Adrogyny: The Roles of Men and Women

"MOST

societies promote instrumental traits in males and expressive traits in females; this has led some theorist to belive that gender roles are a part of the natural order of things; a product of our evolutionary history.

YET:
there is a huge difference accross cultures in what people expect of boys and girls.

Case Study: Three tribal societies of New Guinee, Mead (1935):

-Arapesh tribe:
BOTH males & females taught to be cooperative, nonaggresive, and sensitive to the needs of others. (typicall considered to be the "feminine" behavioural profile by Western cultures)

-Mundugumor tribe:
BOTH men and women taught to be assertive, aggressive, and emotionally unresponsive in interpersonal relationships (a "masculine" pattern of behaviour by Western standards)

-Tchambuli tribe:
Males--> taught to be passive, emotionally dependent, and socially sensitive
Females--> taught to be dominant, independent and assertive.

Members of these three tibes developed in accordance with gender roles that were SOCIALLY prescribed by their culture, NOT pre-programed through bioevolutionary history."

Are there advantages to being adrogynous?
(having the gender role-orientation which incorporates a large number of both masuline and feminine attributes)

Some theorists think so: Adrogenous Men & Women:

-tend to behave more flexibly than more traditionally gender-typed individuals. (Bem, 1975, 1978)
-seem to be more highly adaptable, able to adjust their behaviour to the demands of the situation at hand. (harter et al, 1998).
-adrogenous children & adolescense appear to enjoy high self-esteem and are perceived as more liable and better adjusted than their traditionally gender-typed peers. (Allgood-Merten & Stockard, 1991)

-adrogenous couples are more satisfied with their intimate relationships than traditionally gener-typed couples are (it was the feminine component of adrogyny that best predicted relationship