Dutch+Masculinity

The Construct of Masculinity in the Netherlands

** Gender ** // Masculinity: // [|“Masculinity stands for a society in which social gender roles are clearly distinct: Men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success; women are supposed to be more modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life.”]
 * Organizing principle of social life
 * Distribution of power and resources
 * Meanings of our lives
 * Anthropological models
 * cross-culturally
 * Sociological models
 * socialization of boys and girls
 * Men are not born
 * It is relational
 * Complex process
 * Not a uniform experience

** The Netherlands is considered a feminine society but also an individualist culture: ** // Femininity: // [|“Femininity stands for a society in which social gender roles overlap: Both men and women are supposed to be modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life.”]

[|Compare the Netherlands to other nations]

[|Individualist vs Collectivist]

[|Individualist society: USA & Netherlands] : [|"Reference for a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of only themselves and their immediate families."]

[|Collectivist Society:"Represents a preference for a tightly-knit framework in society in which individuals can expect their relatives or members of a particular in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty."]


 * Intersection of Low Masculinity vs Individualism **

[|Feminine vs Masculine]

Feminine society: Netherlands  Caring for others, quality of life, consensus, solidarity

Masculine society: USA Driven by competition, achievement and success

 Factors which account for low masculinity/feminity in the Netherlands: [|Sex Education] Parental Communication Acceptance Military History ( Bay, L. (2008) Changing nationhood and masculinity: Dutch veterans of peace operations. Institute of Social Studies: Hague, Netherlands)

How does this effect masculinity? Sex education: [|Romantic sleepovers], focus on relationships, begins in kindergarten or earlier, low STD & pregnancy rates Parental Communication: Open dialogue, low hyper-vigilance, trust and respect for teenagers despite gender Acceptance: Greater tolerance for gender nonconforming behavior, sexual orientation and sexual expression in Dutch culture than in North American culture. Militarism: Dutch consider themselves peace keepers