Individualism in the Digital Age: Module II

Roza Abdulridha

Comp 106

Professor Yerks

October 30, 2008

Women’s reliance on men: Does it question her identity?

Since the dawn of life, women have been viewed inferior to men. The gender differences have long been a significant aspect of society. Yet as this society we live in becomes dependent on technology, the gender differences has become embedded into technology and the Internet. Thus the new way of associating with gender differences comes from online social networks.

Authors Melissa Joy Magnuson and Lauren Dundes of the article, “Gender Differences in “Social Portraits” Reflected in MySpace Profiles,” conduct an experiment by looking at different MySpace profiles “to determine if females’ identities posted online revolve more around their significant others than do males’ identities” (Dundes & Magnuson 240). Results revealed “online data sources manifest identity formation consistent with traditional gender roles in which females are dependent on others for their sense of self” (Dundes & Magnuson 239).

The question addresses whether such results in fact make a woman today weak and without an identity. The answer is a simple no. First and foremost, the identity formation stage of a woman validates why such actions occur; secondly, results of the experiment are generalized because gender excludes other categories such as age, race, class etc; last but not least, the image of the alpha male trumps society to this day thus making any actions carried out by women to be dependent on, or inferior to men.

A woman goes through emotional stages throughout her life to find her inner self. According to the Helm’s model, “women achieve a more positive gender identity by abandoning societal stereotypes regarding womanhood and by adopting their own internal definitions of womanhood” (Constantine). There are four stages to this theory; Pre-Encounter, Encounter, Immersion –Emersion, and finally Internalization. “During stage one, Pre-Encounter, the woman conforms to societal views about gender. She thinks and behaves in ways that devalue women and value men” (Boisnier). It is not wrong for a woman to be reliant on a man because she needs reassurance from the opposite sex in order to help her find inner self. “Stage two, Encounter, results from new information or experiences that make being a woman more salient, which causes the woman to question accepted values and beliefs” (Boisnier). Truth can best be found by questioning all possibilities, even if it means a woman doubting herself. “Stage three, Immersion-Emersion, is characterized by the idealization of women and the rejection of male-supremacist views of women in search of a positive self-affirmation of womanhood. In Internalization, the final stage, the woman fully incorporates into her identity her own positive view of what it means to be a woman” (Boisnier). The womanist theory helps the woman find her inner self and how she comes about to shape her identity. Stages one and two of this theory are especially critical and validate why women are reliant on others for their sense of self. It is merely a process a woman undergoes, just like men undergo a stage of their own to find their manlihood.

The use of gender in the MySpace experiment excludes categories such as age, race, class, and cultural background. “In China, the predominant difference is not between male and female but between insider and outsider (Marececk 17). The experiment fails to include women of different cultural backgrounds, moral views, and other factors that could affect the outcome of the results. It is very unlikely for a Middle Eastern woman to mention she has a significant other on such public networks because if she does date, she keeps it in secrecy in order to protect her reputation.

Results from the experiment suggest that fourty-three percent of males mentioned their significant other zero times (Dundes & Magnuson 239). The alpha male image validates such a result because men do not open up –especially not to the public—about their personal life. If they do, then anyone can tap into their inner self and sensitivity, thus losing their alpha male image. Therefore men must conform to this image at all times, even on online profiles.

“Exaggerating women’s difference from men fosters the view of woman as the Other…this distancing and alienating view of women by the dominant male culture opens the way to treating women as objects” (Marececk 38). The treatment of women as objects is a validation as to why more women make available to the public viewers of MySpace she is married or has a boyfriend. These social networks are created for the public, therefore, a woman might mention she is with someone of is married is to avoid dangers such as black-male and harassment. That being said, women can be relying on men for personal protection and not just emotional attachment and finding her inner self.

Shirley Chisholm once said; “The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, "It's a girl."” Traditional families expected their first child to be a boy in order to carry on the family heir, name, and so on. If the first child is a girl, the wife is immediately blamed --when the male is the one who determines the sex of the fetus. Even though society treated woman as inferior to men, there is sense of expectation no matter how independent, powerful, and intelligent a woman is. She is stereotyped from the moment she opens her eyes. Even as technology advances, women are still looked upon differently than men. However, relying on her significant other for her sense of self does not make a woman weak and without an identity because the identity formation stage suggest that women undergo such a process in order to find her identity thus this reliance is a temporary rather than a permanent stage. In addition, using gender as a factor excludes age, race, and background. Last but not least, the alpha male image always did and will trump society and women will always be looked upon differently.



Works Cited



Boisnier, Alicia D. "Race and women's identity development: distinguishing between feminism and womanism among Black and White women." Sept. 2003. Springer Link. 30 Oct. 2008 .



Constantine, and Madonna. "Cultural congruity, womanist identity attitudes, and life satisfaction among African American college women attending historically black and predominantly white institutions." Mar. 2002. American College personnel Association. 30 Oct. 2008 .



Dundes, Lauren, and Melissa J. Magnuson. "Gender Differences in "Social Portraits" Reflected in MySpace Profiles." Cyber Psychology & Behavior 11 (2008): 239-41.



Hare-Mustin, Rachel T. Making a Difference : Psychology and the Construction of Gender. Ed. Jeanne Marecek. New York: Yale UP, 1992.