Acceptance of Foreigners: Ethnic and Gender Differences Among Americans

This study examined American students' (N = 207) attitudes and behavior towards students of various nationalities. The findings suggest that, while these students rated Africans lower than Westerners, and Asians no differently than the other two groups, there were ethnic and gender differences among the Americans. Female students rated Westerners as being better liked than Africans, and minority students rated Westerners both as better liked and better adjusted than Africans. Males and Whites rated the three groups equally. Overall ratings by women were more favorable than those by men. In terms of volunteering hospitality, these students were as generous to the Asian and the African foreigners as to the Westerners, but in general, a greater proportion of ethnic minority students was willing to be hospitable.     

Gender and the Japanese puppet theatre

The manifestation of gender in the Japanese puppet theatre is also a study of men who depict male and female roles. The visual sociologist must take into consideration the intermeshing and communication of voice (tayu), with music (shamisen player) and puppeteers on stage in the dramaturgy of roles and their enactment. The researcher explores aspects of front and backstage as we learn about male and female role making and taking. It could be argued that women are fictionalized, idealized and subject to stylization, while men are allowed to be more free in their depiction of emotional variation. At the same time there is a long tradition of gender interpretation which contains sexual ambiguities and varied meaning levels. This research addresses the masked and unmasked aspects of the Bunraku theatre and the ways that maleness and femaleness can be visually and verbally conceived.     

Gender norms and styling in Japanese conversation: A multilevel analysis

The observation that gender differences in Japanese language use are becoming less prevalent as women increasingly use ‘men's language’ appears in popular media from time to time. Some empirical studies support this view. However, such observations are usually based on the consideration of only one or two linguistic features, especially sentence-final forms and personal pronouns. In contrast, this study analyzes the use of multiple linguistic and paralinguistic features related to gender, regarding them as resources for styling identity. According to our analysis of eight same-gender and mixed-gender dyadic conversations of college students, these speakers’ use of features other than sentence-final forms, which we found to vary little by gender, is normatively gendered to a large extent. The study thus demonstrates that the analysis of multiple and multilevel variables enables us to better understand the complex process of styling through the speaker's negotiation of linguistic gender norms in actual practice.     

A Comparison of Household Budget Allocation Patterns Between Hispanic Americans and Non-Hispanic White Americans

The budget allocation patterns of Hispanic versus non-Hispanic White households are examined. Annual household expenditure data from 1980 to 1992 are constructed from the interview component of the Consumer Expenditure Survey (1980–1992), the Consumer Price Index (1980–1992), and the American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association (ACCRA) Cost of Living Index (1990). The sample includes 588 Hispanic and 8,444 non-Hispanic White households. A Linear Approximation of the Almost Ideal Demand System with 23 demographic variables is estimated. Findings show that holding other things equal, compared to non-Hispanic White households, Hispanic households allocate significantly more of their budget to food at home, shelter, and apparel and significantly less to food away from home, entertainment, education, health care, and tobacco.     

Negotiating Gender in Uncertainty: A Mechanism of Women's Marginalization in the Japanese Workplace*

Abstract Women have been long absent from important white-collar positions in large Japanese organizations. Two approaches have been made to understand women's work experiences and career outcomes in these organizations, namely, the structuralist and the rational choice approaches. The underlying assumption of both approaches is that individual women's career orientations are basically fixed and larger factors outside the workplace play central roles to determine women's career outcomes. In order to understand women's work experiences and perspectives more realistically, however, we need to turn our attention to the workplace itself and to examine the mechanisms through which women are constantly marginalized, if inadvertently, in everyday interactions with others. Drawing on a developing perspective that focuses on the dynamic nature of women's career experiences. this paper, based on a case study, demonstrates a major way in which the influences of outside factors, specifically of women's attitude toward work, are in fact reinforced within the workplace. A major component of this mechanism is women's sense of uncertainty generated through their day-to-day work lives.     

