Research on violence against women has consistently revealed that rape-myth acceptance (RMA) is high correlated with rape rates and victim blaming. Other research has shown that education about violence against women is a useful strategy for lessening or stopping various types of violence, particularly rape. Using data gathered at a medium-sized public university in the Northeast, the authors examine changes in rape myth acceptance over the course of a semester among undergraduate students. Comparing students in classes having a greater or lesser emphasis on gender issues (ranging from general sociology to a course specifically addressing violence against women), the authors found significant changes in RMA among students taking a course concentrating on violence against women. The authors conclude that having college courses specifically focused on violence against women can be an effective strategy for changing attitudes about both rape and rape victims.
We examined the intersection of gender and work through an investigation of relationally motivated behaviour in the workplace. Using Fletcher's ethnography of women's relational practices in a masculine work environment as a springboard, we examined Fletcher's typology of relational practice, participants' perceptions of employees who perform these forms of behaviour and whether these perceptions were related to gender. Working adults (N = 128) completed online surveys containing workplace scenarios and rated how effective and submissive they perceived the behaviour to be. Overall, participants rated relational practices as ineffective and submissive, regardless of whether a man or a woman had performed them. However, they reported that they would behave the same way as the target and they offered relationally oriented reasons for their choice. Relational practices remain paradoxical in the workplace, both necessary and devalued.
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