Gender studies: The belief that the target of sexism has shifted from women to men is gaining popularity. Therefore, this belief itself constitutes anti-female sexism.

I came across this piece of mental gymnastics from 2021

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0248374

First, they observe that "The belief that the target of sexism has shifted from women to men is gaining popularity". They call it the "belief in sexism shift (BSS)"

Then they "contend" that this BSS itself constitutes a new form of anti-female sexism. No evidence, just assertions.

Consider this:

like other forms of anti-female sexism, the function of BSS is to sustain a gender hierarchy that places men over women 

and

In sum, the BSS scale can be a valuable tool to help understand a new and potentially growing type of sexism that may hinder women in unprecedented ways.

Instead of providing evidence, they simply poison the well by conflating the belief "anti-male discrimination is pervasive" with "and that it is caused by women’s societal advancement." Who is going to support it now, right?

The authors are your typical "gender studies professionals," and as usual, the study is funded by taxpayers' money. For instance, this sentence exposes how they think about men in general and anti-male discrimination in particular:

Importantly, [perceived] male victimization is not limited to contexts where men may actually be discriminated against, such as female-dominated professions or traditionally feminine roles [17]. Rather, individuals who endorse BSS perceive anti-male discrimination to be ubiquitous, manifesting in multiple settings (e.g., the workplace, politics), through multiple perpetrators (e.g., the media, feminists), and in multiple ways (e.g., political correctness, devaluation of masculinity;

I know, right?