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The New Burdens of Masculinity

Author(s): Helen Mayer Hacker


Source: Marriage and Family Living, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Aug., 1957), pp. 227-233
Published by: National Council on Family Relations
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/348873
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The New Burdens of Masculinity
HELEN MAYER HACKER
Hofstra College

IN THE field of intergroup relationsentangle.


it has First, we may consider those burden
of masculinity
often been ruefully remarked that there is no which have survived from earlier
periods,
Negro problem, but only a white problem, no but which modern conditions may have
aggravated.
Jewish problem, but a Gentile problem; in Men in their traditional role of
short, no minority group problem, but breadwinners
a domi- have always encountered difficul-
nant group problem. And the problem ties, but it may be that recent developments in
of the
our occupational structure have added new ten-
dominant group was not only that its attitudes
perpetuated the minority group, but alsosions. Pertinent to this problem would be
placed
limitations on its own development. Amusinglyof occupational mobility and the increas-
studies
enough, when men are the dominanting group,
importance of education as both barrier and
base to economic success, of vocational adjust-
they are quick to admit that their chief problem
ment and the new personality traits, such as skill
is women. This answer may be in part defensive,
in politicking, needed for high level positions.
in part facetious, but it is true that inadequate
attention has been paid to the sociology We will
ofreturn to this theme later on, when the
worker
dominant groups, and the strains imposed by therole will be taken up explicitly. Then,
burdens of their status. too, from Adam on, men have had their trouble
with women,
Indeed interest and research in changes in but can we distinguish the endur-
men's social roles have been eclipseding
byfrom
the the variable in their complaints?
Secondly, it may be useful to distinguish
voluminous concentration on the more spectacu-
conflicts engendered by feelings of inadequacy
lar developments and contradictions in feminine
in fulfilling
roles, and changes in masculine roles have been role expectations from those stem-
treated largely as a reaction and adjustment to
ming from feelings of uncertainty, ambiguity, or
the new status of women. Possibly oneconfusion
reason regarding role expectations. A man
why masculine social roles have not been maysub-
have no doubts concerning the criteria of
jected to scrutiny is that such a conceptmasculinity,
has not but feel that he does not live up t
clearly emerged. Men have stood for mankind,
them, or he may be unsure concerning the re-
and their problems have been identified with
quirements for validating manhood. Preliminary
interview materials reveal that the ideal man is
the general human condition. It is a plausible
hypothesis, however, that men, as well as
considered by men as being, among other things
women, suffer from the lack of a generally
a goodac-
provider, the ultimate source of knowl
edge and
cepted, clearly defined pattern of behavior ex- authority, and strong in character so
that heofmay give a feeling of security, not only
pected of them, and that their interpretation
financially but emotionally, to his wife and
the masculine role varies according to individual
children,
personality needs and social situations. The mas- and it was evident from their furthe
sive social changes initiated by the Industrial
responses that the respondents found themselve
Revolution have not only affected the deficient
comple- in meeting these demands.
mentariness of the sexes, but posed new The norms of masculinity, however (and,
prob-
conversely,
lems of personality fulfillment for both men those of effeminacy) may vary
and women. among social groups, and multiple group par-
Analytically, contemporary masculine prob-
ticipations may set up contradictions and incon
lems may be viewed as arising from three in outlook. For example, it was only
sistencies
sources, which may prove difficultafterto dis-
several months of counseling that a skilled

