10 minutes with...Geert Hofstede on Masculinity versus Femininity 10112014
Summary
TLDRThis script explores the concept of masculinity and femininity in societal roles, contrasting 'masculine' societies that prioritize assertiveness, material success, and work over family with 'feminine' societies that value modesty, tenderness, and a balance between work and family life. Anthropologist Margaret Mead's work is highlighted, emphasizing the emotional roles associated with gender. The script discusses the implications of these societal attitudes on various aspects such as education, poverty, international aid, marketing, and social media use. It also touches on the historical stability of these dimensions and the taboo nature of the term 'femininity' in the United States.
Takeaways
- 📚 Masculine and feminine are terms used to describe societal roles and behaviors, not just biological sex.
- 🌍 Anthropological studies since the 1930s have explored the diverse gender role divisions across different societies.
- 👩🏫 Margaret Mead, a young female American anthropologist, has been influential in these studies.
- 🔍 The sixth dimension is unique in that the source of information (male or female) affects the perception of the information.
- 🏙️ In masculine societies, emotional gender roles are distinct, emphasizing assertiveness and material success for men, and quality of life for women.
- 🌸 Feminine societies have less distinct role separation, with men also expected to be modest, tender, and focused on quality of life.
- 💼 Work-life balance is prioritized in feminine societies, whereas work often takes precedence over family in masculine societies.
- 👨👩👧👦 In masculine societies, fathers deal with facts and mothers with feelings, contrasting with the more balanced approach in feminine societies.
- 🌐 The concept of masculinity and femininity varies across cultures, with no direct correlation to a country's wealth.
- 📊 The masculinity index (MAS) measures a society's position on the masculinity-femininity spectrum, with Japan scoring the highest and countries like Denmark and the Netherlands scoring low.
- 🔗 Masculinity and femininity scores correlate with societal factors such as literacy rates, poverty levels, and attitudes towards the weak.
Q & A
What is the difference between masculine and feminine in the context of the video?
-In the video, masculine and feminine refer to societal structures where emotional gender roles are distinct. Masculine societies emphasize assertiveness, toughness, and material success for men, while feminine societies encourage a balance between modesty, tenderness, and focus on the quality of life for both men and women.
Who is Margaret Mead and what is her significance in the context of this video?
-Margaret Mead was a young female American Anthropologist who played an important role in the 1930s by studying the variety of role divisions between genders in different societies, contributing significantly to the understanding of gender roles in anthropology.
How does the video define a masculine society in terms of emotional roles?
-A masculine society is defined as one where emotional gender roles are distinct, with men expected to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success, while women are expected to be modest, tender, and focused on the quality of life.
What is the significance of the sixth dimension in the video's discussion?
-The sixth dimension is significant because it is the only dimension where the source of information, whether it comes from women or men, matters. In other dimensions, the gender of the data collector does not affect the position of the dimensions.
How does the video describe the balance between family and work in masculine versus feminine societies?
-In masculine societies, work clearly prevails over family, and neglecting family for work is considered acceptable. In contrast, feminine societies aim to balance family and work, and work is not an acceptable excuse to neglect family.
What is the term used in Nordic countries to describe jealousy of high achievers, as mentioned in the video?
-In Nordic countries, the term 'yente laen' is used to describe the phenomenon of being jealous of high achievers, derived from a novel that illustrates the behavior of people in a small town towards newcomers.
How does the video relate masculinity and femininity to religious beliefs?
-In masculine societies, religion tends to focus on a powerful God, often referred to as God the Father. In feminine societies, religion is more focused on fellow human beings and relationships.
What is the masculinity index (MAS) mentioned in the video, and how is it measured?
-The masculinity index (MAS) is a scale used to measure the position of masculinity or femininity in a society relative to other societies. It ranges from 0 for the most feminine society to 100 for the most masculine society.
Which country has the highest masculinity score according to the video?
-According to the video, Japan has the highest masculinity score.
How does the video suggest that masculinity scores can be correlated with societal facts?
-The video suggests that masculinity scores can be correlated with various societal facts, such as the percentage of functionally illiterate people, the number of people living below the poverty level, the percentage of budget spent on aid to poor countries, and attitudes towards poverty.
Does the video suggest that masculinity and femininity are stable dimensions over time?
-Yes, the video suggests that masculinity and femininity at the societal level are as stable as other dimensions, with country differences often rooted in history and transferred to children through family role models.
