NurPhoto via Getty Images Former Vice President Joe Biden has lately come under scrutiny for his past behavior toward women. Peter Glick, a psychologist and professor at Lawrence University, sees a throughline between Biden’s overly familiar behavior toward individual women and the way he has positioned himself as a protector and champion of women: benevolent sexism. Speaking generally, Glick said such behavior can subtly undermine women, suggest a lack of confidence in their skills and can raise their self-doubt. Glick has even found that “when you remind women of benevolent sexism, they’re less likely to seek social change.” The opposite is true of hostile sexism. (Historically, benevolent sexism has been used to justify numerous policies that disempower women, from restricting the vote to restricting abortion access.)

Source: Huffington Post April 03, 2019 16:30 UTC