Homogamy and Intermarriage of Japanese and Japanese Americans With Whites Surrounding World War II

Although some sociologists have suggested that Japanese Americans quickly assimilated into mainstream America, scholars of Japanese America have highlighted the heightened exclusion that the group experienced. This study tracked historical shifts in the exclusion level of Japanese and Japanese Americans in the United States surrounding World War II with homogamy and intermarriage with Whites for the prewar (1930-1940) and resettlement (1946-1966) marriage cohorts. The authors applied log-linear models to census microsamples (N = 1,590,416) to estimate the odds ratios of homogamy versus intermarriage. The unadjusted odds ratios of Japanese Americans declined between cohorts and appeared to be consistent with the assimilation hypothesis. Once compositional influences and educational pairing patterns were adjusted, however, the odds ratios increased and supported the heightened exclusion hypothesis.     

Unemployment and Fatherhood: Gender,Culture and National Context

Hegemonic representations of masculinity and dominant images of fatherhood have usually been linked to the domain of work. This article explores the experiences of men under the hardship of unemployment and the impact of these experiences on the construction of their gender identities, specifically on the construction of their fatherhood identity. In addition, the article examines how culture and national context affect the interrelationship between unemployment and fatherhood. Drawing on a post‐structural constructivist theoretical perspective, the article describes a qualitative study of low‐income unemployed Palestinian fathers in Israel. The study examines three areas of interest: perceptions of fatherhood, the experience of unemployment and the impact of unemployment on the construction of fatherhood. On the theoretical level, the article proposes a conceptualization of the relationship between unemployment and fatherhood. It argues that in order to generalize the impact of unemployment on fatherhood, we must first examine the context in which gendered and cultural perceptions of fatherhood are embedded. On a policy level, the article offers some recommendations for developing more contextualized, gender‐ and cultural‐sensitive policies for unemployed fathers.     

Extended Family Integration Among Euro and Mexican Americans: Ethnicity,Gender, and Class

This article compares the extended family integration of Euro and Mexican American women and men and assesses the importance of class and culture in explaining ethnic differences. Using National Survey of Families and Households II data (N = 7,929), we find that ethnic differences depend on the dimension of integration. Mexican Americans exhibit higher rates of kin coresidence and proximity, but lower rates of financial support than Euro Americans. Two additional differences exist only among women: Mexican American women are more likely than Euro American women to give household or child care help. As to the explanation for these differences, social class is the key factor; cultural variables have little effect. Our findings support a theoretical framework attending to intersections among ethnicity, gender, and class.     

Gender,Equality and the Culture of Organizational Assessment

In spite of years of equal opportunities legislation and guidelines, a marked gender imbalance at the apex of organizational career structures persists (Carrier 1995). The predominant liberal model of equal opportunities (EO) seeks to alleviate sex-discrimination through advocating gender-neutral or ‘same’ treatment (Meehan and Sevenhuisjen 1991; Gatens 1991; Bock and James 1992). However, the present study suggests that ostensibly gender-neutral organizational practices may exclude characteristics, values and concerns more typically associated with women. This paper draws on a study of gender in selection to corporate management and raises questions about whether and how characteristics, values, goals and concerns which have been perceived as ‘female’ or ‘feminine’ may be excluded from ostensibly gender-neutral equality practices. Findings suggest that EO theory and practice need to move beyond limited either/or debates around ‘equality’ and ‘difference’. In order to do so, it may also be necessary to challenge dichotomous thinking about gender which currently informs much of that debate. In order to facilitate the development and progress of women in organizations it is not enough for EO initiatives to treat gender as a category of difference that can be overcome through superficial changes, for example in interview procedures, which merely seek to exclude issues perceived as gendered. Instead, a longer agenda for equality must move beyond the debate about women’s ‘sameness’ or ‘difference’ from men to include a deeper understanding of the gendered nature of organizational positions, structures and practices.     

Body Exchanges: Material Culture,Gender and Stereotypes in the Making

In the line of recent works on the relationship between body and gender, this article examines the bodily investment of gender construction. Grounded in an ethnographic fieldwork, it focuses on the ways in which gender relations in North America are constructed through the manipulation of objects, via body exchanges. It shows that physicality cannot simply be taken as a given on which genders are imposed. It is used to maintain sexual differences in a normative fashion. In attempting to understand this economy of body exchanges, this article calls for a broadening of our understanding of gender stereotypes. In doing this, it challenges the idea that changes of consciousness may not have reached the level of practices. It reveals instead that people are not fooled. They may even engage into these relations with a certain degree of irony.     

