Effect of Sexist Humor on Increasing Men’s Rape Proclivity Against Women (Based on Empirical Research)

Abstract

The issue of violence against women has existed for a long time and has remained relevant in the modern world. One of the perspectives of its research is the analysis of the factors provoking and legitimizing this violence. A specifi c part in this is played by cultural factors, in particular, sexist humor, the negative impact of which on relations between men and women has been clearly underestimated. The objective of this paper is to address the issue of the infl uence of sexist humor on men’s propensity to violence against women. The author has examined the cases of Russian sexist humor and several foreign studies on the social consequences of disparaging humor. The study has revealed that in Russia the problem of social consequences of sexist humor has not been realized and has not given rise to concern for the majority of the society. However, a survey of overseas studies indicates that there is a direct correlation between comedic performances using discriminatory expressions directed at women and an increase in violence against them.