“Why are girls so cruel to other girls knowing how difficult it is to be a girl?”
How internalised sexism is manifested within fashion and popular media.
Megan PardoeFashion Cultures 3
20024819
Word Count: 5444
List of Figures
Figure 1: “Why are girls so cruel to other girls knowing how difficult it is to be a girl?” image on Twitter.
Figure 2: Mean Girls mirror scene.
Figure 3: Meme showcasing a “Fake Girl” vs “Me”.
Figure 4: Meme showcasing “Other Girls” vs “Me”.
Figure 5: Tweet from Kris Jenner, showcasing daughter Kendall’s 2017 Met Gala outfit, with comment from a Twitter user
Figure 6: Billie Eilish wearing oversized clothing on the red carpet.
Introduction.
From a young age, girls have mixed opinions thrown at them how they should act, dress and even perceive their fellow females. They should wear pink, love makeup and dolls, and take pride within their appearance. They are told to be different, be independent, and enjoy masculine things. They are told to befriend other girls, but also judge and be nasty towards them. They are called ‘different’, ‘boyish’, ‘weird’, and ‘freak’ for having more masculine traits, but called ‘dumb’, ‘ditzy’, ‘whore’, and ‘mean’ for reclaiming their hyper-femininity and enjoying stereotypically feminine things. These contradicting views stem from a variety of different medias and cultures, and more worryingly, from other women. Thus poses the question which has over 100,000 likes on Twitter, ‘Why are girls so cruel to other girls knowing how hard it is to be a girl?’ (Figure 1). Although sexism is most thought to be men enforcing unwritten rules that continue the systems of inequality onto women, this essay aims to explore whether females have a key role enforcing these rules on themselves and others, and if it equally has the same negative effects on females that sexism enforced by men does. This study will look at and evaluate the gaps in existing literature and, using a case study approach, display how women’s own sexism could be creating problems within the system of inequality.
Main Body.
This sexism is referred to as internalised sexism. Internalised sexism, or internalised misogyny, is defined as when ‘women enact learned sexist behaviours upon themselves and other women’, which is present even in the absence of their male counterparts (Bearman et al., 2009:10). Sexism is when men practice and enforce unwritten rules that continue the systems of inequality (Means, 2021) and highlights how females are disadvantaged and mistreated (David, 2013), whereas internalised sexism is enforcing this system onto the same sex. Sexism is an umbrella term that is widely thought to be comprised of three sections, institutional sexism, interpersonal sexism and internalised sexism. The latter, internalised sexism, lacks investigation, and according to David (2013), must be eradicated and studied in order to fully demolish the sexist system.
How can sexism be internalised?
To grasp a better understanding of internalised sexism, it is important to consider how sexism can and is internalised. It is widely suggested that we are born with a biological sex instead of a gender. We then learn how to perform our genders throughout life (West & Zimmerman, 1987; Butler, 1990). According to Bearman & Amrhein (2013), gender roles are transmitted to children from an early age through modelling and imitation from others. However, conditioning is also necessary. They note three important points about gender role conditioning which are that conditioning into the female role is direct and subtle, that
conditioning into the female role is continuous, and that conditioning into the female role is perpetuated by both men and women.
Internalised sexism is a complex subject and Bearman and Amrhein’s study provides us with more clarity as they concluded that there are six manifestations of internalised sexism. These are powerlessness, objectification, loss of self, invalidation, derogation and competition between women. This gives us a good base of different components internalised sexism can be made up of. Looking into these manifestations more in depth, two of these six manifestations are credited by researchers as being most creditable. Objectification and competition between women are heavily noted by other researchers (McKinley and Hyde, 1996, Spengler, 2014), and not just Bearman and Amrhein, so these factors will be used throughout this study. This is to give a more concise view on internalised sexism, as although Berman and Amrhein’s study is insightful, it perhaps gives too many reasons as to why internalised sexism is so prominent and adds confusion to an already overwhelming topic.
The effects of sexism.
