Are men who identify as a feminist less likely to sexually objectify women?: a cross-sectional study of heterosexual men

Previous research on men has elucidated several correlates of sexually objectifying behaviours towards women. Given increased attention to women's issues and feminism within the USA, it seems important to not overlook men who identify as feminists and how this identification relates to sexual objectification. Consequently, this cross-sectional study investigated whether feminist identity was associated with sexual objectification (i.e. gazing, commentary), and acceptance of sexual objectification in a sample of 233 heterosexual adult men (M-age = 38.07; SD = 11.94) recruited through MTurk. While including other established correlates of sexual objectification (e.g. pornography use, sexism), hierarchical multiple regression analyses evidenced that feminist identity was negatively associated with acceptance of sexual objectification and sexually objectifying gaze. These findings are the first to demonstrate that identifying with feminism is negatively associated with sexual objectification and perhaps uncovers an important focus for interventions to prevent sexual objectification.