The Studies of Gender Ideology of the Youth: The Review of Foreign Publications

Abstract

The article presents the results of foreign studies of gender ideology of students for a number of valuable social demographic variables. In the first part of publication the studies describing dynamics of gender ideology in various countries are analyzed. In the process of modernization of the Eastern Asia (China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan), India and Indonesia female population is involved in work outside of home, a trend of egalitarianisation of gender relationship and spreading of families with two breadwinners. During transition from socialist to liberal states in the countries of the Eastern Europe the impact of religious conservative family’s values on the youth is less significant than that of Western ideas of individualization and permissiveness. In the developed countries (USA, Europe, Australia, Canada) gender revolution resulted in diversity of gender ideologies. At least in the European countries five models are fixed empirically: egalitarian, egalitarian essentialism, intensive parenthood, moderate conservative ideology. The second part of article presents the analysis of studies of attitudes of students in areas of gender and marriage and family relationships carried out in various countries that established that gender and religious identity are the major differentiating variables. The other characteristics such as urban rural origin, structure of parents' family, coeducation and separate education are less significant. The attitudes of the youth concerning social roles of males and females and future marriage are changing effected by peers, mass culture and personal experience. The conclusion is derived that in spite of more conservative attitudes of male youths factually in all countries, a slow convergence of views of male and female youths among well-educated strata. The denominational membership remains the main differential factor