Masculine/Feminine test

[Thistledew]

This 'test' is circulating on my social media. I think the introduction tries to work very hard to justify the test's relevance, and there are many ways that the whole premise can be examined. For a start, I think it is easy to predict which traits they consider to be masculine and which are feminine, so it would be very easy to answer according to an image you wish to project. Perhaps it would be more revealing if a friend answered for you?

I wonder how MNers tend to do? I (heterosexual woman) scored 61% masculine and 25% feminine.

I have not done the test, I'm just looking at the scores that are being posted. I have noticed that the majority don't sum to 100%. Indeed, a number of scores are exceeding 100%.

92% masculine and 36% feminine 128% fabulous

It's just bullshit click bait based on gender stereotypes

I am 94% masculine and 19% feminine.

I am... Extremely masculine. Fuck it. I'm as female and as straight as you can have it.

I think this test is just about how much you think you align with gender stereotypes. I came out as casually masculine which makes sense as I tend to reject feminine stereotypes (at least in theory, not necessarily in practice). It's a very simplified version of a fairly well validated test. Maryz is basically right nurturing = feminine and dominant = masculine.

It is supposed to be valid and reliable. Reliability is shown by retesting, I'm not sure how validity is tested. Perhaps people who think their behaviour conforms to gender stereotypes behave in stereotypical ways?

NB the original full length test included measures of femininity associated with childlike/gullibility and was designed using the opinions of Stanford students...

IWearPurple, I think the idea is that you can have up to 100% masculine (ambition, self-assured) or 100% female (nurturing, kind), or neither or both. So effectively it's out of 200%.

Either way it's shite.

And to add insult to injury it's very bad maths [grumpy]

Oh and it's not a self assessment of how female or heterosexual you are. We had a thread where a bunch of us did a transgender test of some sort. That had me as 'biologically male' despite asking what sex I was. Very weird. I don't think I've seen any 'how gay are you' tests but would imagine they would involve pictures/video of people and ask if you fancy them.

Retesting means "Oh, dear, I'm obviously not showing the right traits, I'd better have a good hard look at myself and try to be more affectionate/caring/nurturing/listening/shy/laid back/feminine or assertive/ambitious/singleminded/uncaring/chargingaheadwithoutlistening/masculine"

Twats.

@nooka what is the test it is based on actually testing for, or what is it used for?

I saw a "how gay are you" test that was basically the same as this, but also asked your actual, biological, sex.

So masculine answers for woman = lesbian, feminine answers for a man = gay.

I should hide this thread. I'm frothing.

78pc masculine. No surprise really, heterosexual woman, working in very male dominated field, tomboy growing up. Id have been a FTM transexual these days no doubt, though I am very glad I was born in times when it was ok to be a masculine woman.

I reckon everyone who ever posts on the feminist boards will come out as masculine (or neutral), because it seems to me that if you think, if you are self-aware, if you are not passive and submissive and shy [bleurgh], you come up as masculine

To be feminine you have to be quiet, shy, lacking in ambition, happy as you are, nurturing, child-loving etc etc. Which many men are; many men (the nicer ones it seems) are like this, happy to support successful partners, happy to fit in with a family life that might be outside of historical norms, happy to be the one to whom sick children turn.

To deny men their male-ness because they are like this is as bad as denying women their female-ness because they are successful.

It's shit. But par for the course on the internet these days.

I couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be used for. It's called the Bem Sex-Role Inventory. The person who designed it was interested in androgeny and I think wanted to show that people had both masculine and feminine traits. I think that Sandra Bern might well have been a feminist.

Here is a different test based on the same piece of work (was trying to find the actual test). Completely different questions and better designed with easily understandable questions. The IDRLabs one is poorly designed because it is very ambiguous, and I suspect is not based on the Bern Bem Sex-Role Inventory at all, especially as that inventory isn't used to 'determine your gender', it just records how much you think you are aligned with the stereotypes associated with your gender.

retesting reliability just means that if the same individual takes a test several times the results don't change. It's an assessment of the quality of the tool.

Using your criteria, garden, I think dh would still come up feminine. I think it's a "niceness" survey, and he's much nicer than me.

nooka, that test was a little better, but still stereotypical. I got:
Your score for masculinity was 125.
Your score for femininity was 81.
I always come up masculine, but am a straight woman.

I'm casually feminine. I think it sums me up quite well. I'm neither particularly strong on female or male traits. Yet I am female and proud to be.

Apparently Sandra Bern thought that psychologically healthy people should score as both highly masculine and highly feminine. She sounds quite an interesting character and her ideas about gender schema look to have been quite important to feminist thinking.

Note that the test (any of them) are not about how male or female you are. They are about how much you are aligned to gender roles. So if you rate as highly feminine all that means is that you self describe as conforming to female sex roles or stereotypes according to this tool. It has nothing to do with whether you are male or female. A man could easily take the test and also score as highly feminine.

That's what I read into it as well Nooka. I'm not the most conforming when it comes to gender role so not surprised I score kind of middling lol. I like sport, I curse a lot and always ready to stand up for what I believe in yet I really like children, can often be shy and I'm very sympathetic and compassionate.

It's just what's seen as standard female male traits I do think the lines are often more blurred than that. It's quite a simplistic test really.

I will do your test see how I look on that

I received 39% Masculine & 28% Feminine. Apparently this makes me "androgynous".

Still in the middle.

Nooka Well I scored average masculine, low feminine, and I'm definitely not psychologically healthy...

I'm more feminine on the 2nd test and more balanced between the two 100 masculine and 117 feminine good to know I'm psychologically healthy

75% feminine. I’m not surprised at all.