As there is a clear lack of research on internalised sexism, turning to other similar internalised issues and their effects can give us an understanding of where internalised is stemmed from and its effects on others. Internalised sexism can be likened to internalised oppression, as sexism is an oppression. Oppression is prolonged, cruel and unjust treatment or exercise by authority. Internalised racism and internalised homophobia are structured similarly to internalised sexism, with an oppressed group repeating oppressive messages implying their inferiority (Means, 2021). The effects of these oppressions on others include an increase depression and anxiety (Neal-Barnett & Crowther, 2000), and lower self-esteem (David & Okazaki, 2006).
As mentioned previously, it is suggested that internalised sexism can be broken down so that it consists of two main elements: self-objectification and competition between women. Self-objectification is defined by Fredrickson and Roberts (1997) as the internalisation of objectifying experiences where women treat themselves as objects who are evaluated by appearance. Studies have found that there is a strong correlation between selfobjectification and depression (Tiggemann and Kuring, 2004; Syzmanski and Henning 2007) and disordered eating (McKinley and Hyde, 1996). This reveals that internalised sexism mirrors the effects of internalised oppression as it is damaging on the individual mentally. It can also be argued that internalised sexism can cause distress the same way in which sexism can, as studies have found out that sexism perpetrated by men can cause psychological distress to women (Moradi & Subich, 2003).
Internalised misogyny scale.
The most heavily credited research on internalised sexism is ‘The Internalised Misogyny Scale’ (IMS), created by Piggott (2004). It remains the only existing measurement of internalised sexism, despite it never being officially published as it was created for a thesis. Every piece of literature created about internalised sexism has recognised and mentioned this scale. Although the scale won’t be used in any of the case studies in this essay, it is important to note as it is strange that this is the only recognised scale on internalised sexism. The scale is known to have good validity as it correlates with the Modern Sexism Scale (Swim et al., 1995) and the Body Image Scale, and it overall correlated with measures of depression and self-esteem. It does, however, have limitations. The scale was developed to assess internalised sexism in lesbian women, and other researchers have used it when discussing heterosexual women rather than homosexual women. Syzmanski et al (2009) did however conclude that the IMS measured internalised sexism in heterosexual women adequality. Despite this, the scale should be improved and updated to feature all sexualities of women to create a better resource, and this will be discussed later.
Internalised sexism within fashion.
Internalised sexism is particularly prominent regarding fashion and clothing. It has already been noted that self-objectification plays a huge factor in internalised sexism, and this can be noticed within fashion and what women are wearing. Vadenbosch and Eggermont (2012:869) agree that ‘women and girls are expected to learn what the prevailing beauty ideals are from the media, and …. internalize these standards’, which results in increased self-objectification and monitoring of one’s own appearance. Beauty ideals and standards consume women from a young age and affect the way they want to look and how they dress. Although it is agreed that clothing was originally created to shield people from the elements of nature, studies have found that women who have high self-objectiveness wear clothing for fashion rather than comfort and practicability (Tigeemann and Andrew, 2012). Self-objectification has also been linked to body surveillance, and how an individual behaviourally invests in their body as an object (Calogero, 2010, cited in Calogero, et.al, 2011). This means that individuals with higher body surveillance spend more time monitoring their appearance and comparing it to societal beauty standards. Studies have also shown a link to body surveillance and how young women with higher levels of body surveillance often compare their appearance with other young women (Lindberg, Hyde & McKinley, 2006). The correlation between self-objectification, body surveillance and fashion can then manifest itself in internalised sexism. Constant comparison to other females can impact women negatively, and as discussed previously, self-objectification has been linked to mental health issues and eating disorders.
Women can have higher levels of self-objectification than others, and this could lead to them judging their peers for if they chose to objectify themselves with clothing. Some women choose clothing for camouflage if they are feeling ‘fat’ rather than feeling ‘slender’
(Kwon and Parham, 1994), and due to comparison to other women, this can lead to annoyance when seeing ‘slender’ women. One study showed that women who wear ‘baggy’ clothing to the gym have less self-objectification than women who wear tighter fitting clothing (Pritchard and Tigeemann, 2005), further suggesting that clothing can play a role within internalised sexism. Some women have problems with other women’s selfobjectification, and this can lead to nastiness routed in their own internalised sexism.
Internalised sexism in popular media: Mean Girls.
As explored previously, internalised sexism is present when women indoctrinate other women based on men’s unwritten rules that continue the system of inequality. This case study will explore how women begin this indoctrination to young girls through the forms of popular media.
Mean Girls was released in 2004, and it is a film aimed at tweens and teens and created by Tina Fey. The plot features Janis and Damien, two best friends, who are considered outsiders from the rest of the school, and two characters who are vastly different from ‘The Plastics’. ‘The Plastics’, Regina, Gretchen and Karen, are three popular girls adorn in light pink outfits, miniskirts and heavy makeup who are labelled the ‘mean girls’. It is soon revealed that Janis and Regina used to be best friends, but Janis is seeking revenge on her using new girl Cady to spy on the group. It is no new knowledge that Hollywood demonises hyper-feminine characters, with popular films of the 2000’s, such as High School Musical, Jennifer’s Body and Mean Girls following this character arc. ‘The Plastics’, and particularly Regina, are extremely hyper-feminine and fashion loving whereas Janis is the opposite, a ‘tomboy’ trope who wears dark clothing, dark
makeup and baggy, long clothing. Both Regina and Janis’ behaviour will be explored later, but their opposite appearances are already relevant and raises the question, if both characters are toxic and do bad things, why is the hyper-feminine, fashion loving girl the ‘mean’ one while the other is held on a pedestal?
It can be argued that Regina self-objectifies herself as a form of internalised sexism and Janis doesn’t, leading to some viewers identifying with Janis more and painting Regina as the villain. As discussed, it is thought that self-objectification is one of the key manifestations of internalised sexism, and this remains relevant in Mean Girl’s almost a decade after it was first discussed. Throughout the film, Regina is on the quest for the ‘perfect’ physique, and she constantly critiques her body As seen in Figure Two, ‘The Plastics’ often look into the mirror and complain about their insecurities to one another, despite them fitting societies beauty ideals Regina complains of the fact she can’t wear skirts because her ‘torso’s so long’ and that her pores are ‘huge’ (Figure 2) and makes it her mission to lose three pounds before the Spring Fling. The reason Regina George is popular in the first place is due to her appearance and how she self-objectifies herself to conform to the construction of femininity. When Regina gains weight in the film, she becomes extremely sullen and even her friends dismiss her from their group. This is when she shows her vulnerable side for the first time, proving that her appearance is the most important thing to her. It can be suggested that Regina’s self-objectification and bodychecking rubs off onto the other ‘Plastics’, as they fuel each other’s insecurities and complain about miniscule details. Not only is this a toxic narrative to feed the films target audience, but it is also further rooting internalised sexism within society. As discussed, self-objectification is the internalisation of objectifying experiences which leads women to treat themselves as objects only evaluated by appearance, and there is a strong link between self-objectification and a multitude of mental health problems. Tina Fey including ‘The Plastics’ picking themselves apart like this, despite being society’s ideal beauty standard, can be damaging to younger girls’ mental health who will be encouraged to dislike features about themselves. It is also interesting that when ‘The Plastics’ list their insecurities, they look at Cady and wait for her to list something she doesn’t like about herself. This suggests that people with high levels of self-objectification and insecurity expect others to be as insecure as them Tina Fey is ultimately enforcing internalised sexism onto younger girls as a woman herself, furthering the indoctrination.
