Text C

Masculinity/femininity: behaviour according to gender

‘Masculinity pertains to societies in which social gender roles are clearly distinct; femininity pertains to societies in which the social gender roles overlap.’ In a masculine society (Hofstede gives the United Kingdom as an example), is a division of labour in which the more assertive tasks are given to men. There is a stress on academic success, competition and achievement in careers. In a feminine society such as France (according to Hofstede), there is a stress on relationships, compromise, life skills and social performance. The last ten to fifteen years have seen enormous changes – a ‘feminisation’ process – in the behaviour of Western democracies. It has also been said that the emergence of developing countries is as much about feminisation as it is about dealing with harder business and economic realities.