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180   DIMENSIONS OF NATIONAL CULTURES


           TABLE 5.6  Key Differences Between Feminine and Masculine Societies
           V: Politics and Religion

           FEMININE                      MASCULINE

           Welfare society ideal; help for the   Performance society ideal; support
           needy                         for the strong
           Permissive society            Corrective society
           Immigrants should integrate.  Immigrants should assimilate.
           Government aid for poor countries  Poor countries should help
                                         themselves.
           The environment should be preserved:   The economy should continue
           small is beautiful.           growing: big is beautiful.
           International confl icts should   International confl icts should be
           be resolved by negotiation and   resolved by a show of strength or by
           compromise.                   fi ghting.
           More voters place themselves left of   More voters place themselves in the
           center.                       political center.
           Politics are based on coalitions with   The political game is adversarial, with
           polite political manners.     frequent mudslinging.
           Many women are in elected political   Few women are in elected political
           positions.                    positions.
           Tender religions              Tough religions
           In Christianity, more secularization;   In Christianity, less secularization:
           stress on loving one’s neighbor  stress on believing in God
           Dominant religions give equal roles to   Dominant religions stress the male
           both sexes.                   prerogative.
           Religions are positive or neutral about   Religions approve sex for procreation
           sexual pleasure.              rather than recreation.





        Origins of Masculinity-Femininity Differences


        In human thinking the issue of the equality or inequality between the sexes
        is as old as religion, ethics, and philosophy themselves. Genesis, the fi rst

        book of the Judaeo-Christian Old Testament (which was codified in the
        fi fth century b.c.), contains two confl icting versions of the creation of the
        sexes. The first, Genesis 1:27–28, states:
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