In recent decades, feminist protest movements have achieved major victories across Latin America. At the same time, these movements continue to face fierce opposition not necessarily because of the causes they advance but also, and perhaps more importantly, because women’s activism challenges traditional views about the role of women in society and politics.

In this project, we conduct a survey experiment in Mexico, a country with a burgeoning feminist movement that has gained unprecedented visibility in recent years. The experiment allows us to answer two key questions about popular support for female-led protests: (1) are citizens less likely to support protest movements led by women relative to identical movements led by men? And (2) how does the gender identity of protesters shape the “menu of protest tactics” that the public deems acceptable?

The paper brings together two literatures in comparative politics. On the one hand, there is a growing interest in how specific protest tactics shape popular support for protest movements. Specifically, citizens are more supportive of peaceful protests than those that involve more violent practices (e.g., destruction of property). On the other hand, an extensive literature shows that women in politics often face double standards and are penalized for engaging in the same behavior as their male peers. We expect to answer whether this type of double standard extends to the use of violent protest tactics.