On the Social Conditions of Antifeminist Speech

With a focus on antifeminist social norms the present paper investigates the mechanisms of modern antifeminism both on a theoretical and empirical level. By adopting the concept of “cultural codes”, antifeminism is discussed as a form to communicate a general authoritarian worldview and an opposition towards “political correctness”. The results of an empirical study based on a German sample show that antifeminism in fact correlates with concepts connected to this worldview, namely authoritarianism, social dominance orientation and distrust in public and political institutions. Using a factorial survey design the study further analyzes which situational characteristics determine whether individuals agree with antifeminist speech. Looking at the gender of the speaker, the expressed form of devaluation of women and feminists and the expression of different feminist topics it is shown that not only antifeminist statements uttered by women are more likely to be accepted but also that situational factors and personal traits of respondents work together when complying with an antifeminist social norm.