On the one hand there is thus a substantive positive manifold of attitudes and beliefs among those who identify as feminists. Given the relatively poor reliability of these instruments, the true correlations may be different. According to instruments supposed to discriminate among them, these five strands are substantially positively correlated ( r = 0.55–0.78 Henley et al., 1998). Today, several different strands of feminism are currently recognized, the most established ones including Womanism and Liberal, Radical, Socialist, and Cultural Feminism (e.g., Henley et al., 2000). This is not least of all because the underlying ideologies and opinions of the movement have undergone substantive shifts over the course of the 20th century ( Scharff, 2012). Part of the explanation for this paradox might result from the fact that there are many different conceptions of what feminism is or ought to be, and that it lacks a commonly established definition. That three-quarters of women are concerned about women’s rights while less than one-third consider themselves feminists is known as the feminist paradox ( Abowitz, 2008, p. Mean ratings were 9.15 for women and 8.31 for men on a 10-point scale including items such as “Women and men should have the same sexual freedoms” and “Women should have the same career opportunities that men have.” These results indicate substantial support for equal rights and opportunities. Rudman and Fairchild (2007) found very high ratings of items reflecting equal rights for the sexes. More to the point therefore is what people believe actually constitute women’s rights. On the one hand it could be that women’s rights are perceived as satisfactory and equal to those of men, or on the other hand it could be that they are unequal but that this is desirable. The way this question is framed leaves open the reason for not being concerned, of course. Among undergraduate students, 75% of women and 47% of men reported as being very or somewhat concerned about women’s rights ( Abowitz, 2008). The Merriam-Webster (2013) online dictionary defines feminism as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” or “organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.” Given that feminism is ostensibly about equality and equal rights, does the low proportion of self-identified feminists indicate that women eschew such issues? This seems not to be the case. Even at a prominent women’s college, 32 out of 70 interview responses were clearly negative to feminism, as coded by the authors ( Fox and Auerbach, 1983). Feminist self-identification is positively related to socioeconomic status, however a majority of the daughters of well-educated parents fail to identify as such. Among undergraduate students, proportions were 16 ( Liss and Erchull, 2010, age range 18–22 years), 19.9 ( Myaskovski and Wittig, 1997, age range 19–36 years), 23 ( Yoder et al., 2011, age range 18–39 years), and 40% ( Abowitz, 2008, age range 18–22 years). Among an area-probability sample of 1,460 adults in the USA, 29% of women self-identified as feminists ( McCabe, 2005). When people are asked the binary question whether they consider themselves feminist or not, between 5 and 40% identify as such. The feminist paradox might thus to some extent be explained by biological differences between women in general and the activist women who formulate the feminist agenda. The sample exhibited significantly more masculine 2D:4D and higher dominance ratings than comparison samples representative of women in general, and these variables were furthermore positively correlated for both hands. We measured the 2D:4D digit ratios (collected from both hands) and a personality trait known as dominance (measured with the Directiveness scale) in a sample of women attending a feminist conference. If feminist activists, i.e., those that manufacture the public image of feminism, are indeed masculinized relative to women in general, this might explain why the views and preferences of these two groups are at variance with each other. It has been suggested that feminists exhibit both physiological and psychological characteristics associated with heightened masculinization, which may predispose women for heightened competitiveness, sex-atypical behaviors, and belief in the interchangeability of sex roles. The feminist movement purports to improve conditions for women, and yet only a minority of women in modern societies self-identify as feminists. 3Center Leo Apostel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.2Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.1Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.Guy Madison 1* Ulrika Aasa 2 John Wallert 1 Michael A.

Higher 2d 4d ratio women