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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Correlated preferences for facial masculinity and ideal or actual partner's masculinity.

Studies of women's preferences for male faces have variously reported preferences for masculine faces, preferences for feminine faces and no effect of masculinity-femininity on male facial attractiveness. It has been suggested that these apparently inconsistent findings are, at least partly, due to differences in the methods used to manipulate the masculinity of face images or individual differences in attraction to facial cues associated with youth. Here, however, we show that women's preferences for masculinity manipulated in male faces using techniques similar to the three most widely used methods are positively inter-related. We also show that women's preferences for masculine male faces are positively related to ratings of the masculinity of their actual partner and their ideal partner. Correlations with partner masculinity were independent of real and ideal partner age, which were not associated with facial masculinity preference. Collectively, these findings suggest that variability among studies in their findings for women's masculinity preferences reflects individual differences in attraction to masculinity rather than differences in the methods used to manufacture stimuli, and are important for the interpretation of previous and future studies of facial masculinity.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cultural politics and masculinities: Multiple-partners in historical perspective in KwaZulu-Natal.

Drawing from ethnographic, archival and secondary research, this article examines multiple-sexual partners in historical perspective in KwaZulu-Natal, a South Africa province where one in three people are thought to be HIV positive. Research on masculinities, multiple-partners, and AIDS has been predominantly directed towards the present day. This paper stresses the importance of unraveling the antecedents of contemporary masculinities particularly the gendered cultural politics through which they have been produced. Arguing against dominant conceptions of African masculinity as being innate or static, it charts the rise and fall of the isoka, the Zulu man with multiple-sexual partners, over the last century. Showing how the isoka developed through changing conditions occasioned by capitalism, migrant labour and Christianity, it contends that an important turning point took place from the 1970s when high unemployment threatened previous expressions of manliness, notably marriage, setting up an independent household and becoming umnumzana (a household head). The high value placed on men seeking multiple-partners increasingly filled the void left by men's inability to become men through previous means. Turning to the contemporary period, the article argues that, shaken by the huge AIDS deaths, men are betraying increasing doubts about the isoka masculinity.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1990

Cardiovascular reactivity to stress in men. Effects of masculine gender role stress appraisal and masculine performance challenge.

Previous research has shown that excessive cardiovascular reactivity may be important in the development of coronary heart disease. The present study examined the role of masculine cognitive appraisal of stress as a mediator of cardiovascular reactivity in men. The reactivity of men who differed on a measure of individual differences in men's cognitive appraisal of masculine gender role stress (MGRS) were compared on the cold-pressor test under conditions of high and low masculine performance challenge. Under conditions of minimal challenge, it was predicted that high- and low-MGRS men would not differ on reactivity. Under high challenge, high-MGRS men were expected to show greater reactivity than were low-MGRS men. Analysis of results for systolic blood pressure confirmed the major predictions. High-MGRS men showed greater systolic blood pressure reactivity than did low-MGRS men under high but not low masculine challenge. The implications of MGRS appraisal for men's health are discussed.

Achievement↗
PubMed1988

Behavioral masculinization is independent of genital masculinization in prenatally androgenized female rhesus macaques.

Genetic female fetuses were exposed transplacentally to testosterone propionate injected into their mothers either early (Days 40 through 64) or late (Days 115 through 139) in gestation. Early and late androgenized females (EAFs and LAFs, respectively) were raised with normal males and females that served as criteria for evaluating degree of behavioral masculinization induced by the prenatal androgen. EAFs were genitally virilized and LAFs were not. Males and untreated females differed reliably on five behavioral measures: males showed more mother-mounting, more peer-mounting, more rough play with peers, a preference for initiating play with male partners, and less grooming of mothers. Neither type of prenatally androgenized female showed masculinization of all five types of behavior. Compared with females, EAFs showed more mother-mounting, more peer-mounting, less mother-grooming, did not differ from females in rough play, and did not manifest a preference for male partners. LAFs, like females, groomed but did not mount their mothers, and did not show a preference for male partners; but unlike females they showed elevated rough play and mounting with peers. EAFs showed a statistically significant delay in puberty onset (menarche), but LAFs did not. Mothers inspected genitalia of their offspring more often if they were males than if they were females. Mothers of EAFs inspected their offspring's genitalia as often as mothers of males, but mothers of LAFs did not. No aspect of maternal behavior was associated with either the amount or kind of masculine behavior shown toward peers. We interpret the results to mean that genital virilization is independent of, and largely irrelevant to, the expression of those behavioral traits that characterize the juvenile male social role. Moreover, the individual behavior traits that are components of the juvenile male role are independently regulated by the organizing actions of androgen and have separable critical periods. Of the two major traits, mounting peers and rough play with peers, the latter has a greater requirement for androgenic stimulation late in prenatal life.

