For even when people become less sexist—that is, less skeptical about women’s intellectual acumen or leadership abilities, and less inclined to buy into pernicious gendered stereotypes about women’s being overly emotional or irrational—this does not mean that feminism’s work is done. On the contrary, misogyny that was latent or lay dormant within a culture may manifest itself when women’s capabilities become more salient and hence demoralizing or threatening. And this may result in more or less subtle forms of lashing out, moralism, wishful thinking, and willful denial, as well as the kind of
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