Gender Roles and Expectations

Susana A Eisenchlas

doi:10.1177/2158244013506446

Abstract

One consequence of the advent of cyber communication is that increasing numbers of people go online to ask for, obtain, and presumably act upon advice dispensed by unknown peers. Just as advice seekers may not have access to information about the identities, ideologies, and other personal characteristics of advice givers, advice givers are equally ignorant about their interlocutors except for the bits of demographic information that the latter may offer freely. In the present study, that information concerns sex. As the sex of the advice seeker may be the only, or the predominant, contextual variable at hand, it is expected that that identifier will guide advice givers in formulating their advice. The aim of this project is to investigate whether and how the sex of advice givers and receivers affects the type of advice, through the empirical analysis of a corpus of web-based Spanish language forums on personal relationship difficulties. The data revealed that, in the absence of individuating information beyond that implicit in the advice request, internalized gender expectations along the lines of agency and communality are the sources from which advice givers draw to guide their counsel. This is despite the trend in discursive practices used in formulating advice, suggesting greater language convergence across sexes.

Highlights

In his book L’existentialisme est un humanisme, Sartre (1946) tells the following anecdote: During World War II (WWII), a former student asked his advice on whether he should join the Résistance and leave behind his widowed mother, or stay with her and neglect his patriotic duties
To test whether the distinction between expectations of agency and communality obtains outside the English speaking environment, this study extends the discussion into Spanish language, by investigating whether there is a relationship between gender and the type of advice people give and receive online from unknown interlocutors
Advice givers’ most frequently recommended strategy to deal with the break up situation, mentioned by 63% of participants, was to “talk” with the boyfriend or girlfriend and either discuss the situation or explain why they wanted to break up the relationship

Summary

Introduction

In his book L’existentialisme est un humanisme, Sartre (1946) tells the following anecdote: During World War II (WWII), a former student asked his advice on whether he should join the Résistance and leave behind his widowed mother, or stay with her and neglect his patriotic duties. For Sartre, the moral of the story is that, when someone solicits advice, they have already chosen the answer they want, as the advice they wish to receive guides the selection of advice giver. Increasing numbers of people go online to ask for, obtain, and presumably act upon advice dispensed by unknown peers, mindful or not of the potential risks involved in this practice (e.g., erroneous information, abusive language or content, dangerous emotional manipulation from the advice giver, or receiver, or both)

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