In this mixed-methods study,
we adopted a feminist theoretical lens in conceptualizing gender as
hierarchical and complementary ideologies—femininity and masculinity—that are
fundamental constituents of institutionalized heterosexuality as a way to
understand the persistence of gender inequity in adolescents’ heterosexual
relationships.
In Study 1, we conducted separate analyses for girls and boys to
evaluate whether masculinity ideology for boys and femininity ideology for
girls account for boys’ endorsement of male coercion and for girls’ endorsement
of feminine conventions in heterosexual relationships with a sample of 250
tenth-grade students (n =
144 girls). Masculinity ideology proved to be as strong or stronger than
femininity ideology in predicting these respective outcomes.
In Study 2, we sought
to understand this pattern through a thematically informed narrative analysis
of interviews with 53 of the Study 1 participants (n =
35 girls) on their beliefs about and experiences with sexual expression and
heterosexual relationships. Girls described the dual task of managing boys’
masculinity as well as their own femininity. Boys, by contrast, described
girls’ femininity in instrumental terms for the management of their own
masculinity.
Integration of these results provides greater insight into how
institutionalized heterosexuality is reproduced through the functioning of
these hierarchical complementary gender ideologies.
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- Deborah L. Tolman, The CUNY Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA. Email: dtolman@hunter.cuny.edu
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