Misogyny and Sexism in the News

[Allison W]

Originally Posted by Kobi

Balachandra recently conducted a study that echoed Thebaud's findings. For her research, which is currently under review for publication, Balachandra examined how venture capitalists reacted to one-minute pitches from male and female startup founders in various industries. The main factor that determined whether the entrepreneurs were successful, she found, was how stereotypically "masculine" they behaved. The entrepreneurs—male and female—who were confident, stern, strong, and bold were much more likely to win funding for their ventures. The ones who were more stereotypically female, which to Balachandra's team meant they acted happier, kinder, and more excited, tended to lose. Importantly, there was no gender gap: The manly women performed better than the effeminate men did.

I might be the odd one out where my values are concerned, but I actually find this somewhat less worrying than Thebaud's findings, if only because of the part I bolded. You mentioned the issue of what kind of parents are teaching their children the behaviours mentioned in the article. I've actually been thinking for a while now that what is desperately needed is for today's parents to raise up a generation of aggressive young women. It pleases me in a kind of fucked-up way to hear that evidence suggests it could deliver desirable results, at least in this one particular arena.