A Psychologist's Take On Women's Conditioning To Conform

Why do some women support open misogynists, like Trump, or distance themselves from feminist ideas? This article takes a look at this confusing phenomenon from a psychological point of view, explaining it through the need to conform. It also points out why positive stereotypes about women so often coexist with negative ones – both are sides of the same kind of black-and-white thinking, built along the lines of the old dichotomy of Madonna vs Whore. People who think women are naturally better at housekeeping, also think that they are less suited for high-ranking political positions – and these same people are inclined to criticise female politicians for being "bad mothers" (something that Hillary Clinton and Theresa May got in common). "Positive sexism", the author notes, works as a rewarding system that supports those women who conform, and who act as the society expects them to – by staying in the background.