Gender Roles Of Masculinity Vs. Femininity

Hofstede uses the words masculinity and femininity to refer to the degree to which masculine or feminine traits are valued or revealed (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel). The United States rates as a moderately masculine. Countries that favor masculinity stress equity, competition, and performance(Yates). They also strive for material success and expected to respect whatever is big, strong, and fast. France values femininity and stress equality, solidarity, and quality of work life (Yates). A feminine worldview maintains that men can assume nurturing roles while promoting sexual equality. One major difference in masculine/feminine cultures is the role of the woman in the workplace and at home. Feminine societies expect women to work and often provide the necessary social support systems. Although the United States is more masculine than France both countries treat females as equals.

Masculinity has changed very little over time. By definition, to be masculine is to be tough, having little or no emotion, and having great physical strength and endurance. Men are thought to be natural leaders and should accept the role of dominating the household (both his wife and children. “Inequality between women and men is a worldwide social phenomenon”. (Schaefer, R., 2012. p354)

There is an obvious difference between a man and a woman, but it goes even deeper than biology and chromosomes. Men and woman are often seen as polar opposites, but when the genetics and physiology are set aside, the difference between masculinity and femininity is less clear. Aaron H. Devor wrote in his 1989 article, Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender, that due to the structure of American society, “masculinity thus becomes ‘innately’ valuable and femininity serves a contrapuntal function to delineate and magnify the hierarchical dominance of masculinity” (430). Devor describes the role of femininity in current society as merely a way to put the value and superiority of masculinity into perspective. Devor

What does it take to be defined as masculine or feminine? Since the dawn of time there has always been this huge culteral divide between men and women in terms of what they may or may not be categorized as. Over the past few centuries there has been a massive reconstruction on what it takes for a man to be masculine and for a woman to be feminine. Surely we can say that both men and women have a drive to succeed through hardwork and dedication.

The world average for the Masculinity Dimension is 50, with both the United States and Australia having a higher ranking. Traits associated with masculinity are assertiveness, material success, and individual achievement. The female population has adapted these traits and begun to shift toward a more traditional male role, with an increasing number of women continuing to enter the workforce. The direct communication style of the United States illustrates the masculine traits. The U.S. places heavy emphasis on getting their point across rather than getting to know those they are doing business with. This dimension is closely related to both countries’ rankings in the individuality dimension.

As mentioned by Cixous, in patriarchal binary thought male and female are differentiated by certain roles called masculine and feminine. Male has masculine characteristics that put him in a superior position over the female. In this subchapter, through Lucy’s and Peter’s characteristics, the writer of this thesis discusses the comparison between overrated Peter and underrated Lucy in patriarchal binary thought found in the story and will show how Lewis presents the different position between Peter who has feminine characteristics and Lucy who has masculine characteristics.

According to the book, Marriages, Families, and Relationships: Making Choices in a Diverse Society (2018), by Mary Ann Lamanna, Agnes Riedmann, and Susan D. Stewart., Gender differentiation is defined as cultural expectations about how men and women should behave. Furthermore, “masculine traits” are associated with instrumental character traits, in other words traits that enable someone to complete tasks. While “feminine traits” are associated

How is gender and gender roles socially constructed? Soulliere states that gender is a cultural creation that is frequently developed by and represented through popular cultural media such as advertisements, music, sports, and entertainment television (Soulliere 2006). The article “Wrestling with Masculinity: Messages about Manhood in the WWE” by Danielle M. Soulliere (2006), examines messages about manhood revealed by televised professional wrestling (Soulliere 1). Messages concerning masculinity and manhood were investigated and compared to the cultural version of masculinity (Soulliere 2006). Soulliere’s research proves that the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) depicts messages, which supports the dominant hegemonic form of masculinity (Soulliere 2006). To further grasp and understand Soulliere’s hypothesis, we must first examine her research methods and outcomes.

From Schrock, Schwalbe, Pyke and Johnson, we know that there are two subsections in both masculinity and femininity: hegemonic, and subordinate. The hegemony in both gender identities is typically associated with the white, middle class individuals, while the subordination is associated with anything other: the people of color, the economically marginalized, and the non-heterosexuals. Because it is hard to fit into the hegemonic masculinity/femininity, those of people who do not have membership to the hegemony makes “adjustments”; through these adjustments, the definitions of specific subordinated masculinity and femininity are re-inscribed. (Schrock and Schwalbe, 2008)

Womanhood is often associated with femininity while manhood with masculinity. Masculinity is the idea that men are tough both physically and mentally. Femininity, a term associated with being women is used to describe a women’s comportment and attitude. A gentle individual male or female, who wears dresses, skirts, high heels, makeup, and has long hair would be identified as feminine. Unfortunately, society judges and criticizes a women who do not depict feminine characteristics. Such women are regarded as either homosexual or queer. I chose two pictures of Grace Jones to compare in this essay since she happens to be a gender bender and victim of alike persecutions. Additionally, Grace Jones is a supermodel and singer from Jamaica, who’s renowned for cross-dressing and artistic fashion styles (Williams). The picture titled, “Grace Jones/Nightclubbing,”was derived from the National Portrait Gallery,while the other from, “Essense” website, Jones demonstrates that women can be feminine or soft in one picture and masculine or hard in the other picture through her appearance.

What does it mean to be male or female? To you, masculinity is probably playing sports, drinking beer while watching football games, and wearing a suit and tie. Masculinity is probably short hair and bulging muscles. To you, femininity is probably dressing up in fancy dresses and jewelry, putting on a face of makeup, and going to the nail salon. Femininity is probably long, flowing hair and a slender body. This is not the truth, however. These images have been fed to us by society since the day we were born.

Men are generally identified with a strong characteristics and do not do things like crying and cooking otherwise they will be considered as feminine. Likewise, there are some characteristics that women do not have if they do not want to be considered as masculine such as strong or tough. To some extent either feminine traits in men or masculine traits in women is considered as something

Masculinity and femininity refers to the gender based roles assigned in a society. Masculine societies have clearly defined gender roles while gender roles overlap in feminine societies. Masculine societies place value on achievement of material wealth and competitiveness while feminine societies place value on maintaining good relationships, caring for the weak, and quality of life. As per Hofstede’s masculinity index, Italy is a fairly masculine society and ranks slightly higher than the US (Hofstede Insights, 2018). Even to this day, most Italian men still treat women with value machismo and gallantry. Even though women are allowed to enter the workforce, their numbers are low and few exist in the upper echelon positions. Households are

     The well-known concepts of masculinity and femininity run rampant in our society. We live in a world where men are told to be masculine, women are told to be feminine and those who do not do as they are told, will suffer the societal consequences.

When a country scores a high number in this category, this means that it categorized as a masculine society as opposed to countries scoring low numbers. This means that it is driven by competition,and desire for success. On the opposite, when a country has a low score, this means that the it is driven by caring for others is important as well as having a good quality of life.