This Quiz Determines If You’re Sexist
The hosts discuss the 'benevolent sexism scale' used in psychology research, arguing it fundamentally mismeasures male attitudes by conflating awareness of evolutionary facts with sexist beliefs. They explore women's strong preferences for male protection and provisioning, and debate whether these preferences are pathologized by feminist-leaning psychological scales. A viral video of a man hiding during a knife attack serves as a case study for the instinctive moral reaction to male protectiveness.
Summary
The conversation begins with a quiz testing Freya's responses to questions from the 'benevolent sexism scale,' a psychological measurement tool. Freya consistently identifies statements like 'women have superior moral sensibility' as sexist toward men, and rates protective sentiments like 'women should be cherished and protected' as good things — responses which technically classify her as a 'massive benevolent sexist' according to the scale.
Tanya introduces the concept of the 'mismeasurement of men,' a research project critiquing how psychological scales measuring toxic masculinity, benevolent sexism, and male sexual entitlement are fundamentally flawed. She argues these scales conflate factual awareness about the world — such as women being attracted to dominance and muscularity — with problematic attitudes, without properly measuring the harmful inferential leap (e.g., that protection justifies limiting women's autonomy).
The group discusses how the benevolent sexism scale pathologizes women's own preferences for protection and provisioning, noting that women are 'perplexingly attracted to benevolent sexism' in the literature, which researchers treat as an inconvenient finding rather than a reflection of genuine preferences. Tanya shares poll results showing women rated discovering a man was unwilling to protect them as more damaging to attraction than discovering he had cheated in a one-night stand.
A viral CCTV video from Thailand — showing a man hiding behind a pillar while his female companion fights off a knife-wielding attacker, before another man intervenes with a helmet — serves as a real-world illustration of universal moral intuitions about male protectiveness. The group discusses how modern life removes opportunities for men to display physical formidability, potentially contributing to women's declining interest in men.
The conversation then turns to the trade-offs involved in selecting highly aggressive, formidable mates. While women desire men capable of aggression for protection, the same trait can manifest as domestic abuse — as seen in cases involving MMA fighters. The hosts note that the ability to turn aggression on and off is rare, and that women's preference for formidable mates intensifies in more dangerous environments and among smaller women.
Key Insights
- Tanya argues that the benevolent sexism scale fundamentally mismeasures attitudes by requiring an extra, unmeasured inference — assuming that believing women deserve protection implies also believing their autonomy should be restricted — which she calls 'the Kathy Newman of scales.'
- Tanya's poll found that women reported discovering a man was unwilling to protect them would have a stronger negative effect on their attraction to him than discovering he had cheated in a one-night stand, illustrating how deeply held the preference for male protection is.
- Tanya argues that the psychological literature treats women's attraction to benevolent sexism as a puzzling inconvenience, but this reflects a failure to distinguish between preferring protection and endorsing paternalistic control — a distinction the scale never properly measures.
- The hosts suggest that modern life removes contexts — such as war or hunting — in which men historically displayed physical formidability, and speculate this may be a contributing factor to women's declining romantic interest in men.
- The group discusses how selecting for highly formidable, aggressive men creates a trade-off: the same aggression that makes a man a strong protector is difficult to turn off, which may explain why domestic abuse cases are disproportionately reported among MMA fighters and similarly trained men.
Topics
Full transcript available for MurmurCast members
Sign Up to Access