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MPWMost Powerful Women

Most American Men Don’t Think Sexism Is An Issue

By
Megan Lasher
Megan Lasher
,
Motto
and
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 22, 2016, 12:34 PM ET
Woman and male employees
Photograph via Image Source—Getty Images

This article originally appeared in Motto.

If you Google, or just whisper softly to yourself, “Is sexism dead?” chances are, a man while appear to tell you that yes, in fact, it is dead. But just how many of our husbands, bosses and fathers are in this army of mansplainers? Surely not all men, right? We finally have the answer: 56%.

The Pew Research Center surveyed 4,602 adults in June-July of this year on whether they believe that there are “still significant obstacles that make it harder for women to get ahead than men.”

“A 63% majority of women say obstacles continue to make it harder for women than men today, compared with 34% who say they are largely gone,” Pew concluded. “Among men, 41% think women still face obstacles that make it harder to get ahead, while 56% say those challenges have mostly been eliminated.”

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This difference of opinion is greater when it’s broken down by political parties, according to Pew. “Republican women are divided on the issue overall (48% say there are still obstacles, 50% say these challenges for women in getting ahead are largely gone), but they are more than twice as likely as Republican men (23%) to say there are still significant obstacles facing women today.”

The study doesn’t elaborate on the responses or provide reasoning for why these men think the pay gap,tampon taxes and hiring biases suddenly cease to be.

About the Authors
By Megan Lasher
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By Motto
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By Valentina Zarya
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