Feminist Perspectives Scale

What is FemScale?

FemScale is an online quiz designed to measure and analyse your attitudes towards women. This project aims to educate those who are interested in feminism. FemScale is based on an influential paper by Henley et al. (1998), with inspiration from 8values, LeftValues and RightValues. You will be presented with a statement, and then you will answer how much you agree with it. Questions will be presented in random order. Answer honestly! There are 60 statements (adapted from the original 85-item scale; it takes about 10 minutes). We do not collect your data!

Warning

Do not use this scale for personnel screening! Please be warned that there will be questions about homophobia, sexual violence and abortion.

The Six Perspectives

Your answers will be analysed based on the following six perspectives:

• Conservativism: Conservatives advocate for a hierarchal society with males/men as dominant and females/women as subordinate.
• Liberal Feminist: Liberal feminists believe that men and women have essentially the same potentials, but women are denied of their rights to equal opportunity and freedom, especially in politics and economy.
• Radical Feminist: Radical feminists seek to dismantle the patriarchy by challenging existing gender roles and opposing the male-dominated power structure.
• Socialist Feminist: Socialist feminists see women's oppression as rooted in capitalism and the private ownership of production, linking patriarchy and capitalism together.
• Cultural Feminist: Cultural feminists emphasize the value of traditionally feminine qualities and believe that women's unique experiences bring valuable perspectives to society.
• Womanist: Womanists emphasize the importance of a women's movement that acknowledges and includes women of color, who were often overlooked or excluded from earlier feminist movements.

Scoring

Your scores are calculated based on your responses to the 60 statements. Each perspective is scored from 0 to 100.

The closer your score is to 100 for a particular perspective, the more your views align with that feminist perspective.

Copyright Notice

All questions are copyrighted by Nancy M. Henley (1989, 1997). This scale is expressly not to be used for personnel screening. Permission is given for its use, or use of any part of it, without charge, for research and educational purposes only.

Reference

• Henley, N. M., Meng, K., Brien, D. O., McCarthy, W. J., Sockloskie, R. J. (1998). Developing a Scale to measure the diversity of feminist attitudes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 22, 317-348.