Gender as Subculture

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter relates gender and culture in a broad way by focusing on the four major racial/ethnic minority groups in the United States, namely, African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, and Latinas/os. It seeks to show how mental health and adjustment are affected by the gender-role norms of these particular cultures, and how different norms are associated with the feminine gender role and the masculine gender role. Femininity and masculinity are not innate, permanent, or universally defined. The particular cultural context in which racial/ethnic minority groups live their daily lives gives unique meaning to conceptions of femininity and masculinity. Culture and gender work jointly to affect the attitudes, feelings, characteristics, and behaviors experienced by such groups. Knowledge and appreciation of such cultural definitions are as important to effective assessment and treatment of mental health issues with racial/ethnic minority groups as clinical training. African American, American Indian, Asian American, and Latino cultures each have unique perspectives on the meaning of being a woman and being a man. Their perspectives are influenced not only by the worldview of their racial/ethnic minority group but also by the history of their political, economic, and social relationships with the majority culture. For example, although minority men have tried to be effective providers and protectors, they have been severely blocked in their efforts because of racism. In their frustration, they have developed unique survival strategies, such as “Cool Pose” in the case of African American men. Modifications, like Cool Pose and others, to majority culture notions of masculinity and femininity, must be taken into consideration by mental health professionals working on gender-role conflicts with women and men who are members of racial/ethnic minority groups.