Aggression↗
PubMed1990

Anti-masculinizing action of estradiol and cyproterone acetate: regulation of a protein fraction with phospholipase-A2 stimulatory and masculinizing activities.

Recently we have identified a protein fraction (55-63 K) from male and testosterone-exposed female mouse genital tract, which stimulates phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and induces masculine differentiation in an undifferentiated mouse genital explant, suggesting a role of this protein in the action of testosterone. In the current study we have further investigated the role of this protein by determining whether anti-masculinizing agents, namely, estradiol and cyproterone acetate, have any effect on the production of this protein. The results described here indicate that a protein fraction containing PLA2 stimulatory activity was present in both control male and estradiol- or cyproterone acetate-exposed male fetal genital tract. However the specific activity of the PLA2-stimulatory protein was significantly higher in the control males than in the experimental males. We did not find any major difference in the behavior of this protein fraction in various chromatographic steps except that in CM-sepharose column; the PLA2-stimulatory activity from the male preparation was eluted in two overlapping peaks with 0.3 and 0.25 M NaCl and that from the treated males was eluted only with 0.25 M NaCl. The SDS-gel analysis of this protein fraction revealed a doublet band (55 and 63 K) in control samples and primarily a 63 K band in experimental samples. The protein fraction from all these sources showed a significant difference in their biological activity. The control male preparation induced Wolffian duct whereas the estradiol sample was completely ineffective and the cyproterone acetate sample was partially effective in inducing Wolffian duct. Thus, it appears that the protein fraction has a role in the masculinizing action of testosterone.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Congruence between a theoretical continuum of masculinity and the Rasch model: examining the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory.

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric structure of the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory (CMNI) in relation to the Rasch model. The CMNI was specifically constructed to measure a set of unidimensional constructs. As such, the items were intended to define a uniform spread of locations along each construct. The CMNI measures conformity to twelve masculine norms: winning, emotional control, risk-taking, violence, dominance, playboy, self-reliance, primacy of work, power over women, disdain for homosexuals, physical toughness, and pursuit of status. Three hundred forty-eight men participated in the study. In addition to examining global Rasch characteristics and the unidimensionality of each of the 12 scales, a detailed Rasch rating scale analysis is provided for the Violence Scale with unusual response patterns discussed in terms of their clinical usefulness. The results across all 12 scales reveal an excellent congruence between the theoretically derived construct of conformity to masculine norms and the theoretically defined objectives of the Rasch rating scale model.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

"Just trying to relax": masculinity, masculinizing practices, and strip club regulars.

This article explores customers' understandings of their visits to heterosexual strip clubs and the ways in which those visits become meaningful to them in relation to cultural discourses around masculinity, sexuality, leisure, and consumption, as well as in relation to their everyday lives and relationships. Not every man finds strip clubs pleasurable, yet understanding why some men frequent these venues can inform us more generally about the links between sexuality, gender, and the marketplace. This article focuses on regular male customers' stated motives for visiting strip clubs and examines those visits as touristic and masculinizing practices. It also explores gender, sexuality, and power in the men s performances of desire in the clubs, taking up issues of visibility, virility, youthfulness, and commodification.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Masculinity, femininity, and multiple regression: comment on Zeldow, Daugherty, and Clark's "Masculinity, Femininity, and Psychosocial Adjustment in Medical Students: A 2-Year Follow-Up".

Inappropriate applications and interpretations of multiple regression analyses by Zeldow and his associated (Zeldow, Clark, & Daugherty, 1985; Zeldow, Daugherty, & Clark, 1987) are discussed as are several general interpretive and statistical issues. To perform and interpret multiple regressions, several characteristics of this statistical approach must be taken into account. Of critical importance is the order in which variables are entered, the choice of regression approaches, the direction of an effect upon entering the model, and the manner in which the interpretation of interaction effects varies as a function of the presence or absence of main effects. Because Zeldow et al. (1985, 1987) did not consider these factors, their regression analyses were not run as stated and are difficult to interpret. Five hypothetical outcomes in androgyny research and an example involving actual data are presented.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1984

Gender identity and its implications for the concepts of masculinity and femininity.

