Sexist commentary has high prevalence in Utah, recent study shows
The Utah Women and Leadership Project, or UWLP, recently released a study on the high prevalence of normalized sexist commentary towards women in Utah.
According to the research and policy brief on the study, surveys targeting a diverse population of women were distributed and, after collecting responses and data regarding sexist themes, it revealed perceptions and specific commentary experienced by women happens on a normal basis.
Professor Susan Madsen led the research. She is the founder of UWLP and, according to her website, a global thought leader on women and leadership.
Included in the first of five briefs are women’s responses to inquiries on the perceptions of sexism in Utah, overall themes of sexist comments and an open response section asking for examples of sexist commentary.
“We’re not just wanting to highlight it — that’s important,” Madsen said, “But we want tools too. In order to really understand how sexism plays out, you have to hear stories, you have to hear examples.”
The women participating in these surveys came from across the state and a range of diverse backgrounds and circumstances in categories of race, age, faith, marital status, education, employment status and parental status.
“This brief just laid out some of the sections and some of the quantitative data,” Madsen said.
Being released in coming months, the next four briefs will provide more research into individual responses of survey takers and tools to use when responding to sexism. According to Madsen, the briefs will tell stories and examples of how to avoid sexist comments.
She said the main purpose of this research is to address normalized sexism and to provide tools for women to combat everyday sexism.
The research has been made public and readily available in various ways, such as through Utah State University Extension.
Students have responded with conversations sparked by the study’s survey questions and results.
“Sexist comments are common on campus when people are talking about their majors,” said Briana Henke, a USU student. “There are some majors that people assume are for a particular gender and when someone doesn’t follow that expectation, they often fall victim to offensive comments and an unnecessary amount of attention.”
Henke said she hears the most sexist comments while participating in sports.
Madsen hopes more students will use the tools provided in the research and implement them into their dealings with sexist commentary. Finalizing this study, her call to the community is to become acquainted with the research.
“Be informed, use the information that we’ll be releasing through the other four to think about your own actions and think about how you can teach and implement those kinds of things,” Madsen said. “These are just tools to get a deeper understanding, educating people, making it available so that other people can read and can have open conversations.”
-Maya.Mackinnon@usu.edu