734081

research-article2017
SRDXXX10.1177/2378023117734081SociusSwank and Fahs

Original Article Socius: Sociological Research for

a Dynamic World
Volume 3: 1­–9
Understanding Feminist Activism among © The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/2378023117734081
https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023117734081

Social Networks
srd.sagepub.com

Eric Swank1 and Breanne Fahs1

Abstract
This study examines whether women’s feminist activism is connected to three key factors: sufficient educational and
financial resources, the internalization of a feminist consciousness, and being involved in feminist mobilization structures.
Analysis of the 2012 American National Election Survey (N = 1,876) suggests that participation and engagement in the
women’s movement is least common among less educated women and stay-at-home mothers. Feminist activism is also
grounded in the perceptions of systematic forms of oppression, an emotional bond to feminists, and being embedded in
political or women-centered organizations. There was also little evidence that involvement in the women’s movement
is shaped by women’s age, marital status, income level, sexual identity, or race.

Keywords
activism, feminism, political participation, race, sexual identity, social movements, women’s movement

Feminists challenge sexism through many means, particu- spheres (England 2010), feminist social movements have
larly as they confront exploitation, harassment, and objectifi- nevertheless ushered in some major changes in legislation,
cation in numerous spheres of their lives: work, home, social norms, and perceptions of proper gender roles (Ferree
family, and public settings (Staggenborg and Taylor 2005). et al. 2002; McCammon et al. 2011; Soule et al. 1999).
While some of these resistances and challenges to patriarchy Social movements need participants to grow and sustain
occur in more subtle or individual ways (e.g., servers spitting themselves. During the ebbs and flows of protest cycles,
in the food of rude or sexist patrons; mocking chauvinistic movement organizers constantly face the challenge of
men behind their backs), collective resistance is also one recruiting and keeping new adherents. Social scientists have
avenue available for feminist-identified women to challenge tried to identify and understand the reasons as to why some
existing power structures and norms. Specifically, women people decide to join feminist social movements, particularly
and their allies sometimes create massive feminist move- as they ask why some people become activists and some do
ments that collectively challenge the structural sources of not. Studies have revealed connections between feminist
male privilege. This study addresses the reasons as to why activism and exposure to gender biases in families, schools,
some women do and do not join these collective challenges and work (Bolzendahl and Myers 2004; Kaysen and Stake
to institutionalized forms of male privilege and patriarchy. 2001; Liss, Crawford, and Popp 2004). Other studies have
The intensity, scope, and tactics of feminist mobilizations also added that witnessing gender injustices firsthand
change over time (Staggenborg and Taylor 2005). Scholars (Nelson et al. 2008; Yoder, Tobias, and Snell 2011) and
have used the wave metaphor for the different peaks of femi- knowing feminist friends or acquaintances precede feminist
nist mobilizations; recently, the election of Donald Trump challenges to sexist practices (Stake 2007).
instigated a new round of widespread and highly visible femi-
nist protests in 2017 (i.e., Chenoweth and Pressman [2017] 1Arizona State University, Glendale, AZ, USA
estimated that over 4 million people attended 653 feminist
Corresponding Author:
rallies in the first month of Trump’s presidency). While the Eric Swank, Social and Cultural Analysis, Arizona State University,
waves of feminist social movements have produced partial or 4711 Thunderbird Avenue, Glendale, AZ, USA.
uneven effects on gender practices in the private and public Email: [email protected]

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2 Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World 

