Page 180 - Cultures and Organizations

156 DIMENSIONS OF NATIONAL CULTURES

housekeeper, is a recent phenomenon. Its impact on the distribution of
gender roles outside the home follows more slowly. Therefore, a country’s
position on the masculinity-femininity scale need not be closely related to
women’s activ ities outside the family sphere. Economic possibilities and
necessities play a bigger role in this respect than values.
A masculine gender role model is pictured in the following description
of a popular U.S. movie:

Lucas, a 14-year-old boy, is unlike other kids. He’s slight, inquisitive, and
something of a loner, more interested in science and symphonies than in
football and parties. But when he meets Maggie, a lovely 16-year-old girl
who has just moved to town, things change. They become friends—but for
Lucas it is more than friendship.
During the summer they seem to have the same idea: football players
and cheerleaders are superfi cial; but when school begins, Maggie shows an
increasing interest in this side of school life, leaving Lucas out in the cold.
He watches from the sidelines as Maggie becomes a cheerleader and starts
dating Cappie Roew, the captain of the football team.
Suddenly, Lucas wants to “belong,” and in his attempt to win back
Maggie, risks life and limb in the game of football. . . . 24

Mainstream movies are modern myths—they create hero models accord-
ing to the dominant culture of the society in which they are made. Both
Lucas and Maggie in this movie go through a rite of passage toward their

rightful roles in a society in which men fight while playing football and
girls stand adoringly and adorably by on the sidelines as cheerleaders.
Femininity should not be confused with feminism. Feminism is an ide-
ology, either organized or not, that wants to change the role of women in
society. The masculinity-femininity dimension is relevant to this ideology

because across countries we find a more masculine and a more feminine

form of feminism. The masculine form claims that women should have the
same possibilities that men have. In terms of Figure 5.2, it wants to move
the female line up toward the male line; this could also be achieved by mov-
ing the entire society toward the right. The feminine form wants to change
society, men included. It calls for not only women’s liberation but men’s lib as
well. In Figure 5.2 this could be achieved by moving the male line downward
toward the female line or by moving the entire society toward the left.