in the States and usually puts
the blame on the victim for enticing the man i.e. flirting, scantily clad, or sexual promiscuity. The
article discusses the opinions of both men and women and shows how both genders perpetuate
the she was asking for it argument to excuse men from their actions. Overall I found this article
useful to my research.
Swim, J., Eyssell, K., Murdoch, E., & Ferguson, M. (n.d.). Self-Silencing to Sexism. Journal
of Social Issues, 493-507.
Women's endorsement of beliefs that prioritize others voices over their own (i.e., self-silencing
beliefs) predicted behaviorally self-silenced to everyday, interpersonal forms of sexism. Selfsilencing beliefs, which are consistent with prescriptive gender roles for women, indicate that

Talena Wingfield
Sociology 1
Section 0542
May 7, 2015

one should avoid conflict in relationships, put others needs over one's own, accept a discrepancy
between one's personal and public self, and judge one's behaviors by external standards. Results
from a diary study indicate that the more U.S. college women endorsed self-silencing beliefs the
less likely they wanted to respond to sexist incidents and, if they wanted to respond to incidents,
the more they verbally restrained their responses to everyday sexism and other stressful
incidents. The results suggest that, when addressing women's tendency to self-silence to
incidents, one should address women's gender-role consistent beliefs about how they should
behave in interpersonal interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] This article answered my
question perfectly. It shows how women are sexist to themselves by believing they have one role
to play and that their needs are not important. It demonstrated how women were more likely to
deal with stressful or even abusive situations in silence as opposed to stepping outside of social
norms. I found this article relatable and even helpful.
Swim, J., Hyers, L., Cohen, L., & Ferguson, M. (n.d.). Everyday Sexism: Evidence For Its
Incidence, Nature, And Psychological Impact From Three Daily Diary Studies. Journal of
Social Issues, 31-53.
Three daily diary studies were conducted to examine the incidence, nature, and impact of
everyday sexism as reported by college women and men. Women experienced about one to two
impactful sexist incidents per week, consisting of traditional gender role stereotypes and
prejudice, demeaning and degrading comments and behaviors, and sexual objectification. These
incidents affected women's psychological well-being by decreasing their comfort, increasing
their feelings of anger and depression, and decreasing their state self-esteem. Although the
experiences had similar effects on men's anger, depression, and state self-esteem, men reported
relatively fewer sexist incidents, suggesting less overall impact on men. The results provide
evidence for the phenomena of everyday prejudice and enlighten our understanding of the
experience of prejudice in interpersonal encounters from the perspective of the target.
[ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] This article discusses sexism with both men and women. It
focuses on the psychological effects of everyday sexism on womens self-esteem and the mood
of men. It seemed to focus more on the issue with women saying that men did not experience
sexism the same as women or as often. It was interesting and helpful it answers my initial
question while raising more.