The demonisation of hyper-femininity does not justify some of Regina’s behaviour but gives us an insight into cultures view of ‘girly-girls’. She slut-shames, fat-shames and is very competitive against other women, and one of the main plots of the film is Janis seeking revenge and the downfall of Regina by using Cady as a mouthpiece for her. However, Janis is never once labelled in the film as a ‘mean girl’, despite having a similar, toxic personality to Regina George. When Janis is introduced in the film, she immediately begins slut-shaming and body shaming other women in the opening montage. She refers to Regina as a ‘typical,
backstabbing, slut-face ho bag’ and groups people based on ‘girls who don’t eat anything’ and their ethnicities (Fey 2003:online). This isn’t the first time Janis obsesses over others weight, with her main step to defeat Regina is to get rid of her ‘hot body’, which highlights Janis’ insecurities from the get-go. Janis is on the opposite end of the feminine spectrum to ‘The Plastics’, choosing to adopt a goth style with masculine silhouettes rather than the hyper-feminism Regina chooses. But other than this, Janis and Regina are actually very similar. They are both filled with rage and use others around them to their advantage, with them both suggesting that to be their friends, you must do things on their terms. This is apparent in ‘The Plastics’ following Regina’s outfit rules, and how on wednesdays they must wear pink, but also through Janis using Cady to tear down Regina. Even when Cady has doubts, Janis forces and manipulates her into continuing to spy on Regina. However, when Janis’ plan is over and she has got her ‘revenge’ on Regina, she is held on a pedestal, gaining popularity within the school. Perhaps Tina Fey is implying that women who aren’t afraid of their femininity are mean and must change but being a woman and having masculine traits is praised and feeds into the ‘Not Like Other Girl’s’ trope.
At the end of the film, it is obvious that ‘The Plastics’ and particularly Regina, have changed for the better. The last scene presents Regina in a grey long sleeve shirt and black trousers –strikingly different to the bright pink short skirts she once adorns, smiling and waving at people. The other plastics seem to have new friends and are more at peace within themselves. It is also revealed that Regina has taken up lacrosse to advert her anger. However, Janis has not changed. She sports the same makeup, hair and outfits, concluding that she and the way she acts does not need to change, only Regina does. This furthermore emphasises that the film sees hyper-femininity as something that is vapid and negative, whereas less feminine characters are celebrated. This is presented through Regina taking up a more ‘masculine’ hobby of lacrosse.
To conclude, ‘Mean Girls’ has strong connotations to internalised sexism and how different forms of femininity are presented within culture. Tina Fey has created a potentially damaging piece of media which normalises self-objectification and highlights that toxic-ness and bitterness is admirable, but only if you mask your femininity, indoctrinating young girls into gender roles and their overall internalised sexism.
Internalised sexism in culture: The “Not Like Other Girls”. Internalised sexism within culture is also an issue. The ‘not like other girls’ phenomenon is a phrase that has been coined using internet memes and tropes within media. It is however not a new phenomenon, as girls trying to be different to other girls, particularly hyperfeminine girls, has been a common occurrence since the 50’s, with the ‘Greaser Girl’ and the ‘Grunge Model’ of the 80’s. Wanting to display yourself differently from typical feminine stereotypes should not an issue, but it however becomes toxic when girls who don’t possess
these feminine qualities spread that they are superior to typically feminine girls, thus creating the ‘not like other girls’ trope. The idea of this trope puts women against each other and can reinforce dated, sexist gender stereotypes, and furthermore reiterates the idea that women must act a certain way to please society. An example of a ‘not like other girl’ is, as discussed previously, the character of Janis from Mean Girls. She dresses and acts differently to most of the girls at her school while getting away with her toxic behaviour as she is ‘different’ to her fellow females. The trope leads women to believe that she is better off and more likeable to denounce typically female traits.
Women denouncing typically feminine traits and wanting to be different to other women isn’t exactly an issue. Women should be able to express themselves exactly how they want without fear of judgment, or the idea they are doing it in competition for other women. However, the term “not like other girls”, which is a new phrase, has been derived from the popularity of the trope online and the memes that have been circulating the internet. The trope is referred online as having negative connotations and creating competition between women, and the women who partake in these memes are creating a toxic narrative, not only on the ‘other women’, but also for the women who denounce femininity for themselves and not others. As discussed, competition between women is a main manifestation of internalised sexism (McKinley & Hyde 1996; Spengler 2014) which leads to a range of negative effects on individuals (Syzmanski and Henning 2007; Tiggemann and Kuring, 2004; McKinley and Hyde, 1996). Figure 3 and Figure 4 show a common meme template that circulated Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter in the early 2010’s. The format is simple – a hyper-feminine woman who fits typical modern beauty standards is compared to
a more masculine or modestly dressed woman. The hyper-feminine woman is often described as a ‘fake girl’ or ‘other girl’ and implies that wearing less clothing, wearing makeup, having fake nails and fake hair makes you a ‘bad woman’, makes you stupid and dull, or implies you crave male approval. The modestly dressed woman is put on a pedestal above her fellow counterpart, implying that covering your body, enjoying memes, wearing no makeup and enjoying music makes you a better woman than the others. De Recat (2017) explores the phenomenon of 'not like other girls' in a satirical piece for The New Yorker. and lists the qualities that ‘other girls’ possess. They are described as picky, wear too much makeup, don’t read, are needy, too vain and full of drama, whereas the ‘not like other girls’ eats cake, wears no makeup, watches sport and never takes selfies, suggesting the competition between the two women and the overarching theme of internalised sexism. Means (2021:1) suggests that the ‘not like other girls’ phenomenon can carry an ‘implicit meaning that suggests women lack value and displays yet another way women display bias against other women’.
From the ‘not the other girls’ perspective, research can be done to find out why girls partake in the creation and sharing of these memes, or why they may label themselves as ‘not like other girls’. Means (2021) linked the phenomenon to low self-esteem, as internalised sexism could be correlated to low self-esteem. However, Means (2021) further suggested that higher levels of internalised sexism may not affect self-esteem as women may express bias to other women in a way ‘that is psychologically distant to themselves’ (Means, 2021;18). These women may see themselves as ‘not like other women’ as they may see themselves as exceptions to this rule. It can be argued that the creation of this rhetoric on social media has also deepened the levels of internalised sexism as it has normalised this competition between women as seen through the memes. The memes and posts not only effect the ‘other girls’, but also the women who dress and act differently to the ‘other girls’ not for a competitive purpose, but simply because they want to for themselves. Girls being ‘different’ to ‘other girls’ has been something that has been prominent for years, and it is interesting that is has now become toxic and an issue due to the memes spread on social media. The ‘tomboy’ is a key example of this as they protect themselves from the negative aspects it means to be female in our society (Harris, 2005) and denounce typically feminine traits, dressing and acting more masculine, making them different to the ‘other girl’. Tomboys are praised and are labelled strong, independent and different (Sakala, 2012) and haven’t been referred to as being different to compete against other women. People’s opinions on this could now however change, and ‘tomboys’ could be labelled ‘not like other girls’ due to newer generations outlook on the phenomenon through the rise of social media. Although the girls who partake in the ‘not like other girls’ memes are likely to be creating competition between women, it is unfair to drag all girls who seek to be different into it as this will further the spread of internalised sexism. This has recently been seen in the ‘pick me’ girl rhetoric. It has gained recent traction upon the internet but specifically the app TikTok. Recent studies have found that 16% of all users on TikTok are females under 20 (Statista,
2021), highlighting that these tropes are being consumed by young women and are crucial to understand. A ‘pick me’ girl is a girl who typically does things to gain male attention and approval, whether this be through how they act, how they dress, or how they want to be perceived. They will seemingly do anything for this male approval, even if it means distancing themselves from womanhood or spreading hatred about other women (Eckert, 2021). Means (2021) suggests that some definitions of the ‘pick me’ girl is just a feminist reaction against some women’s tendency to defer the male gaze. They note that, while this reaction could be positive if it focused on the dismantling of these systems, it appears on the internet that the term has been focusing on individuals, which can lead to cyber-bullying and accusations of being 'not like other girls' (Eckert, 2021). It can be argued that the internet and its memes have made being ‘not like other girls’ a bad and toxic thing, rather than something that is celebrated like the tomboy. This furthermore spreads internalised sexism as the internet spreads a range of different opinions, that being a ‘not like other girl’ is bad, but also that being the ‘other girl’ is bad. This emphasises that for levels of internalised sexism to decrease, all women should allow other women to be exactly who they please without making comments, especially comments online. It also shows that these tropes gaining traction online should be researched and explored directly to discover the roles they play within internalised sexism as they are so popular on social media which is full of impressionable young girls. Investigating this would be especially beneficial in determining the relationship between internalised sexism and negative psychological outcomes.