Although the quantitative literature on gender roles is sometimes seen as political ignorance, but the resource
sizeable and well established (Bolzendahl and Myers 2004; model assumes that lack of participation is more of a reaction
Carter and Borch 2005; McCabe 2005), sociological under- to an acceptance of the status quo, a lower sense of political
standings of the predictors of feminist activism remains efficacy, and greater levels of individualism. The “nobody
incomplete, disjointed, and to some degree, outdated. Most asked” idea implies that political bystanders are isolated
sociological studies on gender ideologies use data from the from the recruitment networks that mobilize citizens into
1970s to the 1990s (Kane 1995; Moore and Vanneman 2003; action. Thus, the transformation of feminist sympathizers
Peltola, Milkie, and Presser 2004), while three studies by into feminist activists probably includes a unique mix of
sociologists have explored feminist ideologies with data col- material resources as well as specific cognitive and structural
lected in the past decade (Grollman 2017; Harnois 2015; M. conditions (Schussman and Soule 2005; van Stekelenburg
Kelly and Gauchat 2016). While this previous research pro- and Klandermans 2013; Ward 2016).
vides great insights into a person’s perception of gender rela-
tions, there is a crucial difference between being a feminist “They Can’t”: Income, Educational Attainment,
activist and having feminist beliefs, and the predictors of
feminist thoughts and feminist actions are not always the
and Workplace Participation
same. Newer studies on feminist activism often appear in The resource model assumes that educational attainment and
psychological journals and depend on nonrandom samples of higher incomes lead to greater political engagement (Brady
college students (Ayres, Friedman, and Leaper 2009; Cassese et al. 1995). College can be an incubator of feminist commit-
and Holman 2016; Kaysen and Stake 2001; Liss et al. 2004; ments because higher education offers women greater occu-
Nelson et al. 2008; Stake 2007; Yoder et al. 2011). pational opportunities and provides access to a classes that
This study updates our understanding of feminist activism debunk gender myths (Bolzendahl and Myers 2004; Kane
by analyzing a national random sample from 2012. With this 1995). Consequently, educational attainment among women
newer and more representative sample, we can see if the ante- often leads to firmer feminist beliefs and identities (Carter
cedents of earlier feminist activism—as well as the insights and Borch 2005; Hamilton, Geist, and Powell 2011; McCabe
from sociological, psychological, and political science litera- 2005; Moore and Vanneman 2003; Peltola et al. 2004) as
tures—still apply to current conditions. Moreover, we can well as a tendency to vote for feminist political candidates,
address some of the earlier debates and contradictory results attend feminist rallies, and speak out against sexist practices
related to the relevance of certain demographic predictors of (Cassese and Holman 2016; Duncan and Stewart 2007;
women who join feminist social movements. Accordingly, Nelson et al. 2008; Stake 2007).
this research is driven by three research questions: The resource model contends that feminist activism is
also related to pay differentiation within and between the
Research Question 1: What proportion of adult women genders (Schlozman et al. 1994). Similar to the “biographi-
have ever joined the women’s movement? cal availability” concept of Doug McAdam (1986), this
Research Question 2: What are the contextual and social model assumes that wealthier individuals have less con-
psychological antecedents to this feminist activism? straints on their political activism than people with lower
Research Question 3: Are demographic factors such as incomes (enough money to attend protests, more free time,
educational attainment, labor force participation, and greater flexibility in workplace schedules, etc.). Supportive
marital status connected to involvement in political evidence for this claim for feminist activism is ambiguous
mobilizations for gender justice? and far from conclusive. Some studies suggest that women
with greater personal and family incomes are more support-
ive of feminist causes than women from poorer backgrounds
Literature Review (Carter and Borch 2005; Cassese and Holman 2016; Harnois,
Variable selection in this study was partially guided by the 2015; Moore and Vanneman 2003; Peltola et al. 2004), but
resource and political consciousness models of political par- other studies suggest that class differences fail to predict
ticipation (Brady, Verba, and Scholzman 1995; Gurin, Miller, feminist activism among women (Duncan and Stewart 2007;
and Gurin 1980). Offering a succinct answer as to why peo- Kaysen and Stake 2001).
ple remain politically disengaged, the resource model asserts: Women’s work experiences can also be related to feminist
“because they can’t, because they don’t want to, or because tendencies. Traditionally, in conservative subcultures of the
nobody asked” (Brady et al. 1995:271). The notion of “they United States, women have been advised to marry relatively
can’t” suggests a dearth of necessary resources to be politi- young, raise multiple children, and forego the paid work-
cal. While crucial resources may come in many forms, these force in favor of staying at home. Several studies have shown
authors emphasize the importance of financial situations, that stay-at-home moms, as compared to women in the paid
educational attainment, free time, and civic skills. The claim labor force, often endorse more conservative attitudes on
of “they don’t want to” deals with a lack of psychological abortion, premarital sex, and the division of labor in the fam-
engagement in politics. This indifference to politics is ily (Bolzendahl and Myers 2004; Hamilton et al. 2011;
Swank and Fahs 3

