Negotiating Care and Control

A Reflexive Thematic Analysis of Benevolent Sexism among Politically Active Women Married to Politically Active Men

Abstract

Benevolent sexism refers to attitudes and practices that appear caring and protective toward women but simultaneously reinforce traditional gender roles and male dominance. While often less visible than hostile sexism, benevolent sexism plays a powerful role in shaping women’s autonomy, agency, and participation in public life. This qualitative study explores how benevolent sexism is experienced, interpreted, and negotiated by politically active women married to politically active men. In-depth interviews were conducted with five politically active women from Kottayam District, Kerala. Data were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2019) within a constructivist–interpretivist epistemological framework. Four themes were generated: (a) care as a gendered technology of control, (b) internalisation of dependence through gender ideologies, (c) the double burden of political visibility and domestic invisibility, and (d) shaping and silencing of women’s political voice within marriage. The findings demonstrate that benevolent sexism operates relationally at the intersection of intimacy and politics, subtly constraining women’s political autonomy while being normalised as love, safety, and support. The study highlights the need to critically interrogate gendered power within politically progressive spaces.