Hofstede's Masculinity Index

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to take the study of Geert Hofstede’s Masculinity index of countries and apply them to the individual states of the United States. This will apply the different cultural dimensions that Hofstede used to rank the countries. While not every criteria can be applied, similar ones will be used to create a Masculinity index for the United States.

One of my favorite movies growing up was “The Sandlot.” It’s a coming of age story of a group of neighborhood boys, who love to play baseball. The movie is set in the early 1960s, and spans the length of one summer. The Sandlot boys spent the summer playing baseball, getting into trouble and learning the true meaning of friendship. Of course, in the movies, whenever

there is a rag-tag group, there is always the elite group. One afternoon, the elite baseball players in their nice white, Los Angeles Angels’ jerseys, challenge the rag-tag team to a baseball game. One of the most memorable scenes was when Hamilton “Ham” Porter tells the other boys on the team that, “You play ball like a girl.” This was considered the biggest insult that one could ever say. Even at a young age, we are taught by our society the differences between masculine and feminine. Masculine baseball players are good and feminine baseball players are bad. In the movie, gender roles matter, but is that still the case? According to The Hofstede Center, the culture you live in shapes your views on masculine and feminine roles. Professor Emeritus Geert Hofstede ranked each country on a masculinity index. The research that is being done shows how different countries react to different situations based on their rank on the masculinity index. While this research is important on an international level, could the same criteria be applied to the United States?
In the United States, people pride themselves on being from their home state. In Oklahoma, people do not like to be confused with Texans, or people from New York confused with people from New Jersey, even though the culture is very similar. Each state has their own individual governments and those governments address the issues within their own state. The states themselves can almost be seen as individual little countries, with their cultures a unique feature to each state. According to the Hofstede Center, “the Masculinity side of this dimension represents a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material rewards for success. Society at large is more competitive. Its opposite, femininity, stands for a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life. Society at large is more consensus-oriented” (Hofstede). Taking the criteria that were used in the Hofstede center, this research will apply the same type of criteria to rank each of the states. While most of the criteria will work for this study, some different but similar criteria will be used.