August, 1957 MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIVING 227

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mechanic developed the courage to dust off some cence, which may be attributed in part, as
old Caruso records he had stored in the attic, mentioned previously, to the lack of cultural
and find that listening to them was no threat to focus of attention on men's problems, as re-
his manhood. The group memberships of a pro- vealed in the defensive answer, "women." More
fessional man, however, would hardly produce important, though, is an element of the tradi-
this particular conflict. tional masculine role which proscribes admission
The third source or way of examining the and expression of psychological problems, feel-
problematic aspects of masculine social roles is ings, and general overt introspection, as summed
interpreting them in terms of accommodation up in the stereotype of the strong, silent man.
to the new freedoms and responsibilities of True he may be permitted moments of weak-
women. Here again we may look with profit to ness, some faltering in his self-appointed task,
the minority group literature. Horace R. Cayton when he falls back on a woman for emotional
has spoken of the guilt-hate-fear complex of support, but such support is in the nature of
whites in regard to Negroes. He says: ego-building rather than direct participation and
Guilt, because his treatment of the American Negro
counsel. The ideal American male personality
is contrary to all of his higher impulses. . . . But has been described by John Gillin2 as a "red-
having such guilt and being unable and unwilling to blooded, gentlemanly, go-getter" and any con-
resolve it, persons learn to hate the object they feel fessions of doubts, uncertainties, or insecurities
guilty about so the guilt turns to hate and with it the
would tarnish this image, any sign of weakness
necessity to rationalize and justify their behavior.
Finally there is fear, for the white man in all of his might be taken for effeminacy. Perhaps this is
arrogance knows that in spite of his rationalizations the greatest burden of masculinity our culture
about racial inferiority he would be resentful and imposes.
strike back if treated the way he treats Negroes.1 Nevertheless, there are objective indices that
all is not well with men. Most obvious is the
Perhaps I would not press this analogy, if sev-
eral men had not told me themselves that in widespread expression of resentment toward
women in conversation, plays, novels, and films.
their eyes men have guilt feelings about the
Modern women are portrayed as castrating De-
whole history of male-female relationships, and
lilahs busily levelling men's individuality and
that while the "emotionally stable" man was
invading the strongholds of masculinity in work,
attempting to work out a new, more equitable
pattern, neurotic men succumbed to the other play, sex, and the home. She seems to say, with
Ethel Merman, to the man, "Everything you can
elements in the complex by striving to stand
do, I can do better." She is the female insect who
firm on traditional male prerogatives or going
devours her lover ("The Cage"), the shrike who
too far in their subservience to women. Again,
preys on her husband; she is a storehouse of evil
in the matter of social distance, some men are
willing to admit their occasional need of exclu- desires, she constantly puts men to tests they
cannot meet, she compells their submission.
sive male companionship, while others are afraid
In the words of Oscar Wilde, women are seen
to recognize it. Some find friendship with
as a brimming reservoir of all kinds of powers:
women enjoyable, while others are as uneasy
with "intellectual" women as the white South- physical, mental, moral, legal. In the comic
erner with educated Negroes. strips, husbands and fathers are the guileless
tools of their wives and daughters. To change
In fact the chief obstacle so far experienced in
efforts to collect data as a basis for the formula- Congreve's phrase in "The Way of the World,"
tion of precise hypotheses has been men's reti- many men seem to see themselves as dwindling
into a husband or other female appendage.
1 Horace R. Cayton, "The Psychology of the Negro Under
Discrimination," in Arnold M. Rose, Editor, Race Prejudice 2 John Lewis Gillin and John Philip Gillin, An Introduc-
and Discrimination, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1951, tion to Sociology, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1944,
pp. 287-288. p. 172.

228
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIVING August, 1957

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Other indices, to be discussed later, are the in- with the glad hand, they must impress others
creasing social visibility of impotence and homo- with their warmth and sincerity (rather than as
sexuality. formerly with their courage and honesty and in-
In seeking a conceptual model in which to dustry), they must be trouble shooters on all
cast masculine role problems, Kirkpatrick's3 dis- fronts. Yet they are not thereby relieved of
cussion of cultural inconsistencies in marital the necessity of achieving economic success or
roles may be of service. He distinguished among
other signal accomplishment, nor are they per-
three roles provided in our society for the mitted such catharses as weeping, fits of hys-
married woman, each role implying certain terics, and obvious displays of emotionalism. Of
course, it may be objected that as women are
privileges and certain obligations, and suggested
that conflict might arise from the disposition
increasingly allowed male privileges, they, too,
of the wife to claim the privileges of more are restricted in their emotional expression. Yet
in the present era of transition women may still
than one role without accepting its correspond-
ing obligations, or from the disposition of the
on the basis of the unpredictability of their sex,
which is vaguely linked to biological function-
husband to expect his wife to assume the duties
of more than one role without receiving its
ing, have greater recourse to moodiness and
corresponding rights. This situation may irrationality.
be
ascribed to social forces operating differentiallyIn the status of husband, a man must assume
on the American population, thus leading to thea primary responsibility for the support of
multiplicity of roles, no one of which has uni-the home. A man who marries for money is
versal sanction and, consequently, not clearlyexposed to more social opprobrium than a
isolated from the others. woman, and there is scanty social support for
Let us try to apply this notion of ethical in-
the expectation that the wife should shoulder
consistency to some of the main statuses which half the financial burden. The self-respecting
men occupy in our society. male has no choice but to work. Rarely do
As a man, men are now expected to demon- marriage and homemaking offer an alternative!
strate the manipulative skill in interpersonal Yet his responsibility does not end there. Al-
relations formerly reserved for women under though he should excel his wife in "external
the headings of intuition, charm, tact, coquetry,
creativity" he is also called upon to show some
womanly wiles, et cetera. They are asked to
competence in "internal creativity" in develop-
bring patience, understanding, gentleness ing
to the potentialities of the husband-wife re-
their human dealings. Yet with regard to women lationship, and sharing the physical and policy-
making burdens of maintaining the home. Or in
they must still be sturdy oaks. As I heard on the
radio recently, a woman wants a man to be
Parsonian language,5 his specialization as "in-
"big and strong, sensitive and tender, the sortstrumental leader" does not preclude the as-
of person on whom you can rely, and who leaves sumption of "expressive" functions, particularly
you free to manage things the way you want." in view of the growing emphasis on friendship
between husband and wife.
This contradiction is also present in men's rela-
tionships with men. As Riesman4 points out in As a father, he bears the chief responsibility
The Lonely Crowd, now that the "softness ofin law for the guardianship of the children, but
the personnel" has been substituted for the
often in practice plays a subordinate role. He
"hardness of the material" men must be free may wistfully long for or stormily demand the
8 Clifford Kirkpatrick, "The Measurement of Ethical In- respect of his children, but his protracted ab-
consistency in Marriage," International Journal of Ethics, 46 sence from the home makes it easy for them to
(1936), pp. 447-448. Also found in Clifford Kirkpatrick, The
Family as Process and Institution, New York: The Ronald evade his authority and guidance. Moreover, he
Press Company, 1955, pp. 163-164. 5 Talcott Parsons and Robert F. Bales, Family, Socialization
4 David Riesman, Nathan Glazer, and Reul Denney, The and Interaction Process, Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press,
Lonely Crowd, Garden City: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1953. 1955.

August, 1957 MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIVING 229

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is increasingly reproached for his delinquencies toughness developed in schools, businesses, col-
as a father. He is urged to strengthen his friend- leges, teams, and clubs to "the guiding light of
ly, democratic relationship to his family with- paternal solicitude, love, and affection."
out in any way lessening the primacy of his oc- The requirements of the father role are
cupational role, though he is made to feel guilty further obscured by recent over-emphasis on the
for his efforts to support the home to the extent mother-child relationship, especially in infancy.
that they remove him from it. Indeed, the con- (See, for example, Talcott Parsons, Family: So-
flict between home and job is more salient and cialization and Interaction Process.) Father is
universal for men than for women. He has lost relegated to the role of mother-substitute or
the security of the old paterfamilias, who was nursery assistant, and receives little help in be-
the autocrat of the breakfast table, and experi- coming an effective member of the parent team.
ences difficulties in establishing a satisfying new As a son, he may face more obstaces to emo-
role. That father is hard put to it to find his tional maturity than a daughter. The dangers
rightful place in the home is starkly summarized of "Momism" and the female conscience have
in the comment of the comic strip character, been much propagandized.8 Exposed almost ex-
Penny, on the ambiguity of the father role, "We clusively to the influence of women as mothers,
always try to make father feel he is a part of teachers, and sisters the growing boy may identify
the family." goodness with femininity. Presumably the im-
Father is no longer the chief mediator be- mediacy and comparative simplicity of the moth-
tween the outside world and his family. As er's role in the home is more readily grasped by
Gunnar DybwadG has said, the daughter, but the son finds difficulty in identi-

