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PubMed1990

[The autonomy of women: some reflections-statements on the goal].

The author reflects on women's reproductive autonomy and raises questions on the true significance of advancements in feminism in recent years. Does today's context of social interaction between sexes not promote a biologistical femininity characterized by a negative perception of the feminine body and of its reproductive potential? Does women's "liberation" not imply the rejection of the feminine body and of its difference? In order to avoid the perverse effects of the search for autonomy, it is not more appropriate to redefine the feminine body with reference to women instead of with reference to the male universe, as it seems to be the case today?

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1990

Androgyny: a function of degree?

Related to the issue of sexism is the concept of psychological androgyny, or the lack of tendency toward masculine or feminine traits. Studies have examined psychological androgyny through administration of the BEM Sex-Role Inventory and the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey. Whereas one researcher concluded that dental hygiene students are stereotypically feminine, another researcher reported the tendency toward traditionally masculine traits. Both researchers utilized samples consisting solely of baccalaureate students. This paper presents the issue of psychological androgyny, the impact that sex-typing has on the profession of dental hygiene, and the results of a study examining androgyny among dental hygiene students. Three hundred twenty-one first- and second-year dental hygiene students representing four geographic regions within the United States were sampled. The 60-item BEM Sex-Role Inventory was administered to determine the extent of masculinity, femininity, and androgyny within this sample. Comparisons were made by degree program, class status, and geographic location. The authors tested the hypothesis that baccalaureate degree-seeking dental hygiene students were more androgynous than associate degree-seeking dental hygiene students. Data were analyzed by a general linear model for unbalanced designs and chi-square to determine significance. Results indicated that students in all dental hygiene programs are most frequently sex-typed as feminine, with androgyny as the second most frequently sex-typed characteristic. There was a significant difference in psychological androgyny when comparing students by degree program. A greater number of baccalaureate degree-seeking students reflected an androgynous sex-typing.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1989

Depression in women. Psychoanalytic concepts.

I would now like to summarize the relationship between concepts about depression and formulations of feminine development and personality. What are women's vulnerabilities? 1. The particular vicissitudes of feminine development result in differences, in attachment and anxiety about loss of love and abandonment as part of the normal constellation of feminine personality. These derive, in part, from the difference in the process of separation-individuation and differentiation in women as compared with men. 2. The normal feminine personality includes responsiveness and/or dependency in relation to others and greater anxiety about loss of love. This sensitivity is important in the regulation of and fluctuations of self-esteem. 3. The pathways for development of aggression and its fate includes the powerful effect of social customs that prescribe passivity with consequent likelihood of helplessness and the relatively fewer pathways for activity and active mastery. 4. Problems of self-esteem, including those resulting from the recognition of aggression and also the development of an ego ideal that values sacrifice and service. Devaluation of the female body contributes. 5. Problems of identification with a devalued person as a woman--the mother--who is sometimes also depressed. 6. Sex-role stereotypes and life conditions that support devaluation, subservience, and helplessness and limit opportunities.

Depressive Disorder↗
PubMed1987

"I want to be a daddy!": meanings of masculine identifications in girls.

This paper suggests revisions in our understanding of feminine identity formation, the girl's negative oedipus complex, and masculine identifications in girls. Analytic material from the cases of three girls is used to explore the various origins and intrapsychic functions of masculine identifications at each phase of the girl's development. Accounts of feminine development based on such concepts as castration shock, primary femininity, primary identification with mother, or core gender identity are seen as oversimplified. Feminine and masculine identifications are neither primary nor secondary, but the product of a long line of development, of ongoing conflict resolution, and of defensive transformations.

Child↗
PubMed1986

Sex role orientation, level of cognitive development and mathematics performance in late adolescence.

Sex differences in mathematics performance are found in late adolescence. This study investigates the effects of psychological sex role orientation (BSRI: masculine, feminine, undifferentiated, androgynous) and level of cognitive development (concrete, formal) on performance in mathematics. ANOVA analysis (N = 69; 18 males, 51 females) revealed significant effects for level of cognitive development and for masculine by feminine sex role orientation interaction. Subjects whose BSRI masculine and feminine scores were either both low or both high scored significantly lower on the mathematics test than subjects whose scores on either masculine or feminine scales were high. This indicates lower mathematics performance for androgynous and undifferentiated subjects. This result is hypothesized to be a function of the particular age level of these subjects and their concomitant overconcern with appropriate sex role development.

