How Men Actually Become Less Sexist If They Have Daughters

A new study from the brains at Harvard has found that men become less sexist when they have daughters.

Unfortunately, many men don't seem to understand the complexity of the female experience until they actually raise a daughter and watch her navigate the choppy waters of sexism.

And this revaluation isn't just good for politics and morality, but the economy too.

The study called, 'And the Children Shall Lead: Gender Diversity and Performance in Venture Capital' by Paul A. Gompers and Sophie Q. Wang, consisted of 1,400 Venture Capitalists who where backing firms from 1990 to 2016.

They found that those who had daughters instead of sons increased the probability of hiring a female investor by 24 per cent.

Which is fantastic in itself, but get this: firms which had more diverse hires also saw improved financial returns.

In short, having daughters is good for the economy.

It's pretty terrifying that men hold such a bias between male and female hires, and it shows how insipid a lack of diversity can be.

A 2006 study claimed that Members of Congress with daughters vote more liberally and another from 2015 said that CEOs with daughters spend more time on social causes.

'The more exposure we have to others who are different from us, the more we become debiased,' Gompers told Huffpost.

Gompers has three daughters ages 25, 21, and 19 and said: 'Watching their struggles and issues, especially my 25-year-old who is working in a venture backed enterprise software company in New York City has created insights that are certainly dependent upon having daughters.'

That being said, clearly having a daughter isn't the Golden Ticket to respecting women...not naming any names...

Although we're all for the power of young girls changing the world, it's quite frustrating to think that simple exposure to women's issues is enough to make tangible strides in achieving greater diversity and eradicating gender bias.

Why does only having a female child do this?

Telling everyone to have a daughter doesn't seem to be a particularly practical plan to eradicate inequality. Why can't men make more of an effort to enter female friendships or just blummin' talk to their mums? We're everywhere, you don't have to birth us to understand us.

Ok, rant over.

Daisy Murray

Digital Fashion Editor

Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.