Mid and late teen students’ representations about modern men and women

Abstract

Relevance. The study relevance is determined by the need to investigate the processes of gender socialization in the mid and late teens in the modern socio-cultural situation characterized by erosion of traditional gender stereotypes and transformation of basic representations about the content of men and women’s social roles. Objective. The study had its purpose to explore and compare the boys’ and girls’ representations about modern men and women. Methods. Data collection was carried out using the method of free descriptions, content analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics, Student's t-test, r-Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, and share difference reliability criterion. Comparative historical analysis was carried out using the data obtained in the 1980s. Sample. The sample included 353 high school and college students aged 16–19 years (161 boys and 192 girls). Results. The initial hypothesis about the coexistence of both traditional and modern gender models among today's teenagers has been confirmed only in relation to their ideas of the modern woman. When describing her, both boys and girls rely on traditional stereotypes of femininity as well as modern ideas (androgyny, egalitarianism). Modern man is still viewed and evaluated by both boys and girls through the prism of traditional masculinity stereotypes. Girls' representations about modern men and women are less rigid and not as stereotypical as those of boys. They reflect to a greater extent the transformation of rigid gender stereotypes taking place in the modern society. Modern boys’ and girls’ representations about men and women are in many ways similar to the representations of their peers of the Soviet era. The differences are associated with less attention to family roles and a greater interest in appearance, self-expression, success, and mental health. Conclusions. Despite the transformation of gender stereotypes taking place in the modern society, boys’ and girls’ representations about men and women are still based mainly on traditional ideas of masculinity/femininity.

Keywords

• adolescence
• mid-teens
• late-teens
• gender stereotypes
• masculinity
• femininity
• androgyny
• modern man
• modern woman