Feminist men report having sex with women more recently than those who do not call themselves feminists; our study cannot answer whether some men adopt a feminist identity to increase their access to sexual partners

Feminist Men and Sexual Behavior: Analyses of Men’s Sex with Women. Max Stick, Tina Fetner. Men and Masculinities, December 24, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X20980789

Abstract: Men’s identification with and support for feminism has attracted the interest of masculinity scholars. This study explores an under-researched dimension of this phenomenon, investigating the relationship between feminist identification and sexual behavior. In heterosexual encounters, do feminist men report having sex more recently than those who do not call themselves feminists? During sexual encounters, do feminist men behave differently than non-feminists? In particular, do feminist men organize their sexual behavior in a way that prioritizes their partners’ sexual pleasure to a greater extent than non-feminists? Using representative survey data of Canadian adults, we examine the self-reported sexual behavior of heterosexual Canadian men. We find that self-identifying feminist men report having sex more recently and are more likely to report engaging in breast stimulation and performing oral sex on their partners than non-feminists. We discuss the implications of these findings on the sociological literature on gender and sexuality.

Keywords: masculinity, feminism, sexuality, sexual behavior, Canada