Your Political Compass and Masculine/Feminine Traits
Greetings one and wall and seasons wishes.
So, we tend to talk about a lot of political things here in World Talk. You might have noticed that.
There are those who identify as being on the left, some on the right and some in the middle. But where do people actual stand?
We've heard of the Political Compass before. Now, it has its flaws (such as the lack of a "neutral" or "other" option) and its transferability between nations political wings (for example, I'd be considered a far right person in Europe, but in my native country I'm actually a moderate). But over all I think it can give you a general rule-of-thumb idea of where you sit on the political spectrum.
See for yourself! Click this link, fill out the test and then post the image of your results here.
Link: Right here.
How did you go? Did you end up where you thought you'd end up? Surprised by the results? Post here!
I'll go first:
Your Political Compass
Economic Left/Right: 0.63
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.28
And that brings us to the Second part of this topic: Masculine/Feminine traits and preferences.
I've mentioned before about how I think the West has become too feminised, soft and too tolerant and civilised for our own good. Some others here don't agree with me.
A clever fellow from the Netherlands called Geert Hofstede put together a book called "Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations". The goal of his work was to try and understand how different peoples from different culture and nations form their opinions and perspectives based upon their country of origin. Though he covers several topics, one that I was able to have access to was the masculine and feminine traits of societies that he observed and described. This is the table:
Now this isn't the be-all-end-all table, but I do find it interesting. So, something people can do is look at each of those categories, see how many you agree with and then tally up the score for each category and whether you agreed more with the masculine or feminine. Add a little note if you need explanation.
For example:
Social Norms: 2/3 Masculine, I prefer the "Work in order to live", though what exactly "ego" is would need to be clearer defined.
Politics and Economics: 2 masculine, but would prefer to use negotiation first then force if that doesn't work.
Religion: 2 Masculine, but I don't think it's the most important in life but it is more necessary than "less important".
Work: 3 Masculine, the first two not out of desire but letting the dice fall where they may: if a woman gets paid less because sh does less work or there are less women managers, then so be it, the free market will decide that companies fate.
Family and School: 3 Masculine; though traditional family can be extended to same-sex couples, and failing is only a disaster if you learn nothing from it and don't improve. I don't want both boys and girls crying and "neither fight" because I don't want them both being wimps. Boys can cry at appropriate moments (daughters wedding, death of a loved one/close friend, death of a pet dog (and only a dog) etc), but learning to control their emotions is important. Likewise I don't want them being aggressive, hostile little d-bags that fight at the drop of a hat, but I want them to stand up for themselves and give a bully what's coming to them.
As you can see this isn't a perfect table. A lot of options are either/or, and though I don't have access to the text that would otherwise accompany it, I'd conjecture to say that the author would use this table as a general rule of thumb as representatives of the extremes on either end (100% masculine or feminine) rather than a spectrum. I think he implies as such with this quote:
“Masculinity stands for a society in which social gender roles are clearly distinct: Men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success; women are supposed to be more modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life. Femininity stands for a society in which social gender roles overlap: Both men and women are supposed to be modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life.”
From Hofstede (2001), Culture’s Consequences, 2nd ed. p 297.
Now to me the masculine society sounds better because in it men and women compliment each other and are of great value to each other, because if the society was too feminine as he describes, the society sounds like a bunch of pansy wimps too concerned with feelings and braiding flower-chains for their hair and who'll be taken advantage of. Though I do approve of society becoming more modest in regards to extravagant displays of wealth. However, imo a society that's too masculine would likewise be too brutal, which is why the womens contribution as being concerned with quality of life and tenderness is so valuable.
As you might have noticed it's pretty either/or, which is quite restrictive. But, that's what discussion and elaboration is for!
However, he also put together this handy dandy little chart to look up cultural traits of different countries: https://geert-hofstede.com/united-states.html
What do you think? Where do you stand? Post away!
So, we tend to talk about a lot of political things here in World Talk. You might have noticed that.
There are those who identify as being on the left, some on the right and some in the middle. But where do people actual stand?
We've heard of the Political Compass before. Now, it has its flaws (such as the lack of a "neutral" or "other" option) and its transferability between nations political wings (for example, I'd be considered a far right person in Europe, but in my native country I'm actually a moderate). But over all I think it can give you a general rule-of-thumb idea of where you sit on the political spectrum.
See for yourself! Click this link, fill out the test and then post the image of your results here.
Link: Right here.
How did you go? Did you end up where you thought you'd end up? Surprised by the results? Post here!
I'll go first:
Your Political Compass
Economic Left/Right: 0.63
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.28
And that brings us to the Second part of this topic: Masculine/Feminine traits and preferences.
I've mentioned before about how I think the West has become too feminised, soft and too tolerant and civilised for our own good. Some others here don't agree with me.
A clever fellow from the Netherlands called Geert Hofstede put together a book called "Culture's Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations". The goal of his work was to try and understand how different peoples from different culture and nations form their opinions and perspectives based upon their country of origin. Though he covers several topics, one that I was able to have access to was the masculine and feminine traits of societies that he observed and described. This is the table:
Now this isn't the be-all-end-all table, but I do find it interesting. So, something people can do is look at each of those categories, see how many you agree with and then tally up the score for each category and whether you agreed more with the masculine or feminine. Add a little note if you need explanation.
For example:
Social Norms: 2/3 Masculine, I prefer the "Work in order to live", though what exactly "ego" is would need to be clearer defined.
Politics and Economics: 2 masculine, but would prefer to use negotiation first then force if that doesn't work.
Religion: 2 Masculine, but I don't think it's the most important in life but it is more necessary than "less important".
Work: 3 Masculine, the first two not out of desire but letting the dice fall where they may: if a woman gets paid less because sh does less work or there are less women managers, then so be it, the free market will decide that companies fate.
Family and School: 3 Masculine; though traditional family can be extended to same-sex couples, and failing is only a disaster if you learn nothing from it and don't improve. I don't want both boys and girls crying and "neither fight" because I don't want them both being wimps. Boys can cry at appropriate moments (daughters wedding, death of a loved one/close friend, death of a pet dog (and only a dog) etc), but learning to control their emotions is important. Likewise I don't want them being aggressive, hostile little d-bags that fight at the drop of a hat, but I want them to stand up for themselves and give a bully what's coming to them.
As you can see this isn't a perfect table. A lot of options are either/or, and though I don't have access to the text that would otherwise accompany it, I'd conjecture to say that the author would use this table as a general rule of thumb as representatives of the extremes on either end (100% masculine or feminine) rather than a spectrum. I think he implies as such with this quote:
“Masculinity stands for a society in which social gender roles are clearly distinct: Men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success; women are supposed to be more modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life. Femininity stands for a society in which social gender roles overlap: Both men and women are supposed to be modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life.”
From Hofstede (2001), Culture’s Consequences, 2nd ed. p 297.
Now to me the masculine society sounds better because in it men and women compliment each other and are of great value to each other, because if the society was too feminine as he describes, the society sounds like a bunch of pansy wimps too concerned with feelings and braiding flower-chains for their hair and who'll be taken advantage of. Though I do approve of society becoming more modest in regards to extravagant displays of wealth. However, imo a society that's too masculine would likewise be too brutal, which is why the womens contribution as being concerned with quality of life and tenderness is so valuable.
As you might have noticed it's pretty either/or, which is quite restrictive. But, that's what discussion and elaboration is for!
However, he also put together this handy dandy little chart to look up cultural traits of different countries: https://geert-hofstede.com/united-states.html
What do you think? Where do you stand? Post away!