Kaysen and Stake 2001; Moore and Vanneman 2003). The attention, sexist comments, and unfair treatment (Ayres et al.
reasons for this relationship are complicated and multifac- 2009; Liss et al. 2004).
eted, but having a paid job (1) exposes women to workforce
gender biases that stay-at-home motherhood obscures, (2) Power Discontent and Perceptions of Feminist Power. Feminist
raises the expectations of economic independence for grievances might originate from a social order that devalues
women, (3) dispels stereotypes about women being unable to female input and undermines female autonomy and self-
handle tough tasks, and (4) accentuates an awareness of determination. Surveys suggest that feminists, compared to
“second shift” inequalities around household chores, child non-feminists, often worry that men control important deci-
care, and emotional labor (Davis and Greenstein 2009). sion-making processes (Kane 1995) and women increasingly
join feminist mobilizations when the women’s movement
“They Don’t Want to”: Framing Grievances through a Feminist seems to counteract male power advantages (Duncan and
Consciousness. Gender hierarchies are maintained when men Stewart 2007). Conversely, one study suggests that a calcula-
and women embrace traditional gender roles as being proper, tion of collective efficacy is irrelevant to feminist activism
normal, and inevitable. Whether through the existence of low (C. Kelly and Breinlinger 1995).
paying pink-collar jobs, sexual violence, or disgust over
menstruation, feminists contest traditional gender scripts that “Nobody Asked”: Social Networks and Mobilizing Struc-
demean women and prioritize men’s desires over women’s tures. Feminist social movements depend on established
needs (Duncan and Stewart 2007; C. Kelly and Breinlinger networks and organizations to create, recruit, and retain
1995; Stake 2007). A feminist consciousness, as conceptual- potential activists (mobilizing structures). Many sorts of
ized by Gurin et al. (1980), functions as the ideas that lead to contextual and institutional social ties can make people will-
collective gender rebellions. A feminist consciousness, ing and able to engage in feminist activism. Accordingly,
which identifies perceived oppressors and vehicles of social being exposed to feminist ideas, either through interactions
change, has four interrelated beliefs: (1) common fate, or the with feminist friends or family members, may directly
notion that what happens to women is universal and relevant increase participation in feminist activism (Friedman and
to every women’s life; (2) power discontent, or the idea that Leaper 2010; Liss et al. 2004; Nelson et al. 2008). Member-
women lack power and influence in society; (3) system ship in any sort of liberal political organization can foster
blame, or the understanding that women’s lack of power is political engagement among women (Carroll and Ratner
unjust and caused by systemic forces; and (4) collective ori- 1996; Heaney and Rojas 2014; Minkoff 2016), while par-
entation, or the awareness that the best way to challenge sex- ticipating in explicitly feminist organizations can have even
ism is through working as a large group. bigger effects (Passy and Giugni 2001; Taylor 1989).

Common Fate, Collective Orientations, and Feminist Identi- Control Variables. Beyond resources, political frames, and
ties. Issues of women’s solidarity with each other are often mobilizing structures, there are many background character-
connected to feminist activism. The recognition of shared istics thought to influence feminist activism. Some studies
circumstances among women, plus an admiration of femi- contend that black and Latina women are more supportive of
nists, seems to guide much feminist activism (Cassese and feminist goals than women of other races (Carter and Borch
Holman 2016; Duncan and Stewart 2007; Liss et al. 2004; 2005; Harnois 2015) and that white women are less likely
McCabe 2005; Yoder et al. 2011). Notably, personal com- than women of color to identify as feminist (Peltola et al.
mitments to ending social injustice and the internalization 2004). Some studies suggest that lesbian women are more
of a feminist label also seem to be better predictors of femi- feminist than heterosexual women (Friedman and Leaper
nist activism than simply rejecting traditional gender 2010; Grollman 2017), but other studies found no such rela-
expectations (Ayres et al. 2009; Duncan and Stewart 2007; tionship (Harnois 2015; Swank and Fahs 2017).
C. Kelly and Breinlinger 1995; Liss et al. 2004; Nelson Marital status, age, and place of residency can also influ-
et al. 2008; Yoder et al. 2011). ence feminist inclinations. Married women often endorse
traditional gender prescriptions more than divorced or never
Perceptions of Gender Injustice and System Blame. Feminist married women (Bolzendahl and Myers 2004; Fahs 2007;
activism often requires the rejection of traditional gender Harnois 2015; McCabe 2005; Moore and Vanneman 2003).
expectations (Nelson el al., 2008) and the recognition of Life course studies occasionally find that young adult women
institutionalized sexism (Cassese and Holman 2016; Duncan are slightly more liberal in their gender attitudes than older
and Stewart 2007; C. Kelly and Breinlinger 1995; Stake women (Bolzendahl and Myers 2004; Carter and Borch
2007). Some studies suggest that feminist identities develop 2005; Moore and Vanneman 2003), but older cohorts of
when women see sexism in “the way society is set up” women born in the “baby boom” might support feminist
(McCabe 2005). Others studies contend that feminist activ- political leanings more than women born in different cohorts
ism occurs when women fear that “relationships with men (Harnois 2015; Peltola et al. 2004). Finally, gender role atti-
stunt my growth” or after encountering unwanted sexual tudes can be place bound. Women living in urban
4 Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World 

