Module II Article V

No one in the world would disagree with the notion that since the dawn of civilization, men and women have fell in different roles. It has been proven in the fields of anthropology that as far back as the days of the “caveman”, men and women have had distinct and separate roles within their families and communities. With these differences in gender roles, personality traits have emerged that are distinct between men and women. In the article Gender Differences in “Social Portraits” Reflected in MySpace Profiles, the authors, Melissa Joy Magnuson and Lauren Dundes, discuss the tendency of women to “turn to others” for validation of their identity while men do not (Magnuson 239). The significance of this is not only the difference between men and women but that these tendencies are translated to the cyber world. While some may believe this is a derogatory and condescending remark, I do believe that the authors made a valid point, but I also believe that men do the same as well.
The experiment conducted in the article was meant to determine if there were differences between the numbers of times an individual’s significant other was mentioned in his or her MySpace profile. A MySpace profile is a great way to determine differences in identity validation between genders because the whole point of a profile is to allow others over the web to know who you are as a person. The results did come up significantly different, with women mentioning their significant other in various parts of their profile more than men. The authors attributed this distinction to the tendency of women to depend on others while searching for their own identities (Magnuson 241).
I agree with the authors’ interpretation and I also believe it is fairly prevalent within online communities. A portion of the experiment determined that women mention their significant other in their “About Me” section of their profile more often than men (16% of women did not mention their significant other, while 43% of men did not) (Magnuson 241). This phenomenon is something likely every user of MySpace and Facebook have noticed. I don’t believe this is a negative view of women or that it means they are less sure of themselves as individuals.
Women are usually more comfortable talking about and being public with their relationships than males are, and this is translated onto the internet. Just as women want to call their friends after a remarkable evening or devastating fight with their boyfriend or husband, they are also more than willing to share it with their network of friends online. Their relationships with others, not just their significant others, are a part of their identity as a whole. The article discusses this briefly when it is mentioned that women “take a very interpersonal approach” while searching for their identities (Magnuson 241).
Interestingly enough, some individuals argue that MySpace aids in identity formation, not just reflects it (Rapacki 29). Individuals are constantly able to change their profiles to reflect their moods, interests or ideas. Since women (especially adolescents) are more likely to value changes in relationships as changes in themselves as an individual, it is not a surprise that discussing their significant other is more prevalent in the profiles of females.
While I do agree with the authors’ assertion that this discrepancy is due to the differences in identity validation, I also believe that the differences can be attributed to something much simpler. Profiles online allow you to “show off” various aspects of your life you are proud of or that you value the most. I don’t believe this is meant to make others envious but rather to share with others those things that make you happy. It is much more likely for women to mention hanging out with their significant other in their Interests section than men, simply because men do not want to be ridiculed or seen as “whipped”. Also, it could be due to men viewing internet infidelity as less severe than do women, which would cause them to fail to mention their significant other (Morgan-Docan).
While men may have their own reasons for mentioning their significant others as much as women, they are not completely exempt from the notion of turning to others for validation of themselves. Just as women may turn to their significant other to validate their own identity, men commonly turn to their friends in order to validate theirs. Though it was not mentioned in the article, I do believe that men validate their own identities by mentioning their friends in relation to themselves. An example would be a male mentioning in their interests or activities their favorite hobby of “playing poker with the boys.” Groups of males are likely to be similar in interests and hobbies and members of that group may look at their friends in order to find out more about the type of person they are.
While both the mentioning of their friends as well as similarities between groups of friends may not differ between males and females, males are guilty of “turning to others” just as much as women are. In my mind, they just don’t do so with females because it is not part of the masculine persona. The authors of the paper mention that males tend to view their relationships as “an extension of their already-complete selves” (239). While males do not care any less about their significant other than their partner does about them, they simply do not see it as interconnected with other parts of their lives as females do. Upon entering a relationship, they maintain their sense of uniqueness and individuality (Magnuson 241). Therefore, when portraying their unique identity on the internet, they may concentrate more on who they are as an individual outside of their relationship than women do.
Men and women are different in countless ways and either may have the upper hand in any given aspect of life. When it comes to establishing who you are as an individual, the things that matter most to you will be the things that affect who you are and who you become. For a woman to “turn to others” as the authors stated is not negative at all and being valued in such a way by someone else should never be taken for granted.