title: Masculinity scores as an artifact of feminist attitude: evidence from a study of lesbians and college women.
abstract: Data from a sample of lesbian women (n = 58) and college women (n = 129) are analyzed to examine the relationship between feminism (AWS), sexual orientation, and a PAQ-defined masculinity score. While lesbians have higher M scores, they also have very high AWS scores. When AWS is controlled in a multiple regression analysis, the difference on M scores between the two sexual orientation groups disappears. The results support the hypothesis that high masculinity scores for women represent strong self-confidence and independence, characteristics of those with positive feminist outlooks. We also argue that measures of traits such as independence and expressiveness need to be labeled as such, and not as "masculinity" or "femininity."
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University, College Station 77843-4351, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Finlay
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Scheltema
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires