© Kamla-Raj 2007 J. Hum. Ecol., 21(2): 135-138 (2007) Masculinity and Femininity among Working Women in Indian Urban Culture Kamlesh Singh 1 and Priyanka Agrawal 2 Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, I.I.T. Delhi, Delhi 110 016, India E-mail: 1 <singhk@hss.iitd.ernet.in> 2 <itispriyanka@gmail.com> KEYWORDS Gender Role. Bem Sex Role Inventory. Urban Working Women ABSTRACT How humans view the appropriate roles for either gender has generated a great deal of discussion among social scientists. This study was conducted to examine the validation of gender roles and their status. The Bem Sex Role Inventory Short Form (BSRISF) was administered to cross-section of ninety urban working females. Analysis after categorization in three groups viz., Younger (20-35 years), Middle (36-50 years) and Older group (51-65 years) was done. It was found that masculine characteristics- “Defend my own beliefs”, “Independent”, “Have leadership quality”, “Willing to take risk” and total score of masculine characteristics were significantly higher in younger group. However, all feminine characteristics except one, “Sympathetic”, were found non significant among different groups. Findings strongly support the cross- sectional validity on feminine characteristics of the BSRISF among working urban females in India. INTRODUCTION “Gender roles” are the attitudes, behaviors, rights, and responsibilities that a society associates with each sex (Holt and Ellis, 1998). Age, race, and social class further define individuals’ roles, which influence how men and women interact and the attitudes and behaviors expected of each (Lindsey, 1994). Masculine and feminine roles are not opposite ends of the same continuum but are instead two separate dimensions. A person may be described as “masculine,” as “feminine,” as “androgynous,” i.e., having characteristics of both, or as “undifferentiated,” that are, having neither strong masculine nor strong feminine charac- teristics (Bem, 1977). People who are androgynous are believed to be more effective because they can perform both the “instrumental,” directive, or masculine roles and the “expressive,” nurturing, or feminine roles (Powell and Butterfield, 1989). We use the terms “traditional” and “conserva- tive” to describe the belief that men’s and women’s roles are distinct, and the terms “modern” and “liberal” to describe the belief that roles are not ascribed according to sex. According to the traditional point of view, men are more assertive, competitive, decisive, confident, ambitious, and instrumentally oriented, whereas women are more nurturing, empathetic, helpful, sympathetic, gentle, affectionate, and expressively oriented (Lueptow et al., 2001). Traditional gender roles emphasize separate spheres of influence for women and men, with women inside the home and men outside the home (Duncan et al., 1997).A modern, or liberal, view of gender roles is that both men and women may engage in behaviors that have traditionally been ascribed to either sex (Blee and Tickamyer, 1995). According to the liberal view, women may occupy leadership positions in the workplace, be autonomous, and also be nurturing. Similarly, men may provide childcare at home, and still remain achievement-oriented in the workplace. The traits associated with masculinity and femininity are human qualities, therefore, both men and women engage in behaviors that are considered “masculine” or “feminine.” That is, masculinity and femininity may vary within an individual regardless of the person’s biological sex. Bem suggested that androgynous individuals (i.e., those who have both masculine and feminine traits) may draw upon both masculine and feminine behaviors. Androgynous individuals’ behaviors may vary more as a function of situational demands because of their more extensive behavioral repertoire. India has been going through a period of fast urbanization, industrialisation and westernisation for several. decades. Therefore, it is necessary to replicate these studies and upgrade the knowledge of gender stereotypes in India. The aim of the present study was to compare three cross-sectional groups and status of traditional gender roles in working urban Indian women. METHOD Sample: A total sample of ninety working females were randomly drawn from urban areas