Gendered Appearances among Young Children and in the Media: An East-West Cultural Comparison.
Many young children often exhibit a strong desire to wear extremely gender-typed clothing (appearance rigidity), reflecting their emerging gender identities. However, research on appearance rigidity largely has been limited to the United States, raising questions on whether appearance is a fundament...
| Published in: | Sex Roles Vol. 82; no. 5/6; pp. 306 - 321 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
Mar2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=141531769&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 141531769 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 03600025 SXR jtl: Sex Roles issn: 03600025 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Mar2020 vid: 82 iid: 5/6 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 141531769 10.1007/s11199-019-01059-3 ppf: 306 ppct: 15 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 520KB tig: atl: Gendered Appearances among Young Children and in the Media: An East-West Cultural Comparison. aug: au: Gutierrez, Brenda C. Halim, May Ling D. Ng, Florrie Fei-Yin Kwak, Keumjoo Ortiz-Cubias, Sara Cheng, Grace Yui-Lei Sze, Irene Nga-Lam affil: Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA Department of Psychology, California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Boulevard, 90840-0901, Long Beach, CA, USA Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong Department of Psychology, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea su: Clothing & dress & psychology Gender identity Gender role Children's clothing Chinese clothing & dress sug: subj: Clothing & dress & psychology Gender identity Gender role Clothing and clothing accessories merchant wholesalers Children's and Infants' Clothing Stores Women's, Children's, and Infants' Clothing and Accessories Merchant Wholesalers Cut and Sew Apparel Contractors Family Clothing Stores Other Clothing Stores Children's clothing Chinese clothing & dress keyword: Appearance rigidity Chinese culture Dialecticism Gender flexibility Gender identity development Gender-stereotypical appearances Appearance rigidity Chinese culture Dialecticism Gender flexibility Gender identity development Gender-stereotypical appearances ab: Many young children often exhibit a strong desire to wear extremely gender-typed clothing (appearance rigidity), reflecting their emerging gender identities. However, research on appearance rigidity largely has been limited to the United States, raising questions on whether appearance is a fundamental aspect of gender development. Studies 1 and 2 investigated whether appearance rigidity could also be observed in an East Asian culture (Hong Kong) and whether regional differences might be found. Based on cultural differences in systems of thought (e.g., more acceptance of contradictions in East Asian culture) and East Asian popular culture promoting softer forms of masculinity, we expected appearance rigidity to be greater in the United States than in Hong Kong. Indeed, although appearance rigidity was observed among children in Hong Kong, U.S. boys exhibited greater appearance rigidity than did boys in Hong Kong. Study 3 examined whether these differences among boys were represented in broader society through media representations. Coding various popular Hong Kong and American magazines revealed that men in Hong Kong magazines were depicted with more female-typed appearances than were men in U.S. magazines. Our work suggests that although appearances are important manifestations of gender identity across both American and East Asian cultures, certain cultural contexts might allow children more freedom in expressing their gender identity through appearances. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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