While being in the
official running of the Presidential office in 2016, a major scandal
surrounding Donald Trump’s very infamous comments regarding grabbing women by
their genitalia aroused conversations regarding what he called ‘locker room
talk’. Sportspeople went on to express their discontentment and offense
regarding such locker room talk, refuting that such is the conversation in
locker rooms. In the same year, Bill Pennington in a New York Times article
refuted what locker room talks actually constitute and the false severity and
harshness of such conversations. Donald Trump has also been accused of sexual
assault by multiple women before and after. What is interesting is the rise of
conversations surrounding locker room talk in general, and indulgence of such
in perpetuating sexual aggression and attitudes towards sexual violence. This
implied issue of such a relation poses questions regarding the exact nature of
this relation between sexual violence attitudes and locker room talk and the
various factors that may be involved in it.
In a recent 2019
article, researchers in the United States sought to study relations between
men's conformity to masculine norms (such as suppression of intimacy, care and
connection with others and replacing it with lust, controlling women,
inequality in relationships etc.), their attitudes towards women, locker room
talk and accepting sexual violence myths. They defined locker room talk with
respect to detrimental comments and attitudes towards women, an area where not
much research has been done so far.
Observations revealed
interesting but anticipated findings. Men's conformity to masculine norms and
their attitudes towards women were related to acceptance of rape and sexual
harassment myths, and with pressure to participate in locker room talk. However,
locker room talk was not found to have any effect on the relationship between
men conforming to masculine views and attitudes toward women, and rape myth
acceptance. In contrast, it was found that is men who endorsed masculine norms
and negative attitudes towards women succumbed to the pressure of engaging in
locker room talk, they were more likely to endorse rape myths and increasingly
accept rape myths.
These observations paint
a clearly problematic picture on the effects of the pressure of locker room
talk. The authors use the theory of precarious manhood that emphasize on the
social attributes of masculinity as a construct that every man must achieve and
have validated through public demonstrations to outline the potential harms. Additionally,
the necessity for men to conform to masculine constructs and their attitudes
towards women affecting their increased acceptance of sexual harassment myths
implies the dangers of this conformity and attitude.
 |
| idsnews.com, October 12, 2016 |
Men are regularly
subject to stereotypes about masculinity and pressurized by society to conform
to the ideas of masculinity. This pressure to conform and engage in detrimental
talks contributes to the system of toxic masculinity that is harmful not only
for women, but also men. Sexual harassment myth acceptance is problematic in each
and every society. That the need to endorse masculine norms and having negative
attitudes for women are related to this acceptance tells us that every society as
a whole, needs to work in dispelling stereotypes about masculinity and actively
acknowledge the negative attitudes being perpetuated in conversations. Societal
pressures to prove one’s masculinity is harmful and being entrenched in this
vicious cycle is extremely dangerous by way of beliefs about sexual harassment.
It is also important to note that the research highlights the active agency of
men in not engaging in locker room talk. Using this agency to call out such
harmful conversations is important. Media representation of masculine
stereotypes needs to be recognized and the propagation of these need to be
stopped. Children also need to not be taught to have gendered ideologies, and
to recognize conversations that are gendered and/or detrimental to any gender.
The benefits of these
measures stem from the diverse solutions of a range of problems discussed above.
Not having to conform to masculine stereotypes and a socially constructed
measure of such allows the subversion of a heteronormative world where men can
identify with any gender on a spectrum and not feel pressurized to exhibit
traditional masculine features. Acknowledging gendered and detrimental dialogue
will also allow to call out the unintentional endorsement of negative attitudes
and help in preventing the acceptance of sexual harassment myths.
Locker room talk might be
a seemingly small and insignificant thing to some, but the dangers associated
with it may be magnified to a great degree, the dangers of which may often go unnoticed.
Cole, B., Brennan, M., Tyler, E., Willard, R., & Cole, B. (2019). Predicting men’s acceptance of sexual violence myths through conformity to masculine norms, sexism, and “locker room talk.” Psychology of Men & Masculinities. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000248
Pennington, B. (2016). What exactly is 'Locker-Room Talk?' Let an expert explain. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/sports/what-exactly-is-locker-room-talk-let-an-expert-explain
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