Protecting the Ladies: Benevolent Sexism, Heteronormativity, and Partisanship in Online Discussions of Gender-Neutral Bathrooms

Abstract

The recent adoption of bathroom bills restricting trans* people’s access to public bathrooms of their choice in the United States has elicited a vigorous public debate invoking benevolent sexism, heteronormativity, and partisanship. This analysis includes 9,764 online comments posted on the 13 most-shared articles or blog posts about trans* bathroom accommodation from September 2015 to September 2016. The common themes in such discussions were arguments promoting benevolent sexism, including that women and girls need protection by men and from men and that sex differences are natural. Results showed that support for trans* access to public bathrooms was most prevalent in discussions on left-leaning sites, whereas opposition was most prevalent in discussions on right-leaning sites. Most, but not all, benevolent-sexism themes were prevalent in comments on right-leaning sites. The results are discussed in the context of their theoretical implications for the literature of benevolent sexism and heteronormativity.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lindsey Erin Blumell

Lindsey Erin Blumell (Ph.D., Texas Tech University, 2016) is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism at City, University of London. Her research interests include how human rights are represented in traditional and digital news media. She has a special interest in the influence of gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity in journalistic norms, practices, and content.

Jennifer Huemmer

Jennifer Huemmer (Ph.D., Texas Tech Univesity, 2016) is an assistant professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Ithaca College. Her research interests include media as a process that is interpreted, negoitated, and resisted through the actions and interactions of individuals and communities. Specifically, she investigates these processes as they occur at the intersection of gender and religious identies.

Miglena Sternadori

Miglena Sternadori (Ph.D., University of Missouri, 2008) is an associate professor in the Department of Media and Communication at Texas Tech University. Her research interests include media and bias, including gender and other stereotypes in content, sociocultural patterns in audience preferences, and the effects of media content on the malleability of attitudes.