Achievement↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Sex-role identity and image of nursing of females at two levels of baccalaureate nursing education.

Ninety-two female nursing students, 56 at entry (ENTL) to and 36 at exit (EXTL) from the baccalaureate program, participated in an investigation of the relationship between sex-role identity and image of nursing. Bem's Sex Role Inventory, which allows subjects to receive both masculinity and femininity scores, was used to categorize subjects as masculine, androgynous, feminine, or undifferentiated. Frank's Image of Nursing Questionnaire was used to evaluate subjects' image of nursing. Study purposes were to: compare the sex-role identity of nursing students and general college females, compare the image of nursing held by nursing students with the image advanced by the profession, determine the relationship between sex-role categorization and image of nursing, and determine the relationship between level of endorsement of masculine and feminine characteristics and image of nursing. Analyses indicated: a significant (p < .05) difference in sex-role identity based on categorization between the total nurse sample and general college females, EXTL students endorsed more masculine characteristics than ENTL students (p < .003), EXTL students endorsed more feminine characteristics than general college females (p < .001), ENTL and EXTL students and Frank's judges held significantly different images of nursing (p < .01 for all comparisons), and significant correlations between the image of nursing and level of endorsement of masculine characteristics, not masculine role identity, for EXTL (p < .002) and total nurse (p < .001) samples.

Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate↗
PubMed1981

[The role of hormones in the sex differentiation of the central nervous system in animal and man. Critical study].

According with experiments, it appears that hormonal environment plays a major role on anatomical, neuroendocrinological and behavioral sexual differentiation in animals. This environment occurs at a critical period, which is specific for each specie, either during fetal life or soon after birth. Sexually dimorphic behavior appears to be influenced by androgens who act either directly or after chemical modification on specific central receptors. In the absence of androgens during the critical specific period, these central structures and consequent behavior differentiate in a feminine pattern. In the presence of androgens during this period, structures and behavior differentiate in a masculine pattern. But this influence of androgens require a double component, defeminization and masculinization, variable among species, as it is observed in rats and mice when defeminization can not be obtained in primates. In human beings, "nature experiments" such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia in feminine foetuses and abnormalities in testosterone metabolism in masculine foetuses are more difficult to study. Fetal hyperandrogenization is responsible of an anatomical and perhaps behavioral masculinization. Neuroendocrine and behavioral defeminization seems not to occur as ovulatory menstrual cycles are possible with a regular treatment, and as sexual identity is feminine when sex of rearing is feminine even if some aspects of sexual roles are unusual. Moreover, these peculiar behavioral traits and changes in sexual orientation in a masculine way at puberty are difficult to explain : fetal hyperandrogenization seems to play a role, as it is observed in animals and as seem to demonstrate Dr J. Imperato-Mc Ginley's observations, but other factors seem to predominate, such as parental attitude in regard with sexual ambiguity and psychological consequences of the acknowledgment of ambiguous genitalia.

Adrenal Hyperplasia, Congenital↗
PubMed1994

The invisible woman.

This paper explores the meaning of experiences of invisibility in women. It was inspired in the course of psychotherapy with a woman who felt invisible in her feminine identity and who hid her feminine desire within an imaginary paper bag. Her visual imagery traces a pattern of pathological feminine development through a faulty sensory connection between her body, the external world, and her unconscious symbolic self-representation. Questions about her invisibility have evoked an exploration of two developmental models of visual thinking--a cognitive and a psychoanalytic model. A study of the myth of Persephone contributes a literary prototype for the understanding of the transmission of invisibility across the generations of mothers and daughters. Furthermore, the analysis of several literary passages from the work of Angela Carter serves the purpose of drawing the reader into the experiential world of femininity as it moves from the invisible to the visible. The paper blends together ideas from various, often contending, theorists in a way which highlights how theories can complement one another in explaining clinical phenomena.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Sex-role stereotyping in mental health standards in Israel.