Internalised sexism in society: Slut-shaming.
In this last section, internalised sexism within society will be explored, and more particularly, how internalised sexism manifests itself through slut-shaming and shaming other women for their clothing choices.
As noted earlier, women and girls learn the prevailing beauty ideals from the media, therefore internalising these standards (Vandenbosch and Eggermont, 2012). This leads to an increase in body surveillance and self-objectification, explaining why women compare themselves to their peers. However, this constant comparison can have negative effects on women and can lead to envy and hatred, which can be manifested in the form of slutshaming. Slut-shaming is ‘the act of criticising women or girls for their real or presumed sexuality or sexual activity, as well as for looking or behaving in ways that are believed to transgress sexual norms’ (Karaian, 2014:296). Men play an important role in deciding who to 'slut-shame' by categorising women based on what they wear or their sexual activity, forcing women to face a double standard that punishes them for sexual activity (Crawford and Popp 2003; Hamilton and Armstrong 2009). However, studies have concluded that women also engage in slut-shaming as a form of internalised sexual oppression (Ringrose and
Renold, 2012), and others argue that women use slut-shaming to regulate sexual behaviour and clothing choices in their female peers and to define social status. (Armstrong, 2014).
In 2017, Kendall Jenner wore a long flowing black dress to the Met Gala (Figure 1) that she was subsequently slut-shamed by other women online for wearing. Slut-shaming can happen to any woman, whether if they are famous or not, but it is easier to find evidence of it happening to women in the public eye as they are more spoken about and criticised. The reply from the woman in Figure 5 states the dress is ‘too slutty for public’ and that Jenner is ‘stooping that low’ by wearing it ‘Slutty’ is a derogatory term that is used when a woman is provocative in ‘bad taste’. It seems unfair that Jenner is labelled this by another woman as she herself has chosen to wear the dress and she feels comfortable in it. Another user under the same tweet compared Jenner’s dress to Stella McCartney’s backless number, stating ‘I think it's pretty classy compared to Kendall Jenner who has her full ass out.’ (@BeeEmOh20, 2017:online). Another woman user even dragged Jenner’s mother, Kris, into the discourse, by saying she shouldn’t have allowed Kendall to wear the dress and that she isn’t a ‘real’ mother. As discussed, internalised sexism is present through the form of self-objectification. It can be argued that Jenner partakes in this self-objectification as she enjoys showcasing her body and wearing hyper-feminine outfits. Other women who don’t self-objectivate and choose to cover their bodies and wear baggier clothing may feel threated by Jenner, therefore spreading abuse online at what she is choosing to wear. These tweets are proving McKinley and Hyde’s (1996) theory that competition between women is a huge factor of
internalised sexism, as one user compares two celebrities at the same event, saying one is ‘classy’ but the other has her ‘full ass out’.
On the other end of the spectrum, singer Billie Eilish has hit out at other women for praising her for wearing baggy clothing. As seen in Figure 6, Billie’s red-carpet looks are vastly different from Jenner’s, with Eilish opting to wear more masculine clothing that covers her silhouette. Eilish is often praised for her clothing, with people stating that she is saying no to being a stereotypical female and saying no to being sexualised (Snapes, 2020). However, Eilish has stated that she doesn’t like these comments, as they have slut-shaming undertones to them. Eilish has stated that:
‘The positive comments about how I dress have this slut-shaming element. Like, ‘I am so glad that you're dressing like a boy, so other girls can dress like boys, so that they aren't sluts.’ That's basically what it sounds like to me. And I can't overstate how strongly I do not appreciate that, at all.’ (Eilish, cited in Snipes, 2020:online).
