Chapter 5 Response

Chapter 5 concerned masculinity versus femininity and was really interesting with regards to different countries on the collectivist/individualist scale. I definitely agree with the depiction of Americans as assertive and more masculine based than feminine. This is really obvious in regards to the way sports are viewed in the US, as noted in the text, sports are played in the United States simply for competitive reasons and not for extra-curricular fun as in other countries around the world. The masculine ideas on poor people also match up with American ideals--I agree with the text about Americans viewing people living in poverty as their own problem. It is interesting that the homeless and impoverished are viewed with sympathy in other countries, as that is not the case in the US.

I also found it interesting that in masculine cultures, men are considered less appealing because of career failures, whereas women were less sexually appealing when they had career success. I don't think this really makes sense in today's culture as much, because many women are considered more appealing when they have career successes. I also agreed with the idea that older people have more feminine ideals, while younger people are more competitive and have masculine ideals. I thought it was really important that wealth had no influence on masculine and feminine beliefs, which is rare.