In this chapter, I have suggested that although the terms masculine and feminine and masculinity and femininity have rarely been defined, they appear to have two types of meaning both for psychologists and for the community at large. First, masculine and feminine have an empirical meaning, being used as labels to identify specific objects, events, or qualities that in a given culture are perceived as more closely associated with males or with females. Second, these adjectives and, even more exclusively the nouns masculinity and femininity, are used as theoretical constructs that refer to a fundamental property or aspect of the individual's self-concept that is not directly observable. Masculinity and femininity in this second sense are conceived as bipolar opposites, almost all men having a firm sense of their psychological masculinity and almost all women having a similar sense of their femininity. The implicit assumptions on which conventional theories of masculinity-femininity are predicated imply that all gender-related phenomena contribute to a bipolar femininity-masculinity factor so that assessment of an individual's masculine and feminine qualities (in the empirical sense of these terms) can be used to infer his or her position on the hypothetical masculinity-femininity continuum. Constructs such as sex-role identification and sex-role orientation are based on the same assumptions. More recently it as been proposed that masculine and feminine qualities and their accompanying self-images of masculinity and femininity constitute instead two separate, statistically independent dimensions. However, most investigators nominally advancing this two-factor model and tying the measurement of masculinity and femininity to instruments containing separate scales of masculine and feminine attributes have in fact employed unidimensional bipolar models, based on such concepts as sex-role identification, sex typing, or gender schema. The empirical data, however, support neither the one-factor nor the two-factor model of gender-differentiating phenomena, suggesting instead that they are multidimensional. To the extent that the concepts of masculinity-femininity (and other similar unidimensional constructs) or of masculinity and femininity are intended to represent the structure of gender-relevant characteristics, these constructs lack validity. I proposed, however, that masculinity and femininity, as they refer to an individual's self-concept, be retained and reconceptualized as gender identity: a basic phenomenological sense of one's maleness or femaleness that parallels awareness and acceptance of one's biological sex and is established early in life.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Assertiveness↗
PubMed1991

Temporal constraints on androgen directed laryngeal masculinization in Xenopus laevis.

Temporal constraints on androgen regulated masculinization of three sexually dimorphic laryngeal properties--tension, fiber type, and fiber recruitment--were examined in Xenopus laevis frogs. Endocrine state was manipulated at PM0 when the larynx is similar in males and females, at PM2 when the larynx begins sexual differentiation, and at PM6 when sexual differentiation is complete. Removing the testes in developing males (PM0 or PM2) completely arrests laryngeal masculinization. Masculinization resumes when testosterone is replaced later in development (PM2 or PM6, respectively). Thus, testicular secretions, in particular androgens, are required for laryngeal masculinization. The ability of androgens to masculinize tension, fiber type, and fiber recruitment in developing and adult larynges was also determined. Five weeks of testosterone treatment in PM0 or PM2 males and females completely masculinizes laryngeal tension and fiber type, but only partially masculinizes fiber recruitment. However, fiber recruitment can be fully masculinized in PM6 males castrated at PM2. We conclude that androgen induced masculinization of tension and fiber type are not temporally constrained but that androgen induced masculinization of fiber recruitment is. Prolonged androgen treatment can override the temporal constraints on masculinization of the larynx. Testosterone treatment for more than 6 months fully masculinizes fiber recruitment in developing (PM0 or PM2) females. In addition, prolonged treatment (greater than 9 months) completely masculinizes tension, fiber type, and fiber recruitment in adult females; these properties were not fully masculinized by shorter (1-3 months) treatments in adult females. Testosterone induced masculinization in females is maintained for up to 8 months following testosterone removal; thus androgen effects are long lasting and possibly permanent.

Aging↗
PubMed2005

Menstrual cycle, trait estrogen level, and masculinity preferences in the human voice.