Outlines
🌍 Gender Roles and Society: The Anthropological Perspective
This paragraph discusses the anthropological understanding of gender roles, distinguishing between 'masculine' and 'feminine' as societal constructs rather than biological differences. It highlights the work of Margaret Mead, an American anthropologist, who studied the division of roles between genders across different societies. The paragraph introduces the concept of 'masculine' societies, where emotional gender roles are distinct, and men are expected to be assertive and focused on material success, while women are expected to be modest and tender, focusing on the quality of life. In contrast, 'feminine' societies are characterized by a more balanced approach to gender roles, where both men and women are expected to be nurturing and focused on the quality of life. The paragraph also touches on how these societal expectations influence family dynamics, work-life balance, and attitudes towards the weak and successful individuals.
📊 Measuring Masculinity and Femininity: The Masculinity Index
This paragraph delves into the concept of the Masculinity Index (Mas), a scale used to measure the degree of masculinity or femininity in a society. It presents a list of countries with their corresponding scores on this index, with Japan scoring the highest for masculinity. The paragraph also discusses the lack of correlation between a country's wealth and its level of masculinity or femininity, noting that both rich and poor countries can be either masculine or feminine. It further explores the implications of these scores, such as the relationship between masculinity and societal factors like illiteracy, poverty levels, and attitudes towards aid to poor countries. Additionally, it mentions how societal values around masculinity and femininity can influence marketing, employment negotiations, and social media usage. The paragraph concludes with the observation that masculinity and femininity scores tend to be stable over time and are passed down through generations.
🚫 The Taboo of Femininity: A Cultural Analysis
The final paragraph addresses the cultural taboo surrounding the concept of femininity, particularly in the United States, which is described as a very masculine country. It discusses the idea of a taboo as a reflection of a strong societal value that is so ingrained that certain words or concepts become off-limits. The paragraph suggests that the avoidance of the term 'femininity' in the USA may indicate a resistance to acknowledging or discussing the feminine aspects of society. It concludes with the notion that, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, societal levels of masculinity and femininity are considered as stable as other cultural dimensions, and that these values are deeply rooted in historical and cultural contexts.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Masculine Societies
💡Feminine Societies
💡Gender Roles
💡Margaret Mead
💡Masculinity Index (MAS)
💡Functional Illiterates
💡Poverty Perception
💡Work-Life Balance
💡Religion and Society
💡Sexual Relationships
💡Social Media Usage
Highlights
Masculine and feminine are not the same as male and female; they refer to manlike and womanlike characteristics.
Anthropological studies since the 1930s have explored the variety of gender role divisions in different societies.
Margaret Mead, a young female American Anthropologist, played an important role in these studies.
In the sixth dimension, the source of information (women or men) matters, unlike other dimensions.
Masculine societies are defined by distinct emotional gender roles, such as assertiveness and toughness for men.
Feminine societies are characterized by a weaker separation of emotional roles, with men also expected to be modest and tender.
In masculine societies, work prevails over family, while in feminine societies, there is a balance between family and work.
Masculine societies view work as an acceptable excuse to neglect family, whereas family is not an acceptable excuse to neglect work.
In masculine societies, fathers deal with facts and mothers with feelings, while in feminine societies, both parents handle both.
Masculine societies admire strength, while feminine societies show sympathy for the weak.
In masculine societies, boys are not supposed to cry, while in feminine societies, both boys and girls may cry.
Religion in masculine societies focuses on a powerful God, while in feminine societies, it focuses on fellow human beings.
Masculine societies view sex as a performance with men as subjects and women as objects, while feminine societies see it as a way for couples to relate.
The position of masculinity or femininity in a society is measured relative to other societies using a masculinity index (MAS).
Japan has the highest masculinity score, while countries like Denmark and the Netherlands are on the feminine side.
There is no direct relationship between a country's wealth and its level of masculinity or femininity.
Masculinity and femininity scores can be correlated with societal facts such as literacy rates and poverty levels.
In masculine societies, salary is more important than leisure during employment negotiations, while in feminine societies, leisure is equally important.
Masculine societies use social media for fact-gathering, while feminine societies use it for rapport building and relationship development.
Masculinity scores are considered stable over time and are passed down through generations within families.
The concept of femininity is a taboo in the USA, reflecting a strong societal value.
