Specific types of pro-environment behavior can align with either masculine or feminine stereotypes, the study said. Engaging in the “wrong” type of environmentalism can lead people to wonder about your sexual orientation.
“Behaviors don’t just help us accomplish something concrete; they also signal something about who we are,” lead author of the study Janet Swim, a Pennsylvania State University psychologist, said on July 30 when announcing the findings. “Line-drying clothes, or keeping tires at proper pressures, may signal that we care about the environment, but if those green behaviors are gendered, they may signal other things as well.”
Some of the Twitter community did not seem content with these new findings:
A 2016 study confirmed environmentalism is widely perceived as feminine behavior. Even today, caring and nurturing behavior is associated with women —which includes taking steps to sustain the environment.
In the journal Sex Roles, Swim and her colleagues describe studies about the impressions made by specific types of green behaviors, according to Pacific Standard. In the first study, 170 participants were asked to assess fictional characters named either David or Diane, whose daily routine included various environmentally friendly activities.
These were either actions traditionally associated with women—like recycling and using a reusable shopping bag—and actions traditionally associated with men—such as caulking windows and donating to a waterfowl sportsman’s group. There were also “gender-neutral” activities, paying bills online or turning off the air conditioner.
Across the board, all green behaviors were, “perceived as being more likely to be positive feminine” rather than “positive masculine traits” — evidence that most green behaviors are not associated with “manliness.”
Swim pointed out: “If being seen as heterosexual is important to a person, that person may prioritize gender-conforming over gender-nonconforming pro-environmental behaviors in anticipation of how others might see them.”
A follow-up study in the research confirmed these results. People who engaged in gender-incompatible green behaviors were “rated as less likely to be heterosexual,” the researchers wrote, “suggesting that people were questioning targets’ heterosexual identity rather than declaring them to be gay or lesbian.”
Swim and her colleagues said in conclusion, “Activists, policymakers, and practitioners working to engage in, and promote, pro-environmental behaviors may wish to take into account pressures to conform to gender roles.”