While formerly the father carried prestige because fying with the largely absentee father and is cut
he, largely, was the connecting link to community off from his occupational role. His mother
affairs, now radio and TV, women's clubs and school- wants him to be an all-round boy and is fearful
organized activities have greatly lessened his impor- lest he be a sissy, but she can not show him
tance in this respect. Moreover, with increasing what it is to be masculine. This he must learn
mechanization, his maintenance concerns in everyday
houshold affairs have decreased. in the peer groups of the youth culture so
strangely detached from the adult world. Ruth
He may feel outnumbered in PTA organiza- Benedict's9 comments on discontinuities in cul-
tions where mother is the parent most often
tural conditioning apply with perhaps more
represented. His absorption in work cuts him
force to boys than to girls. The personality
adrift from the new patterns of child develop- traits which are rewarded in childhood do not
ment. It is mother who reads the child psychol-
bring approval in the peer group, nor are the
ogy books, accompanies the child to the guid- values of the latter always conducive to success
ance counselor, consults with teachers, and par- in the adult world of college and business.
ticipates in community child projects.
Arnold Green'? in his much-quoted "The Mid-
Dr. Leo BartemeierT has pointed to a further dle-Class Male Child and Neurosis" shows how
conflict in the father role. In accordance with
the blind obedience and "love" for his parents
the cultural ideal of the he-man, fathers may
which brings surcease from anxiety and guilt
feel that to be loving and gentle is consciously
gCf. Margaret Mead, And Keep Your Powder Dry: An
or unconsciously regarded as psychological fail- Anthropologist Looks At America, New York: William Mor-
ure, and indeed it may be difficult to make the row and Company, 1943. Margaret Mead, Male and Female:
A Study of the Sexes in a Changing World, New York: Wil-
transition from the attitude of ruggedness and liam Morrow and Company, 1949. Geoffrey Gorer, The
American People: A Study in National Character, New York:
6 Gunnar Dybwad, "Fathers Today: Neglected or Neg- W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1948.
lectful?" Child Study, 29, No. 2 (1952), pp. 3-5. 8 Ruth Benedict, "Continuities and Discontinuities in Cul-
Leo Bartemeier, "The Contribution of the Father to the tural Conditioning," Psychiatry, 1 (1938), pp. 161-167.
Mental Health of the Family," quoted by Gunnar Dybwad in 10 Arnold Green, "The Middle-Class Male Child and
"Fathers Today: Neglected or Neglectful?" Child Study, 29, Neurosis," American Sociological Review, 11 (February,
No. 2 (1952), p. 4. 1946), pp. 31-41.

230 MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIVING August, 1957

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are ineffective in competitive relationships out- buttress masculinity in the one area safe from
side the family in which independent and aggres- female competition, and it may also be that
sive behavior is demanded. Integration of the sexual prowess represents an alternative to eco-
conflicting roles of dependence and submission nomic success in validating manhood. Any de-
inside the home with self-assertiveness outside ficiencies in this realm, therefore, are much
the home is difficult because of the guilt feelings more ego-threatening to men than to women.
aroused for either violating the initial submis- Sexual adequacy affects the relationship of men
sive adjustment or for not making the effort tonot only to women, but also to other men. Sex-
achieve. So the son may envy his sister's more ual contests may be important for standing in
protected role, because, although he is permitted the peer group, and boys who have no exploits
greater freedom, more is expected of him in the to recount may feel constrained to counterfeit
way of achievement, responsibility, emotional them.
control, and autonomy. To the extent that cul- In general, it can be said that masculinity is
tural expectations of masculine superiority per- more important to men than femininity is to
sist, boys may resent invidious comparisons to women, and that sexual performance is more
their sisters and other girls in the matters of inextricably linked to feelings of masculine self-
scholarship and social skills. Also to be men- worth than even motherhood is to women. As
tioned is the greater social acceptability girls stated previously, our cultural heritage has iden-
find in being tomboys than boys who incline to tified masculine with human, and both men and
interests labelled feminine. One of my students women aspire to masculine values. A dramatic
reported that he wanted to skip rope as a child, corroboration of this hypothesis was made by
and finally got social permission by saying he Terman and Miles11 when they found in adminis-
was practicing to be a prizefighter. Additional tering their test of mental masculinity and femi-
problems are posed by the earlier maturation ofninity to students at the University of Chicago
girls. that the scores of both men and women shifted
We turn now to a consideration of men in the toward the masculine end of the continuum after
status of lover. In one sense this role strikes at the subjects had been informed of the purpose of
the heart of the problem of masculinity. The the test. If a man is not masculine, not a "real
ability to perform the sexual act has been a cri- man," he is nothing. But a woman can be un-
terion for man's evaluation of himself from feminine, and still be a person. There is a neuter
time immemorial. Virility used to be conceived category for women, but not for men.
as a unilateral expression of male sexuality, but The "flight from masculinity" evident in male
is regarded today in terms of the ability to evoke homosexuality may be in part a reflection of role
a full sexual response on the part of the female. conflicts. If it is true that heterosexual function-
Men as the dominant group feel the strains of ing is an important component of the masculine
accommodating to the changing status of the role in its social as well as sexual aspects, then
minority group, and meeting the challenge pre- homosexuality may be viewed as one index of
sented by the sexual emancipation of women. the burdens of masculinity. First, because of con-
Much as whites who feel constrained to con- fusion of social and sexual role, as Margaret
vince Negroes of their feelings of friendliness Mead12 long ago pointed out in Sex and Tem-
and fair play, men seek from women the as- perament in Three Primitive Societies, in socie-
surance that they are satisfied, and may become ties which differentiate strongly between mascu-
hurt and resentful when women play the part line and feminine social roles, individuals who
of psychological Lysistratas refusing to admit 11 Louis M. Terman and Catherine C. Miles, Sex and Per-
sonality: Studies in Masculinity and Femininity, New York:
complete gratification. McGraw-Hill, 1936.