Transcripts
[Music]
masculine and feminine are not the same
as male and female they are the
latinized words that are used for
manlike and woman likee so for example a
man can be called feminine and a woman
can be called
masculine in anthropology since about
the
1930s U there has been studies of the
variety of role divisions between the
genders in different
societies and very important role here
has been played by the young uh female
American Anthropologist Margaret meat
it's interesting that from the sixth
Dimension this is the only one where it
matters whether the information comes
from women or from Men in the other
dimensions whether you collect your data
from women or from men you get the same
position of the dimensions the
definition masculinity is society in
which emotional gender roles are
distinct I'm not talking about social
gender roles because they have a lot to
do with the wealth of the country but
I'm talking about the emotional role
what you should feel being born as a boy
or being born as a girl and the boys
should be assertive and tough and
focused on material success and the
women should be focused on the quality
of
life uh I call Society feminine
if this role separation is not there or
it is weaker at least so that especially
men are also supposed at times to be
modest and tender and focused on the
quality of
life uh now I'm opposing feminine
societies to masculine societies most
societies are somewhere in between in
feminine societies people try to balance
family and work in masculine societies
work clearly prevails over the family
and um work is an acceptable uh excuse
to neglect the
family and family is of course not an
acceptable excuse to neglect your
work within the family in masculine
Society fathers should deal with facts
and mothers should deal with feelings
and if the children are hurt they should
go to Mama
in the feminine societies both father
and mother should deal with facts and
feeding so you may go to Mama for facts
and you may go to Papa if you're
hurt masculine societies admire the
strong feminine societies are jealous of
High Flyers and especially in the Nordic
countries Denmark Sweden Norway they
have a word for this yente laen it means
the law of yente a yente is a name of a
little town from a novel that describes
how the people in the little town we so
jealous of somebody who came in who is
the author of the novel in masculine
societies people this day in the weak in
feminine societies they have sympathy
for the weak in masculine societies
girls cry but boys should not cry boys
fight but girls should not fight in
femin in societies both boys and girls
May Cry but neither should
fight in religion you have
different religions or different flavors
of religions in the masculine Society it
focuses on God God the Father the
powerful God and in feminine societies
religion focuses on the fellow human
being and finally obviously it's also
related to sexual ual relationship and
you could say that in the feminine
Society sex is a way for a couple to
relate uh in masculine societies sex is
a way of Performing and often it is so
that men is the subject and woman is the
object now how do we measure the
position of masculinity
femininity all dimension for a
society it can only be measured
relative to other societies and we
measure it in a masculinity index
Mas and the scale goes from zero for the
most feminine Society to 100 for the
most masculine
Society I have here a list of some 14
countries selected from the 76 for which
we have scores and you see that this
country with the highest masculinity
score is Japan
and also high on the masculinity side we
find Italy and Mexico and China and
Britain and Germany and the
USA and on the other side we find the
Arab countries just on that borderline
we find France we find Russia we find
Thailand Costa Rica Denmark and the
Netherlands now which shows that there
is no relationship at all between the
wealth of a country and masculinity or
femininity there are poor and Wealthy
masculine countries and poor and Wealthy
feminine
countries now what can we do with those
Mass scores well again we can correlate
them with hard facts in society for
example a few things that correlate
significantly with masculinity
femininity first of all the percentage
of people who are functionally
illiterate which means that they cannot
read or write uh in masculine societies
there are more functional illiterates
than in feminine
societies but also in masculine
societies there are more people living
below the poverty level than in feminine
societies for the outside masculine
societies spent a lesser part of their
budget on eight to poor countries
feminine societies spent a higher
percentage of their budget on Aid to
poor
countries they have been surveys to see
what people blame poverty on and in
masculine societies there is a popular
opinion that poverty is blamed on
laziness it means that if people are
poor is is because they are too lazy to
work whereas on feminine societies
poverty and to be blamed on simply bad
luck in marketing there is a difference
that clearly food Shoppers are women so
advertising for example for food is done
to a women public in feminine societies
both men and women shop for
food and finally uh something about the
relationship uh between the employer and
the employee
when they are negotiating upon
conditions then in masculine societies
salary is clearly more important than
leisure in feminine societies it is at
least as Leisure is at least as
important as salaries and in fact
feminine societies tend to have longer
vacations than masculine
societies and at the last point in
social media has been proven that in
masculine societies people use the
social media for fact Gathering and in
feminine societies they use it more for
Rapport building for developing
relationships with other
users do masculinity scores change over
time they are transferred to the
children in the family with obviously
father and mother as role
models and like for the other dimensions
the country differences expressed in the
mour tend to be rooted in history I have
an interesting example from the 16th
century which is so some one author
compared at that time two maritim Powers
Britain and Holland and compared them to
a couple where Britain was the man and
Holland was the
woman this is still the position Britain
is a masculine country and the
Netherlands are a feminine
country the database that we used for
comparing um the Generations on power
distance and individualism collectivism
unfortunately does not allow to compare
the masculinity femininity Dimensions
because it is the world value survey an
American survey and it does not contain
in its questionnaire values related to
the feminine pole of the dimension and
if you have only one pole you cannot
measure a
dimension in the USA the word femininity
is a taboo USA is of course a very
masculine country and what is a taboo a
taboo is an expression of a very strong
value a value so strong that the word
should even not be
used so my conclusion is that for for
lack of other evidence I consider
masculinity and femininity at the
societal level as stable as the other
dimensions
[Music]
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