Masculinity, Femininity, and Androgyny

Abstract

An attempt was made to test the hypothesis that in Western culture, "femininity" has a somewhat negative connotation, & people tend to admire women who have personality traits that they define as "masculine." Initially, 60 informants were interviewed. The sample included 10 U professors, 20 U students, & 30 non-Coll R's. An open-ended questionnaire was administered to 186 Coll students at the U of California, Los Angeles (N=95) & California State U, Northridge (N=81). The data confirm the initial hypothesis & yield further conclusions: (1) even when people define "masculine" & "feminine" as polar opposites, they frequently admire androgynous or contrasexual characteristics in individuals of both sexes, (2) in general, the higher the level of Coll education, the less likely a person is to see a clear dichotomy between masculinity & femininity, & the more likely a person is to approve similar patterns of behavior in both sexes, & (3) education is more powerful than sex as a basis for predicting a person's attitudes toward sexual stereotypes. 16 Tables. Modified AA.