"Overdoing Gender: A Test of the Masculine Overcompensation" Article Summary
The title of the article is Overdoing Gender: A Test of the Masculine Overcompensation Thesis written by Willer, Rogalin, Conlon, and Wojnowicz. This article focuses on men’s reaction in cases when their masculinity is threatened. The authors point out that male overcompensation is the idea when men, who are not confident in their masculinity, behave in excess of manhood in a given situation in order to compensate the lack of their masculinity. The authors of this article have set a goal to test this idea and to find out whether masculine overcompensation can explain men’s participation in wars and their aggressiveness to homosexuals.
In order to check this idea, the authors investigated the gender identity of a group of Cornell undergraduate students. The undergraduates were randomly assigned and had to receive feedback that their responses indicated on particular sex identity. Thus, the researchers have found that the comments had no effect on women, while men were significantly worried about their feedbacks. The authors also conducted a survey among men concerning their relationship to same-sex marriages and the war in Iraq. The researchers found that those men who are not confident in their masculinity showed a particular aggression towards same-sex marriages, they supported the war, and also preferred SUVs to other types of cars, which indicates on overdoing gender.
Having considered the findings, authors came to the conclusion that male overcompensation still exists and it is not difficult to prove, since the behavior of men, whose masculinity has been threatened, changes. However, the authors argue that these are not the only factors, which indicate on the masculine overcompensation. They mention that overdoing gender may also manifest itself in the broad range of other men’s behaviors when it comes to the male level of masculinity.
Work Cited
Willer, Robb et al. "Overdoing Gender: A Test of the Masculine Overcompensation Thesis." American Journal of Sociology, vol. 118, no. 4, 2013, pp. …