metropolitan areas and Western states express more liberal women,” strong feminist responses of a “great deal more”
gender scripts than women from other locales (Bolzendahl were assigned 7 while nonfeminist responses of a “great deal
and Myers 2004; Carter and Borch 2005; McCabe 2005). less” were coded with a 1. System blaming dealt with the rec-
ognition of widespread sexism against women. In response to
Sample. This women only sample comes from the Time the question “How serious a problem is discrimination against
Series Study of the 2012 American National Election Study women in the United States?,” scores ranged from 5 if they
(ANES). Our data are restricted to the post-election web ver- indicated discrimination is an “extremely serious problem”
sion of 2012 because only this version of ANES had mea- and 1 if they thought discrimination was “not a problem at
sures of feminist political engagement (N = 1,876). The web all.” Elements of a collective orientation were handled
version of ANES drew on Knowledge Networks for respon- through the impression of women who struggle against sex-
dents. Knowledge Networks (KN) created and maintains a ism. In using the ANES Feeling thermometer, respondents
panel of people who have previously agreed to complete were asked to rank their feeling toward feminists through a
online surveys. When building a list of 40,000 U.S. house- 101-point rating scale where 0 indicates very cold reactions
holds, KN recruited people through random-digit dialing and and 100 denotes very warm and favorable sentiments.
address-based approaches. Although issues of race, gender,
and education selection biases are found in KN samples, Mobilizing structures. Mobilizing structures were operational-
their selection biases are on par with random telephone sur- ized through three variables (membership in women’s groups,
veys (Weinberg, Freese, and McElhattan 2014). membership in political groups, and contact with political par-
ties). Some researchers argued that women only spaces can
generate interest in feminist activism (Taylor 1989), so respon-
Methods dents were asked if they have been active in a “women’s
Measures group” (yes = 1, no = 0). Belonging to explicitly political orga-
nizations was tracked through being a member in an “issue-
Collective feminist activism. While the ways that women can oriented political group” (yes = 1, no = 0). A measure of
join or participate in feminist social movements is limitless, joining explicitly feminist groups or organizations would have
ANES had a single item that asked if people “were active” in been better than what ANES offers, but research nevertheless
the “women’s rights movement.” This item traces lifetime suggests that simply joining any sort of liberal political group
participation, and it did not address the ways or the frequency increased the likelihood of women joining protest movements
in which a person participated in this movement (lifetime (Heaney and Rojas 2014; Minkoff 2016). Exposure to political
participation = 1, no participation = 0). social networks was handled through direct appeals from
political parties or election candidates. In creating a five-item
Resource variables. Three resource variables are in this analy- scale, people indicated if a political candidate or political con-
sis: education level, household income, and participation in tacted them via face-to-face conversations, snail mail, email,
the paid workforce. Educational attainment dealt with the telephone calls, or social media (the additive scale ranged
highest level of schooling completed. Responses of less than a from 0 to 5 for each yes or no answer, α = .74).
first grade to doctoral degree were collapsed into seven cate-
gories (high school degree or less = 1 to PhD or professional Control variables. Dummy variables were constructed for a
degrees = 7). Responses to the question “What is your current person’s race and sexual identities as well as their marital
household income?” fell into 28 intervals that started with less status and place of residency. The race measure emphasized
than $5,000 a year and ended with more than $175,000 annu- being white as compared to a person of color (white = 1,
ally. Current work status focused on the gendered notion of a other races = 0). When addressing sexual identities, the three
stay-at-home caretaker. Respondents were considered a home- categories of heterosexual, bisexual, and gay or lesbian were
maker if they mentioned that term when responding to “What transformed into one dichotomous variable (heterosexual =
is your main occupation?” (homemaker = 1, other = 0). 1, other = 0). An open-ended question asked people: “What
is your age?” (responses were coded in yearly intervals).
Political frames and a feminist consciousness. Gurin et al.’s People who currently resided in one of the U.S. 374 metro-
(1980) formulation of a feminist consciousness was handled politan statistical areas (MSAs) were deemed urban (urban =
through four variables (common fate with women, power dis- 1, other = 0). Regional differences among respondents was
content with the media, recognition of sexism, and warmth tracked through a 4-point regional division devised by the
toward feminists). A common fate with women concentrated U.S. census. Pacific and Sothern residencies were entered
on the salience of gender in daily interactions: “How much of into the regressions because they were significantly different
life is affected by what happens to women?” (a lot = 1, some in descriptive statistics (Pacific = 1, other = 0; Southern = 1,
and not very much = 0). Power discontent, or a sense that men other = 0). The Pacific division consists of 5 states of along
control institutionalized norms, explored the ways that media the Pacific Ocean (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and
overlooks gender biases. In response to the statement “the Washington), and the Southern region has 15 states that
media should pay more attention to discrimination against ranged from the South Atlantic states of Maryland to Florida
Swank and Fahs 5

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics and Differences in Women’s Movement Participation.