The urgency of the problem of impotence " Margaret Mead, Sex and Temperament in Three Primi-
tivt Societies, included in From the South Seas, New York:
may arise also from the psychological need to William Morrow and Company, 1939.

August, 1957 MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIVING 231

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manifest personality traits ascribed to the oppo- advanced, such as Helene Deutsch'sl5 categoriza-
site sex or who feel inadequate in fulfilling their tion of women.
part of the sexual division of labor may become
By implication, if not directly, in the fore-
confused in their sexual identification, and feel
going we have referred to men's occupational
that they must also change their sexual object.
role, and we may now turn explicitly to this
Thus, the feelings of our mechanic who feared
area. The problems which men, more than
listening to Caruso records may be interpreted
women, experience on the job have already been
as a fear of homosexuality. Abram Kardiner13
mentioned: (1) the greater compulsion to suc-
in his Sex and Morality has elaborated this
cess, if not from themselves, then from their
theme:
wives; (2) the lack of an alternative to gainful
The difficulty in our society is that role expecta- employment; (3) the identification of economic
tions exercise an influence on sexual activity, some-
success with masculinity-(one woman of my
times in unexpected ways. The association of money,
economic power and prestige with sexual potency or acquaintance has told me that a man's success is
bodily stature is notorious. Money is a common form an important component of his sex appeal, both
of the vindication of manliness; by the same token, directly and indirectly; that men who feel them-
absence of money may crush the feeling of manliness. selves failures lack confidence in their dealings
Kardiner further suggests that homosexuality with women); (4) the new need for politicking
or using traditionally feminine forms of be-
represents a rerouting of aggression and hostility
perhaps in response to heightened social de- havior for ingratiating superiors, customers, et
cetera; and (5) the feeling of being threatened
mands-from women and competitors. He goes
by women in industry, who are seen as limiting
on to say:
opportunities for men, diminishing the prestige
These are the men who are overwhelmed by the
of jobs formerly held only by men, and casting
increasing demands to fulfill the specifications of
a cold eye on masculine pretensions to vocational
masculinity and who flee from competition because
they fear the increased pressure on what they con- superiority. Also to be mentioned, although not
sider their very limited resources. . . . This kind of new and not confined to men, are the problems
man can get no comfort from the female because she of obtaining recognition, usually phrased in
is a threat to him, not a solace, because she expected terms of earning more money, and job satisfac-
him to be masculine. The best he can do is to settle
tion in the sense of feeling that one is making
for a compromise on sensual satisfaction without
further commitment. a vital contribution to society.
The presence of women in industry is a dis-
It would be a matter of empirical investigation turbing fact on several grounds. First, it is fre-
to establish a typology of men, perhaps accord- quently felt that women are not gentlemen, that
ing to family constellation or social class posi- is, they compete unfairly by using sexual attrac-
tion, in terms of their interpretation of the de- tiveness and other tactics closed to or beneath
mands of masculinity and their felt capacity to men. If the distribution of the sexes in positions
fulfill them, possibly along the lines that Mer- of power were more equitable, this objection
ton14 has suggested in his article "Social Struc- would lose its basis. Secondly, women who have
ture and Anomie." A greater range of feminine ample opportunities of observing men on the job
than masculine types seems available in our so- are not so likely, in the words of Virginia Woolf,
ciety, as suggested by such superficial indices as to reflect their image double life-size. The man's
modes of dress and manner. Significantly, no occupational role loses its mystery, and women
typology of "masculine" personalities has been need no longer depend on men as a link to the
s8 Abram Kardiner, Sex and Morality, Indianapolis and world outside the home. This problem, too, is
New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1954, pp. 168
and 175. one of transition, and should disappear when
14 Robert K. Merton, "Social Structure and Anomie," 1 Helene Deutsch, The Psychology of Women, Vol. I,
American Sociological Review, 3 (Oct., 1938), pp. 672-682.
New York: Grune and Stratton, 1945.