Men with low testosterone (feminine men) invest in relationships and offspring more than men with high testosterone (masculine men). Women's attraction to testosterone dependent traits (e.g. masculine face shape) is enhanced during the late-follicular, fertile phase of the menstrual cycle. Attractive, feminine women have stronger preferences for masculine men as possible long-term partners than less attractive, masculine women. We manipulated 2 testosterone related vocal traits (voice pitch and apparent vocal-tract length) in voices to test if women prefer masculinized men's voices to feminized men's voices; masculinity preferences are enhanced at the fertile (late-follicular) menstrual cycle phase; the amount that masculinity preferences shift cyclically relates to average estrone-3-glucuronide concentration (the primary urinary metabolite of estrone, E3G). We found women displayed general masculinity preferences for men's voices; masculinity preferences were greater in the fertile (late-follicular) phase of the cycle than the non-fertile (early-follicular and luteal) phase; and this effect was most pronounced for women with low average E3G concentration. As feminine women (i.e. those with high average E3G levels) are most able to obtain investment even from masculine men, these women may not need to change their mating preference or strategy during the menstrual cycle as much as masculine women.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Independent masculinization of neuroendocrine systems by intracerebral implants of testosterone or estradiol in the neonatal female rat.

Small pellets of testosterone (T) or estradiol (E2), but not cholesterol (CH), when implanted into the brain of neonatal female rats on day 2 or day 5 of life, produce masculinization of the adult regulation of gonadotropic hormone (GTH) release, female sexual behavior or masculine sexual behavior, specific to the site and time of implantation and the hormone implanted. Site specificity: There appear to be specific neuronal sites where implantation of T or E2 produces independent masculinization of GTH, female sexual behavior or masculine sexual behavior patterns. Implants of T or E2 placed in the dorsal preoptic area (POA) perinatally increase the amount of masculine sexual behavior displayed by adults. On the other hand, the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) is the only area in which neonatal implants of T or E2 produce GTH acyclicity in adults. Female sexual behavior is affected in opposite directions by hormonal implants in two different areas. Neonatal implants of T or E2 in the POA increase adult behavioral responsiveness to estradiol benzoate (EB) alone, whereas implants in the VMH decrease adult responsiveness to EB plus progesterone therapy. Temporal specificity: The most effective time for augmenting masculine sexual behavior is before day 5, since hormone implants on that day produce marginal effects on male sexual behavior, whereas day 2 implants in POA results in substantial increases in both mount and intromission patterns. GTH release in masculinized equally well by implants of hormones on either day 2 or day 5. Female sexual behavior is affected only by neonatal implants on day 2. Hormone specificity: Estradiol is as effective as T in masculinizing all three neuroendocrine parameters. In any particular neural site in which T implants produce an alteration in the neuroendocrine response, a similar effect is produced by E2 implants in the same site. It is suggested that independent masculinization of GTH, female sexual behavior and masculine sexual behavior patterns is produced by the action of T and/or E2 on separate neural areas, and that these neural areas may be susceptible to the action of hormones at different times.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Behavioral and physical masculinization are related to genotype in girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

Girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) exhibit behavioral masculinization. There is controversy about the roles of pre- and postnatal androgens, social factors, and chronic illness in its etiology. To assess the effect of chronic illness, we compared behavioral masculinity in 24 CAH girls and 25 diabetic girls aged 3-12 yr from Manchester using two sensitive questionnaires, and an overall masculinity score M (high = masculine) was derived. To assess the contributions of pre- and postnatal androgens, the CAH subjects were categorized into genotype groups (G) according to the reported severity of loss of CYP21 function: G1 (n = 10, null mutations), G2 (n = 9, intron 2G), G3 (n = 3, I172N), and G4 (n = 2, unknown loss of function). In CAH girls, relationships between G, Prader degree of genital masculinization at birth, bone age advance, and M were assessed. CAH girls were less feminine and more masculine than diabetic girls (P < 0.001), who were not significantly different from U.S. controls. Among the CAH girls, those in G1 and 2 were more genitally masculinized than those in G3 and 4 (P < 0.009) and had higher M (P < 0.025). M was negatively correlated with advanced bone age (r = -0.5; P = 0.02). CAH girls, but not diabetic girls, demonstrated behavioral masculinization. Both physical and behavioral masculinization were related to each other and to genotype, indicating that behavioral masculinization is a consequence of prenatal androgen exposure.

Adrenal Hyperplasia, Congenital↗