Gender by Preferred Gambling Activity in Treatment Seeking Problem Gamblers: A Comparison of Subgroup Characteristics and Treatment Outcomes

Problem gambling is a growing public health concern and treatment incompletion levels remain high. The study aims to support and extend previous studies in relation to the heterogeneity of the gambling population based on gender and gambling type, and the implications of subgroup differences on treatment outcomes. Additionally, the concept of drop-out is addressed in terms of categorical treatment measures. The empirical findings are examined in the context of the theoretical framework of the pathways model. Participants were recruited from the Statewide Gambling Therapy Service and stratified into subgroups based on gender and gambling mode preference [Electronic Gambling Machines (EGM) or track race betters]. Baseline predictors collected and analysed using multinomial logistical regression included demographic information as well as gambling variables, while treatment outcomes consisted of three therapist rated measures. Significant differences between the subgroups were found for age, marital and employment status, gambling duration, alcohol use and the Kessler 10 measure of psychological distress. Specifically, male track race gamblers were younger, married, employed, had a longer duration of gambling, higher alcohol use and lower psychological distress relative to EGM users. No difference was found in any of the treatment outcomes, however, consistent with previous studies, all subgroups had high treatment incompletion levels. The findings demonstrate the importance of screening, assessing and treating problem gamblers as a heterogeneous group with different underlying demographics and psychopathologies. It is also hoped future studies will continue to address treatment incompletion with a re-conceptualisation of the term drop-out.     

Cultural Constructions: Contrasting Theories of Organizational Culture and Gender Construction

This article addresses the relationship of the theorizing of organizational culture and the theorizing of gender construction. It begins by recognizing some of the difficulties of defining and understanding what is meant by the contested concept of culture. Drawing on the work of Smircich (1983) and Linstead and Grafton-Small (1992), an attempt has been made to explore the theorization of organizational culture(s) in terms of the concepts of organizational culture as: responses to human needs, integration, rules, shared symbols and meanings, unconscious projection, text, otherness, paradox, seduction and discourse. The implications of each of the approaches for the understanding of gender in organizations are considered. No one theoretical approach is advocated, but rather the breadth of theoretical possibilities is explored. The article is concluded with the argument that theories of organizational culture need to be much more explicit about their theorizing of gender construction.     

Recovering Heritage and Homeland: Ethnic Revival Among Fourth‐Generation Japanese Americans

In recent years, fourth‐generation Japanese American youth have been attempting to recover their ethnic heritage and reconnect with their ancestral homeland. This ethnic revival is a response to their continued racialization as “Japanese,” which has caused them to become concerned about their overassimilation to American society in an era of multiculturalism where cultural heritage and homeland have come to be positively valued. As a result, they are studying Japanese, majoring in Asian studies, living in Japan as college exchange students, and participating in Japanese taiko drum ensembles in local ethnic communities. Although this return to ethnic roots is a more serious commitment than the symbolic ethnicity observed among white ethnics in the past, it indicates that ethnicity remains involuntary for racial minorities, even after four generations. The case of later‐generation Japanese Americans demonstrates that cultural assimilation does not preclude the continuation and active production of ethnic difference.     

The Relationship Between Culture,Geographic Region,and Gender on Body Image: A Comparison of College Students in the Southeast and Pacific Northwest Regions of the United States

Body image is a significant predictor of important psychological and physical outcomes. The current study sought to expand on previous research on cross-cultural differences in body image across countries by exploring differences in body image based on geographic region within the United States. A sample of 1,365 participants was recruited from universities in the Southeast and Pacific Northwest regions of the United States. Participants completed a survey that assessed their gender, geographic region, and body image. Women reported poorer body image than men, and young adults from the Southeast reported poorer body image than young adults from the Pacific Northwest. There were significant interaction effects for gender and geographic region with women from the Southeast reporting the poorest body image of any group. The authors suggest that sociocultural differences in standard of beauty in the Southeast as well as differences in dress related to climate may contribute to the findings.