Investigated sex-role stereotyping in mental health standards in Israel in a sample of 60 nonclients, 60 clients and 60 psychotherapists. Recent studies of sex-role stereotypes in America have shown that males still maintain traditional stereotypes and perceive the healthy adult female as more stereotypically feminine than either the healthy male or adult. Women, however, have changed their traditional perceptions toward female mental health and now rate the healthy adult female as similar to the healthy adult male and the healthy adult. In contrast to the recent American findings, female therapists in the Israeli study viewed the healthy female as significantly more stereotypically feminine than the healthy male. Male therapists were more equalitarian in their ratings and surprisingly rated the healthy male as significantly more feminine than did female therapists. These findings are discussed in terms of cross-cultural differences. Congruency of client-therapist sex-linked mental health standards also are examined and the implications for the therapeutic process discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Tests of gender feelings and behavior in homosexuality, transvestism and transsexualism.

Categorized 64 male transsexual and transvestite Ss into two groups on the basis of the strength of their feminine gender identity. The two groups were compared to a homosexual group and a control group on four tests designed to measure gender feelings and behavior, namely: the California Personality Inventory Femininity Scale, the Draw-A-Person test, the Franck Drawing Completion test, and the Information and Vocabulary subtests of the WAIS. It was found that the CPI-Fe scale and DAP test significantly correlate with the degree of feminine gender identity reported by the Ss. However, the two tests appear to measure different aspects of gender feelings and behavior in some Ss.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Sex roles and type A behavior.

Examined relationships between sex-role identification and Type A behavior. Based on Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) scores, Ss (N = 64) were categorized as Androgynous, Masculine, Feminine, or Undifferentiated; the extent of Type A behavior was assessed via the Behavior Activity Profile. After biological sex had been covaried out, it was found that the Masculine group had significantly higher Type A scores than any of the other three groups. Also, Type A behavior correlated significantly with both the Masculinity and Femininity scales of the BSRI even though the scales themselves were statistically independent. It is suggested that identification with masculine but not feminine traits, while perhaps conducive to psychological health, may be dysfunctional in terms of long-term medical consequences.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Freshmen adaptation to university life: depressive symptoms, stress, and coping.

Attending a university for the first time can be a stressful experience for many new college students. This study examines the relationships among femininity and masculinity, depressive symptomatology, levels of stress, and the types of coping strategies used by college freshmen. Results of this study suggest that these variables were related uniquely for first-year college students. Masculinity and femininity significantly predicted problem-focused coping, and femininity significantly predicted emotion-focused coping. Further, the levels of family and college stress reported by college students, as well as their endorsement of avoidant coping, significantly predicted their levels of depressive symptoms. Overall, the results of this study suggest that understanding the relationships among the gender role, the levels of depressive symptomatology, and the levels of stress exhibited by college freshmen may be important in facilitating their transition and adjustment to university life.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2006

Development and evaluation of new factor scales for the Expectations About Counseling Inventory in a college sample.

Given the lack of agreement over the factor structure and scoring system used with the Expectations About Counseling Inventory (EAC-B), the primary purpose of this investigation was to reevaluate the factor structure of the EAC-B and to construct factor scales based on that structure. After constructing these scales, the second objective was to evaluate the relationships among expectations about counseling, the five-factor model of personality (FFM), and gender-related variables. The responses of 460 undergraduate students to all 66 items on the EAC-B suggested three factors: facilitative conditions, counselor expertise, and client involvement. Expectations for facilitative conditions were positively correlated with extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, masculinity, and femininity; expectations for counselor expertise were negatively correlated with openness and agreeableness and positively correlated with masculinity; and expectations for client involvement were positively correlated with extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and femininity. Femininity was the strongest predictor of the facilitative conditions and client involvement scales when the effects of all the other variables were partialled out, whereas openness to experience and gender were the best predictors of counselor expertise when the effects of all the other variables were partialled out.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Gender Differences in Writing Motivation and Achievement of Middle School Students: A Function of Gender Orientation?

The aim of this study was to determine whether gender differences in the writing motivation and achievement of middle school students (N = 497) are a function of gender-stereotypic beliefs rather than of gender. Girls reported stronger writing self-efficacy, writing self-concept, self-efficacy for self-regulation, value of writing, and task goals, and they received higher grades in language arts. Boys reported stronger performance-approach goals. All gender differences favoring girls in writing motivation and achievement were rendered nonsignificant when feminine orientation beliefs were controlled. Findings suggest that a feminine orientation is adaptive in the area of writing, whereas a masculine orientation is beneficial when escorted by a feminine orientation. Results are interpreted from the perspective of A. Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Sex differences in children's free drawings: a study on girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Sex differences are recognized in children's free drawings with respect to motifs, colors, figure compositions, and expression. Boys tend to draw mobile objects and mechanical objects with dark or cold colors and often use bird's-eye-view composition when they draw pictures, whereas girls like to draw human motifs (especially girls and women), flowers, and butterflies with light and warm colors and tend to arrange motifs in a row on the ground. Analyses were made on the drawings of girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and unaffected boys and girls, using masculine and feminine indexes. Sex difference in masculine and feminine indexes was clear in the drawings by unaffected boys and girls. Their drawings do not or mostly do not contain characteristics typical of the opposite sex. Compared with those of unaffected girls, the pictures of CAH girls more strongly showed masculine characteristics. The feminine index for the pictures of CAH girls was significantly lower than that for unaffected girls, while the masculine index for CAH girls was significantly higher than that for unaffected girls. Furthermore, the masculine index for CAH girls was not significantly different from that of unaffected boys. These results suggest that androgen exposure during fetal life may contribute to shaping masculine characteristics in children's free drawings.

Adrenal Hyperplasia, Congenital↗
PubMed2000

The role of brothers and sisters in the gender development of preschool children.

The study examined whether the sex of older siblings influences the gender role development of younger brothers and sisters of age 3 years. Data on the Pre-School Activities Inventory, a measure of gender role behavior that discriminates within as well as between the sexes, were obtained in a general population study for 527 girls and 582 boys with an older sister, 500 girls and 561 boys with an older brother, and 1665 singleton girls and 1707 singleton boys. It was found that boys with older brothers and girls with older sisters were more sex-typed than same-sex singletons who, in turn, were more sex-typed than children with other-sex siblings. Having an older brother was associated with more masculine and less feminine behavior in both boys and girls, whereas boys with older sisters were more feminine but not less masculine and girls with older sisters were less masculine but not more feminine.

Birth Order↗
PubMed1976

Sex-typed play in feminoid boys versus normal boys and girls.

Procedures for assessing children's sex-typed play were developed which (a) examined children's continuous play in four sessions totaling 20 minutes rather than measuring only initial choice of a sex-typed toy, and (b) did not impose the stimulus-specific condition of requiring an adult experimenter to be present to administer the task. Play with "masculine" and "feminine" toys was observed for 120 normal children (60 boys, 60 girls) aged 3 yr.-8 yr., and 15 similarly aged boys diagnosed as having childhood gender disturbance. Significant differences were found in the sex-typed play of the two normal groups, but no age differences were observed. The amount of feminine play by the feminoid boys was found to be significantly greater than that of normal boys, but not significantly different from the predominantly feminine play patterns of the normal girls. The usefulness of such a measure for the clinical assessment of deviant sex-role development in young children is discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1993

The semantics of grammatical gender: a cross-cultural study.

Although most present-day scholars claim that grammatical gender has no meaning correlates, anecdotal evidence dating back to the Greeks suggests that grammatical gender carries connotative meanings of femininity and masculinity. In the present study native German speakers (tested in Germany) and native Spanish speakers (tested in Mexico) judged 54 high-frequency translation equivalents on semantic differential scales chosen to reflect dimensions of evaluation, potency, and activity. Half the words were of feminine gender in German but of masculine gender in Spanish (Type I words), and half were of masculine gender in German and of feminine gender in Spanish (Type II words). As predicted, German speakers judged Type II words higher in potency than Type I words, whereas Spanish speakers judged Type I words higher in potency than Type II words. The conclusion was that grammatical gender does affect meaning.

Adult↗