232 MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIVING August, 1957

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through habituation to working women both mark of a man was the desire to create some-
men and women no longer expect masculine su- thing original and lasting, although he believed
periority and establish casual, workaday rela- that woman's ideal man was a subtle Kowalsky
tionships on the job. And if through propa- plus a smattering of the Saturday Review of
ganda and education the presence of women in Literature. A popular expression of professional
the occupational world, like other minority men was that women were concerned with sur-

groups, can be shown to raise levels of produc- vival and men with honor.
tivity and shorten working hours for men, then At the present time I am engaged in a re-
their competition will not be regarded different- search project to uncover how men interpret the
ly from that presented by other men. masculine role, to get at their feelings about
It remains now to gather up the threads of being men, and to find out what personality and
the discussion. The initial problem was posed social correlates are linked to the various inter-
as to whether men today in fulfilling masculine pretations of the masculine role and the felt
social role expectations experience difficulties points of tension and strain. The underlying as-
unknown to their fathers, and since such ex- sumption will be that social change has intro-
pectations may vary according to social group, duced certain cleavages between values and be-
class, et cetera-most particularly, urban middle havior, and that the very forces which gave rise
class white men of native parentage. Such diffi- to these conflicts will contribute to their allevia-
culties might flow from stepped-up demands of tion. In the meantime it will be of both prac-
the role itself making it harder to fulfill or from tical and theoretical interest to know in what
the infusion of ambiguous or contradictory ele- directions masculine roles are changing, and how
ments into the role, requiring in some cases a men are handling these changes, and with what
double dose of obligation or causing men to other variables are associated anxiety concerning
cling to a double dose of privilege. Another way these changes or an accepting, experimental atti-
of putting this question is to ask whether sub- tude. If we can return to our dominant group,
stantial changes have occurred in the criteria of minority group analogy, we can say that men are
masculinity over the past fifty years. Everyone paying a price for the past lack of reciprocity
thinks he knows what is masculine, and how to between the sexes, and the future solution need
recognize a "real man," but no one can give an not be the reversal of the caste line in a matri-
adequate definition. It is neither money nor archal society as some men fear, but rather the
muscles. A woman sociologist offered this one: collaborative effort of men and women in evolv-
"A real man is one who can take responsibility ing new masculine and feminine identities which
for a woman and their children." While not will integrate the sexes in the emotional division
of labor so that the roles which men and women
probably in the forefront of men's consciousness,
this definition is no doubt the traditional one.
play will not be rationalized or seen as external
A male professor of philosophy felt that the
constraint but eagerly embraced as their own.

MORE YOUNG PARENTS TODAY

"At present, somewhat over three-fifths


women) and of to the "baby boom" over th
the married men under age 25 have dependent
decade or more; the upswing in births ha
children, compared with less than one half
greatest in
among young people. (Source: St
1940." This is due to the loweringcal
age at first 38: 4-6, March, 1957.)
Bulletin,
marriage (now about 23 for men and 20 for

August, 1957 MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIVING 233

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