Women’s Movement

Range Mean SD Yes No F Ratio

Women’s movement 0–1 .03
Resources
Education 1–7 4.91 1.28 5.71 4.89 24.20***
Family income 1–28 12.55 9.40 14.63 12.48 3.30
Homemaker 0–1 .15 .03 .16 6.74***
Feminist consciousness
Common fate with women 0–1 .19 .36 .18 12.48***
Power discontent with the media 1–7 4.71 1.49 5.86 4.67 37.57***
Recognition of sexism 0–5 2.85 .87 3.58 2.82 44.90***
Warmth toward feminists 1–100 46.84 28.78 72.17 46.01 49.20***
Mobilizing structures
Women’s group 0–1 .11 .31 .11 23.63***
Political group 0–1 .02 .25 .01 154.24***
Political party contacts 0–5 1.18 1.37 2.41 1.14 51.19***
Controls
Age 18–88 51.34 16.33 53.72 51.70 1.31
White 0–1 .67 .68 .67 .09
Married 0–1 .51 .48 .51 .26
Heterosexual 0–1 .96 .93 .97 2.64
Urban residency 0–1 .85 .90 .85 1.09
Pacific residency 0–1 .14 .27 .14 8.66*
South residency 0–1 .37 .24 .37 4.08*

*p < .05. ***p < .001.

and the Western Southern states of Texas, Oklahoma, and only 60 women, or 3.2 percent of the sample, have done
Louisiana (U.S. Census Bureau 2013). something in the women’s movement. With such a low
number, one can assume that participants probably limited
their understanding of women’s movement participation to
Analytical Plan some sort of a public challenge to sexism, such as a “take-
Associations were identified through several statistical pro- back-the-night” march or a pro-choice rally in a major city.
cedures. One-way univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) It also suggests that participants probably did not consider
looked for significant bivariate differences between people individual actions like keeping their last name during mar-
who were involved in feminist movements and those who riage, arguing against sexist comments or jokes, going into
were not. We then turned to binary logistic regressions to male-dominated professions, or demanding a fairer divi-
assess the direct relationship of feminist activism to the sion of household labor as being aspects of women’s move-
resources, feminist consciousness, and mobilization factors ment participation (Staggenborg and Taylor 2005).
when holding the other factors constant. Logistic regressions In a simple bivariate analysis, most of the independent
and the odd ratios they generate are well suited at analyzing variables were associated with involvement in the women’s
dichotomous dependent variables, and they are not confined movement. Greater educational attainment increased wom-
by many of the strict requirements other sorts of regressions en’s movement participation, and being marriage had an
(e.g., a normal distribution in the dependent variable or no opposite effect (education increased feminist activism while
problems of homoscedasticity). Missing data were handled being married decreased feminist tendencies). All of the fem-
through a listwise deletion that dropped cases that lacked an inist consciousness items were connected to women’s move-
observation for each variable. ment participation. Emotional affinity toward feminists had
the biggest difference between feminist activists and their
counterparts, but the recognition of systematic forms of sex-
Results ism, discontent with media coverage of gender inequalities,
and sense of common fate-solidarity with women also dif-
Descriptive Findings ferentiated the activists from the nonactivists. Integration
Table 1 suggests that female participation in the women’s into mobilizing structures also saw sizeable differences in
movement was very rare. Throughout their entire lifetime, feminist activism tendencies. Most remarkably, one-fourth
6 Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World 

Table 2. Binary Logistic Regressions for Women’s Movement Participation and Resource, Mobilization, and Consciousness Factors.

Resources Resources and Consciousness Full Model

Odds SE Odds SE Odds SE

Education 1.66*** .12 1.52** .12 1.33* .13
Family income 1.00 .01 1.01 .01 .99 .01
Homemaker .24* .71 .29 .74 .31 .75
Common fate with women .94 .32 .63 .36
Power discontent with the media 1.37* .12 1.40* .14
Recognition of sexism 1.60* .19 1.60* .20
Warmth toward feminists 1.30** .00 1.24** .00
Women’s group 2.24* .37
Political group 9.91*** .45
Political party contacts 1.42* .01
Age 1.01 .00 1.00 .01 .98 .01
White .74 .30 .95 .31 .89 .33
Currently married .93 .29 1.00 .31 1.08 .32
Heterosexual .46 .56 1.13 .60 1.27 .72
Urban residency 1.28 .44 1.12 .45 1.41 .50
Pacific residency 1.76* .32 2.15* .34 2.35* .37
South residency .62 .33 .70 .34 .83 .33
Pseudo R2 .09 .24 .34
Full-model chi2 44.16*** 114.79*** 162.28***
Block chi2 70.63*** 47.49***

