Feminine and masculine dimensions of the typical, desirable, and ideal woman and man

Abstract

A sample of 432 college men and women used the items of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) to describe either a typical, desirable, or ideal man or woman. Although both sexes endorsed a relatively more androgynous ideal and desirable description in comparison to the typical description, traditional views of a man and a woman appear to be alive and well. The greatest divergence between the sexes occurred in regard to the degree that masculine characteristics should ideally characterize a woman. Although males and females agreed in their masculinity ratings of the ideal man, females described the ideal woman to be as masculine as their ideal man, whereas males described her as significantly less masculine than their ideal man. The pattern of findings obtained from Bem's Androgyny score is contrasted with that obtained from its component Masculinity and Femininity scale scores. On the basis of these contrasts, recommendations are made for using the component scores as separate variables.