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In this study we examined relationships among gender role identity, support for feminism, nontraditional gender roles, and willingness to consider oneself a feminist in a sample of college students (N = 301). For female participants, we found positive relationships among higher masculinity on the PAQ (Personal Attributes Questionnaire), nontraditional attitudes toward gender roles, and the combined SRAI (Sex Role Attitudinal Inventory). A negative correlation was also found between lower scores on the PAQ masculinity-femininity index and the combined SRAI in women. For male participants, we found positive relationships among high femininity on the SIS (Sexual Identity Scale), willingness to consider oneself a feminist, positive attitudes toward the women's movement, and the combined SRAI. We also found a negative relationship between high masculinity on the PAQand willingness to consider oneself a feminist in men. The implications of these findings for the feminist movement are discussed.
KEY WORDS: gender; sex; identity; role; feminism; gender roles.
Many feminist theorists believe gender is not innate; rather gender is something we do (West & Zimmerman, 1987) and perform (Butler, 1990). Biological sex constrains gender performance, as Eckert and McConnell-Ginet (2003) noted "Gendered performances are available to everyone, but with them come constraints on who can perform which personae with impunity. And this is where gender and sex come together, as society tries to match up ways of behaving with biological sex assignments" (p. 10). As such, highly masculine men and highly feminine women perform their gender role identity based on traditional notions of what constitutes masculinity and femininity. In the United States, a successful man's performance of high masculinity requires that the man be tough, in control, and aggressive, sometimes even violent (Kimmel, 2000). At the other extreme, a successful woman's performance of high femininity requires that the woman be nurturing, physically attractive, and passive (Wood, 1993).
Support for and opposition to feminism might be partially explained by gender role identity. Research has shown that feminists are frequently construed as unfeminine (Alexander & Ryan, 1997; Caplan, 1985; Henderson-King & Stewart, 1994) and as possessing masculine traits such as aggressiveness (Rubin, 1994). It seems reasonable to predict that highly feminine women might be hesitant to consider themselves feminists because such characteristics are inconsistent with their gender role identity. Although there...