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

of all women who have joined the women’s movement had The second set of regressions estimated the relation-
also been a part of a political organization, while less than ships of resource and feminist consciousness factors to
one in a hundred nonactivists were part of a political group of women’s movement participation. Net of the resource and
any kind. Joining a women’s group, being contacted by control variables in the model, three of the feminist con-
elected officials or political parties, and living in Southern or sciousness variables were significantly connected to wom-
Pacific West states were connected to women’s movement en’s movement participation. Being aware and upset about
participation. The variables of greater family income, age, or gender biases in the media and elsewhere plus respecting
being white, lesbian, or married were not significantly con- feminists who challenge those biases were central to femi-
nected to a tendency to join the women’s movement. nist activism regardless of women’s education, employ-
ment status, age, race, or location of residency. Education
level remained a significant factor when considering the
Explanatory Findings role of having a feminist consciousness, but a homemaker
Our regressions were run in a hierarchal fashion that status did not. The notion of a common fate among women
entered the resource and control variables in the first step, did not offer a direct link to women’s movement participa-
followed by an integration of feminist consciousness vari- tion. Because this factor was significant in the bivariate
ables, and ended with the addition of the mobilizing fac- calculations, one can assume that seeing similarities among
tors (see Table 2). women leads to greater feminist activism when women
The block of resource factors displayed significant also reject male privilege and admire feminists who con-
direct links between educational attainment, being out of test male privilege.
the paid workforce, and joining the women’s movement. The final regression entered the mobilizing factors into
Advancing through higher education was connected to an the full model. Membership in any sort of a political group
increase in feminist political engagement while women increased movement participation by almost 10 times that of
being a homemaker had an inverse relationship. Family women who refrain from such activities. Belonging to wom-
income and all but one of the control factors did not offer en’s groups and being contacted by political parties also sig-
significant associations with movement engagement (the nificantly increased the likelihood of being in the women’s
one exception was that a Pacific residency increases femi- movement. Thus, being in politicized or women-only social
nist engagement). groups increased feminist activism regardless of how women
Swank and Fahs 7

evaluated current gender arrangements. Conversely, educational a social force that generally undermines women’s opportu-
attainment, critiques of sexist media coverage, the recogni- nities and well-being.
tion of widespread sexism, and affinity to feminists also dis- The study also highlighted the importance of group mem-
played significant odds. This suggests that access to college, berships and preexisting social networks in feminist activ-
rejecting male privileges, and valuing feminists all can move ism. Participation in the women’s movement was partially
women into feminist activism even if they do or do not predicated on belonging to organizations that existed for
belong to politicized social networks. women and political causes that benefitted women as well as
being contacted by political parties. Being in social spaces
that valued political activism and female concerns were as
Discussion
crucial to participation in the women’s movement as suc-
The study of feminist activism, once central to feminist ceeding in educational settings and seeing problems in gen-
sociology, has received little quantitative analysis in the der hierarchies.
past two decades. This study explored feminist political Most of the control variables had insignificant links to
engagement in a national random sample of women in feminist activism except for the fact that feminist activism
2012. In the literature review, we proposed three general was more common among women who lived on the West
sources of feminist activism: one based on resources and Coast. Simply being married did not undercut feminist activ-
two others based on internalizing feminist ideas and expo- ism, and the lack of a significant link to age challenges the
sure to politicized social networks. While we discovered “post-feminist” claims that women’s movement is less rele-
that women rarely joined the women’s movement overall (3 vant to younger women. The insignificant link to sexual
percent of women in a lifetime), the study also reveals that identities contests the notion that feminist activism is mostly
such activism is guided by a combination of resource, con- restricted to lesbians. Finally, the women’s movement drew
sciousness, and mobilization factors. from women of all races and social classes as family income
Only one of the resource factors—educational attain- and being white were not associated with feminist activism
ment—drove feminist activism throughout all of the regres- in any of the statistical tests.
sions. With greater educational attainment being significant
in the full model, academic achievement seems to link up
with feminist activism regardless of how schooling influ-
Strengths and Limitations
ences women’s economic status, their attitudes about gender This study offered some theoretical and methodological
inequalities, and their access to political groups. Thus, edu- advantages over the existing literature on these topics. The
cational opportunities seem to inherently inspire feminist study explores feminist activism rather than feminist ideolo-
activism beyond the ways in which a school’s curriculum can gies, and it does so by looking at women’s political activism
liberalize their gender sentiments and grant them access to during the Obama era. The study uses a large random sample
more feminist organizations and allies. of adult women and includes factors that are often over-
The rest of the resource variables had conditional and looked by previous studies of feminist activism. Sociological
inconsistent results. Family income never predicted partici- studies often skip Gurin et al.’s (1980) conceptualization of a
pation in the women’s movement, but being a stay-at-home feminist consciousness while psychological studies are often
mother initially did. As the homemaker status lost signifi- oblivious to matters of social class cleavages and social net-
cance in the feminist perspective regression, we suspect that works (Ayres et al. 2009; Nelson et al. 2008; Yoder et al.
wifely homemakers are less active in the women’s move- 2011). Quantitative studies from both disciplines also seem
ment because they are more accepting of gender inequities to ignore the role of sexual identities as well (for exceptions,
than employed women. see Grollman 2017; Harnois 2015).
Our data also suggested that a feminist consciousness is Still, this study is not without methodological shortcom-
essential to joining the women’s movement. Recognizing ings. First, some of the measures are far from ideal. Being
discrimination against women, desiring better media cover- “active in women’s rights movement” could mean different
age of gender issues, and having emotional affinity to femi- things to different respondents. The term women’s right move-
nists significantly predicted feminist activism in every ment might be outdated or confusing to younger women, and
regression. This suggests that seeing a structural source of we cannot know if people consistently apply the women’s
women’s subjugation and holding positive impressions of movement term to recent campaigns arounds Black Lives
feminists are both connected to feminist activism regard- Matter or pro-choice agendas. Some women could have
less of women’s social identities, educational level, and restricted their movement participation answer to traditional
group affiliations. Seeing a shared fate with women definitions of political behavior such as protesting or voting,
increased feminist activism until one controlled for the while others could have included cultural aspects of femi-
other components of a feminist consciousness. Thus, a nism. Staggenborg and Taylor (2005) warn that the focus on
sense that women face similar circumstances is important “contentious social movements” ignores the ways that femi-
to feminist activism when those commonalities are seen as nism tries to transform the ways that gender is conceptualized
8 Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World 

