does growing up in a wholly or predominantly female home make you more likely to be a feminist

[bna]

I was thinking about this today, the only male I can think of who is a feminist/pro female rights activist is my brother. Our dad left us when he was 18mnths and he was the only male in our household growing up (it was my mum,me,him and my 2 older sisters). Our house was a matriarchy with him being the only boy and the youngest and he often despairs at how other men behave towards women. Do you think that the male/female ratio of the household whilst growing up has any influence

no, i think the household is a tiny part of an upbringing.

my DH was adversely affected by his father even though he left the family home when DH was 5yrs old and had sporadic contact after that.

DH's father is a misogynist and while DH is not he did pick up a complex about 'providing' from him which has taken me a long time to dispell, despite his strong mother and sister.

I think the household that you're brought up in certainly plays a significant role in defining your morals and values. Whether that be the assimilation or rejection of your parents ones. The fact that he had 3 sisters and a mother means he probably saw women do things that would be considered mans "work" so he'll realise that women are just as capable as men as he was shown from an early age.

Nah.

It depends on whether YOUr home is aware of feminist issues or not and whether your parents lived that or just paid lip service to it.

Lots of women have internalised patriarchal messages, so a predominance of them in the house, isn't a guarantee of feminist consciousness.

I'm sure that having a brother spurred on my feminism - having to read guff like Janet and John (or was it Peter and Jane) where the boy goes fishing with his dad while the girl and mum do the washing... I certainly didn't want that happening in my family!

I definitely know women who grew up in an all female household who have a 'can do' attitude to things that might normally be considered men's work - my cleaner is a case in point - she and her sisters and mum ran a farm after their dad was killed in an accident. Mending vacuum cleaners does not faze her because she used to mend tractors.... However holding feminist-type attitudes is not the same as being a feminist, and in some ways the uber-competent women I know are among the least likely to identify as feminists, because if they've always lived alone and never had to rely on men they've not come up so much against the sexist attitudes that are what radicalises some people; I have also met many women who became feminists as a reaction against traditional family set-ups which they saw were unfair. So I think it can work either way.

Actually I grew up in a household where my parents were very traditional, irish catholics and I had to do domestic work while my brother didn't.

That made me a feminist round about age 7.

I grew up in a feminist and female-headed home and feminism came as naturally as breathing. It was a terrible shock when I eventually discovered how the rest of the world worked. It led to numerous painful clashes and misunderstandings because I just didn't know what I was dealing with.
I assumed my mum did most of the housework etc because she was the responsible adult in the house, and that if there were more adults, they would share the work. It took me years to realise that other people assumed that the woman would still do it because it was woman's work.
It was only after my father died I realised what a misogynist he was, because having been brought up in a feminist household I literally didn't know that people could/did think like that.
Sadly having been abused by my mother I have been prone to getting involved with controlling men and trying to please them in any way necessary--despite decades of being a feminist myself.

sethstarkaddersmum has a very good point, i never identified in any way as a feminist as an adolescent or young adult (still struggle with it a little) because i grew up in a totally equal household it honestly never occured to me that my gender would ever or could ever hold me back.

I was totally naive to gender issues and very lucky and sailed through school in the sciences and maths and off to univeristy, i didn't mind being surrounded by boys and never suffered for being a bit of a tomboy in any way.

I don't think that volume makes a difference. Influence is more subtle than that, and if the women who surround you are happy/complicit in subjugated roles then there being more of them isn't going to help you to realise that that's not the ideal. My mother claimed some feminism but made it very clear that my father's needs came first, whilst my father actively encouraged all of us (my two sisters and me and my brother equally) to become whatever we wanted to be.

My dh was brought up in a household where his parents were very signed up to the traditional roles, but where his father was much more actively involved in both household and caring roles (my father really did/does very little, apart from providing wine/sherry etc, and carving joints) as a result he has always assumed that everything should be shared (and domestically he does way way more than me).

So I'd say that men/fathers can be just as influential as women/mothers.

I think growing up in the type of household the OP describes may have an impact on her brother, he will have witnessed at first hand that women do not have to submit to mens wishes and desires. I'm also guessing that being the only male and the youngest meant that he probably got bossed around a lot by the women of the house.

My father became a feminist since the moment he realised that he was going to be the only male in the family. So from changing car wheels to do electrical repairs in the house, he always gave us the treatment that he would have given a boy. We grew up highly independant and very feminist.

Exh cooked wonderfully, was able to iron his clothes and could entertain DS. He was very much a feminist but so was his mum.

I think it boils down to the roles adults play in the household where they grew up. A household where mum does EVERYTHING and dad just brings the money, is likely to produce boys that choose the provider role, and girls who are happy to be left with all the responsibility of raising the family.

Your upbringing can have an influence and by the sounds of it it has on the OPs brother but its far from guaranteed

Obviously your upbringing does have a major impact on your life and if you grow up in a feminist household then you are more likely to be one but it is far from certain to happen.

That said its always good to get male feminists

I think it can have an influence but growing up in a female headed household doesn't always mean that someone is going to be a feminist.