Eilish has also said that she loves and supports when people dress however they like, and she doesn’t appreciate people praising her by shaming other women. Eilish is suggesting that women should not comment on how other women are dressed if they feel comfortable in what they are wearing. Why is Eilish praised for wearing what she wants, but when Jenner wears what she wants she is attacked? These harmful comments continue the system of internalised sexism and force women into distress as it appears women can’t wear what they want without receiving negative comments. Internalised sexism can cause
psychological distress the same way sexism perpetrated by men cause psychological distress to women (Moradi & Subich, 2003), which is further proof that it should be researched and noted as much as sexism perpetrated by men to eliminate the negative impact it has upon women.
Final Thoughts.
Throughout this essay, a variety of ways internalised sexism manifests itself into women’s daily lives has been explored. Whether this be through media, culture or society, it is obvious that internalised sexism plays a huge role in the system of sexism and negatively impacts women psychologically. As noted above, to eliminate sexism, internalised sexism must be defeated and highlighted. This is difficult as internalised sexism is rooted in many different women, as seen from the case studies, thus normalising the phenomenon and further drilling the idea into other women.
From the case studies, the most relevant research conducted on internalised sexism is that its main manifestations are self-objectification and competition between women. Both appear in popular media, such as ‘Mean Girls’, and perpetuates the demonisation of hyperfemininity and how it can be rooted in internalised sexism. They also appear in common tropes that have become increasingly popular on the internet, such as the ‘not like other girl’ and gives a deeper understanding of how different women view other fellow women. Again, these manifestations also appear in society and through the slut-shaming of women committed by other women. Through these manifestations we can explore how internalised sexism affects women. It can be concluded that internalised sexism causes negative psychological effects on women, the same way sexism committed by men can, but there is a clear lack of updated research on the affects. The last study was fifteen years ago, and this should be updated as internalised sexism remains even more prevalent today through the use of social media and various tropes. It could be noted how internalised sexism in media affects women mentally, and how internalised sexism in society affects women mentally for example. It would be interesting to streamline research and conclude the negative impact internalised sexism can have on social media for example, to see if it is any different to the impact internalised sexism in media has. A study could also be conducted on how beauty standards affect internalised sexism, and how slowly eliminating these standards may improve internalised sexism as it could eliminate self-objectification, which plays a key role in the phenomenon. It is arguable that women internalise beauty standards and have a disliking to women that possess these traits, thus furthering internalised sexism as seen in the case study of Kendall Jenner.
There is also a space for an increase in the research of internalised sexism. As discussed previously, the Internalised Misogyny Scale (IMS) is the only known created scale to measure internalised sexism. As noted earlier, the scale only featured homosexual women and not heterosexual women. This means it doesn’t give a completely accurate view of
internalised sexism for all ranges of women. This scale could be further contributed to by including all sexualities of women to develop a better understanding of internalised sexism. It is strange that no other scale has been created since the IMS almost twenty years ago, considering the importance of fully understanding internalised sexism and its effects on women in the realm of sexism.
To conclude, there will never be a complete explanation to ‘why are girls so cruel to other girls knowing how difficult it is to be a girl?’. Although internalised sexism could arguably be the main factor of girl-on-girl hatred, it seems to have been forgotten about by researchers.
Internalised sexism is such an important topic which shapes women’s lives every day, whether it be through how they act around other women, how they dress or how communicate. This essay has aimed to shed light on the topic of internalised sexism and provide explanation as to why some girls are mean and unfair to their fellow peers.
Internalised sexism continues to push the unwritten rules of sexism onto people, creating damaging and toxic effects – and striving to eliminate it as a society will impact girls mental health positively.
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3652f53746f7279496d6167652f764c30643344544c6567347633413d3d2d31303330323939 3636312e313636363233396436613562626234633535323232343738373338342e706e67?s =fit&w=720&h=720
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