and performed (e.g., working at domestic violence shelters, Likelihood of Confronting Sexism in their Everyday Lives.”
refusing to cook dinner for a male spouse, personally object- Sex Roles 61:449–60.
ing to sexist comments, hiring an attorney to challenge the Bolzendahl, Catherine, and Daniel Myers. 2004. “Feminist Attitudes
glass ceiling at work, rebuking sexist Internet comments, or and Support for Gender Equality.” Social Forces 83:759–90.
rejecting patriarchal efforts to “manage” one’s body). Second, Brady, Henry, Sidney Verba, and Kay Lehman Schlozman. 1995.
“Beyond SES: A Resource Model of Political Participation.”
single-item measures for the recognition of sexism can miss
American Political Science Review 89:271–94.
some of the more crucial elements of this multidimensional Carroll, William, and Robert Ratner. 1996. “Master Framing
phenomenon. It is possible that anger over the gendered qual- and Cross-movement Networking in Contemporary Social
ities of child care, body management, sexual double stan- Movements.” The Sociological Quarterly 37:601–25.
dards, domestic violence, sexual harassment, salary inequities, Carter, J. Scott, and Casey Borch. 2005. “Assessing the Effects of
or the general devaluing of women could have all increased Urbanism and Regionalism on Gender-Role Attitudes, 1974–
feminist activism more than a general impression of discrimi- 1998.” Sociological Inquiry 75:548–63.
nation against women. Small cell sizes leads to a conversion Cassese, Erin, and Mirya Holman. 2016. “Religious Beliefs,
of race into a binary code, but this statistical necessity glosses Gender Consciousness, and Women’s Political Participation.”
over racial differences for women of color. This study could Sex Roles 75:514–27.
have also overlooked key variables as well. Educational fac- Chenoweth, Erica, and Jeremy Pressman. 2017. “This Is What We
tors could have been more important if we had information on Learned by Counting the Women’s Marches.” Washington
Post Online. Retrieved June 1, 2017 (https://www.washington-
being enrolled in gender studies classes (Stake 2007), and
post.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/02/07/).
accepting a feminist label could have been more important
Davis, Shannon, and Theodore Greenstein. 2009. “Gender Ideology:
than having a feminist consciousness (Yoder et al. 2011). Components, Predictors, and Consequences.” Annual Review
Having feminist relatives or friends can spurn greater activ- of Sociology 35:87–105.
ism, as could exposure to feminist ideas during childhood or Duncan, Lauren, and Abigail Stewart. 2007. “Personal Political
adolescence (Liss et al. 2004; Nelson et al. 2008). Moreover, Salience: The Role of Personality in Collective Identity and
electronic communication from political parties increased Action.” Political Psychology 28:143–64.
feminist activism, but the sociopolitical messages found in Earl, Jennifer, and Katrina Kimport. 2011. Digitally Enabled Social
the social media outlets of blogs, podcasts, Facebook, or Change: Activism in the Internet Age. Cambridge, MA: MIT
Twitter might matter as well (Earl and Kimport 2011). Lastly, Press.
this paper could have problems with temporal ordering. England, Paula. 2010. “The Gender Revolution: Uneven and
Stalled.” Gender & Society 24:149–66.
Engaging in feminist activism can be a life-altering experi-
Fahs, Breanne. 2007. “Second Shifts and Political Awakenings:
ence, so it is possible that women change their marital status,
Divorce and the Political Socialization of Middle-aged
move to liberal regions, join more political groups, and have Women.” Journal of Divorce & Remarriage 47:43–66.
an elevated feminist consciousness after being involved in Ferree, Myra Marx, William Gamson, Jurgen Gerhards, and Dieter
feminist mobilization earlier in life. Rucht. 2002. Shaping Abortion Discourse: Democracy and the
We hope this study reintegrates a new round of studies on Public Sphere in Germany and the United States. New York:
