Jezebel has directed my eyes to this Forbes write-up of a study on the effects of confronting men over sexist comments.

Surprise! Turns out instead of causing men to act angry, defensive, or agressive (which is what one sometimes fears when weighing whether or not to remark on a coworker's or friend's sexist language), being called out on sexism made the men in the study act nicer.

The study paired men with female partners, had them read and discuss a set of "moral or ethical dilemmas," then had the women confront the men either for sexism ("i.e., having assumed the nurse in the story was female, which every male participant did") or for a gender-neutral disagreement.

As expected, men had much stronger reactions to being told that their remark was sexist than they did to mere disagreement. But the reactions weren’t what you might expect. The men accused of sexism smiled and laughed more, appeared more surprised, gestured more often and with greater energy, and were more likely to try to justify or apologize for their remark.

And!

Men were significantly nicer to their female partner while discussing a second set of dilemmas after having been accused of sexism, than they were after merely being told they wrong.

The “sexists” were more agreeable, more likely to try to search for common ground with their partner – they even smiled at her more. And because they had worked harder to make the relationship work, at the end of the study the men accused of sexism reported liking their partner more than those who weren’t accused of it.

Read the rest, and remember it the next time you feel like calling someone on their sexism would be awkward. 'Cause science says it might not be. Or at least, that the awkwardness could be worth it.