feminism activism. The massive round of feminist protests dur- Cambridge University Press.
ing the Trump administration obviously created a substantial Friedman, Carly, and Campbell Leaper. 2010. “Sexual-minority
influx of first-time protesters. Future researchers should see if College Women’s Experiences with Discrimination: Relations
these newer feminist activists are drawn to activism for similar or with Identity and Collective Action.” Psychology of Women
different reasons than activists in the past. Similarly, it would be Quarterly 34:152–64.
illuminating to see what differentiates women who briefly join Grollman, Eric Anthony. 2017. “Sexual Orientation Differences in
Attitudes about Sexuality, Race, and Gender.” Social Science
the women’s movement versus those who persist over long inter-
Research 61:126–41.
vals. In sum, scholars and activists alike need to generate more
Gurin, Patricia, Arthur Miller, and Gerald Gurin. 1980. “Stratum
knowledge of how different groups of people—feminists, social- Identification and Consciousness.” Social Psychology
ists, antiracists, sexual minorities, environmentalists, immi- Quarterly 43:30–47.
grants, and any other group—can mount and sustain successful Hamilton, Laura, Claudia Geist, and Brian Powell. 2011. “Marital
social movements that block or counteract the forces of conser- Name Change as a Window into Gender Attitudes.” Gender &
vatism, patriarchy, and racism so deeply embodied in the current Society 25:145–75.
Trump presidency and throughout his administration. The time is Harnois, Catherine. 2015. “Race, Ethnicity, Sexuality, and Women’s
now for us to better understand the nature of feminist resistance Political Consciousness of Gender.” Social Psychology
and activist rebellions against hegemony and inequality. Quarterly 78:365–86.
Heaney, Michael T., and Fabio Rojas. 2014. “Hybrid Activism:
Social Movement Mobilization in a Multimovement
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Eric Swank is an associate professor of practice in social and cul-
Passy, Florence, and Marco Giugni. 2001. “Social Networks and
tural analysis at Arizona State University. His research focuses on
Individual Perceptions: Explaining Differential Participation in
the ways that stigmatized populations accept and challenge social
Social Movements.” Sociological Forum 16:123–53.
inequalities. His research on the framing practices of LGBT,
Peltola, Pia, Melissa A. Milkie, and Stanley Presser. 2004. “The
pro-life, and antiwar activism has appeared in the Journal of
‘Feminist’ Mystique: Feminist Identity in Three Generations
Homosexuality, Sex Roles, Sexuality Research & Social Policy, and
of Women.” Gender & Society 18:122–44.
Sociological Inquiry. His upcoming paper on the political distinc-
Schlozman, Kay Lehman, Nancy Burns, and Sidney Verba. 1994.
tiveness of sexual minorities will be appearing in Politics, Groups
“Gender and the Pathways to Participation.” Journal of Politics
& Identities.
56:963–90.
Schussman, Alan, and Sarah Soule. 2005. “Process and Protest: Breanne Fahs is professor of women and gender studies at
Accounting for Individual Protest Participation.” Social Forces Arizona State University, where she specializes in research and
84:1083–108. teaching on women’s sexuality, critical embodiment, radical
Soule, Sarah, Doug McAdam, John McCarthy, and Yang Su. feminism, and political activism. She has published over 50 arti-
1999. “Protest Events: Cause or Consequence of State Action: cles and six books, including Performing Sex, The Moral Panics
The U.S. Women’s Movement and Federal Congressional of Sexuality, Valerie Solanas, Out for Blood, Transforming
Activities.” Mobilization 4:239–56. Contagion, and Firebrand Feminism. She is the director of the
Staggenborg, Suzanne, and Verta Taylor. 2005. “Whatever Happened Feminist Research on Gender and Sexuality Group and also
to the Women’s Movement?” Mobilization 10:37–52. works as a clinical psychologist in private practice.