Masculinity and Feminity in China and Sweden

Hello everyone, let us just start by introducing ourselves. My name is Dan and this are
my colleagues: Michy and Michel and today we are going to talk about masculinity and feminity
in China and Sweden.

We choosed China because it is the second most powerfull economy in the world and
Sweden because it is one of the most developed countries in Europe. This two countries are
important because they represent European and Asian mentality.

In this presentation we will tell you how are the characteristics of masculine and feminine
cultures, how employees in this culture behave between them and whats the mentality towards
women.

We are going to start with a definition of Masculinity

To define masculinity, using the word Goal makes more sense than using the word
Tough.
Examples and characteristics that define masculinity are:
Winning is good, and gets you rewarded: usually, the best indicator for performing or
performance is money, because it is a measurable quantity. For that reason being
rewarded for ones performance is more prevalent in masculine countries than in
feminine countries.
Standing or status are important. This is Acquired status. In other words, if you work
hard enough, you can achieve this form of status. When you work hard you will be
rewarded for your performance which will give you the status you desire.
Competition: competing is good and is considered as fair play; or a chance to show how
good you are. Even competition amongst colleagues in the same organization or
department is seen as fair play.
Admiration for the winner: the successful achiever gets the credits and is being admired
for what she has done and achieved.
Definition of Femininity
When we define femininity the word Tender makes good sense. However, a better way to
define feminity is Process orientation and consensus.
Below you can find some examples and characteristics that define femininity:
Sticking your head out is not appreciated in other words being better than others does
not get you more money and people will not like you more.
Equal: dont think you are anyone, just because you think you are. In the Nordic
countries, there is even a specific Law of Jante. It says something like: dont think you
are anyone, that you will become anyone or that youre better than anyone
 Consensus: rather than being decisive, people prefer the process of reaching consensus
Sympathy for the loser: or sympathy for the underdog; the less successful in society
deserve a chance and should be helped.
The Masculinity side represents a preference in society for achievement, heroism,
assertiveness and material rewards for success. Society at large is more competitive. Its opposite,
femininity, stands for a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of
life. Society at large is more consensus-oriented. In the business context Masculinity versus
Femininity is sometimes also related to as "tough versus tender" cultures.
In China
Femininity/Masculinity: Managers in China said that they have to be polite and avoid openly
aggressive behavior, which reflects Chinese cultural emphases on restraint and moderation.
People in China do not like a display of affections in the work-place and as such managers
refrain from such actions as patting their employees on their backs. Facial expressions
suggesting frustration or anger is avoided as are excessive laughing. While talking to employees,
managers maintain a good amount of physical distance. Similar to other Asian cultures managers
refrain from touching female employees and making off-color jokes with them.
China is relatively more masculine (66) and it is the Asian country that has the highest degree
of masculinity following Japan. This degree is influenced by the tremendous discrimination in
China towards girls. The policy of birth control that was introduced, basing on one single child,
has been followed by a strange increase in girls mortality.
At 66 China is a Masculine society success oriented and driven. The need to ensure success
can be exemplified by the fact that many Chinese will sacrifice family and leisure priorities to
work. Service people (such as hairdressers) will provide services until very late at night. Leisure
time is not so important. The migrated farmer workers will leave their families behind in
faraway places in order to obtain better work and pay in the cities. Another example is that
Chinese students care very much about their exam scores and ranking as this is the main criteria
to achieve success or not.
The strong preference of boys is due to the traditional values, but also a consequence of
poverty, as in the rural areas it is the son who will take care of his parents, while traditionally
girls dont work and are therefore unable to take care of the family.
For this reason, Chinese society is very chauvinistic and there is a strong role
differentiation between men and women. Men hold most of the responsibility and power
positions. The role of women in China is very limited, even though it seems to be taking more
importance in the cities and more developed regions. Especially in the rural areas their status is
inferior. The country is far from setting up men-women parity, while Sweden is making a special
effort to take account of this principle of gender equality.

SWEDEN
Sweden scores 5 on the masculinity dimension and is therefore a Feminine society. In
Feminine countries it is important to keep the life/work balance and you make sure that all are
included. An effective manager is supportive to his people, and decision making is achieved
through involvement. Conflicts are resolved by compromise and negotiation and Swedes are
known for their long discussions until consensus has been reached. The whole culture is based
around 'lagom', which means something like not too much, not too little, not too noticeable,
everything in moderation. Lagom ensures that everybody has enough and nobody goes without.
Lagom is enforced in society by Jante Law which should keep people in place at all times. It
is a fictional law and a Scandinavian concept which counsels people not to boast or try to lift
themselves above others.
According to research Sweden is the most feminine culture in the world.
Feminine cultures tend to value cooperation, nuturing, understanding. They are cultures
where the gender roles are more diffuse. So, in feminine cultures you will find men taking
parental leave, changing nappies and fetching at the day care centre, for example. You will see
women with a high level of education and in roles that are traditionally 'male' - eg doctors,
judges, politicians etc.
Worlds states have started step by step to adopt feminine culture. More and more often we
see that women have begun to build successful careers in areas dominated by men (engineering,
medicine, science, business) and this is encouraging. This type of culture puts more value on
people and not on rewards, which improves the relationships between employees and the
atmosphere in the company.
In our opinion, a feminine culture brings more benefits to a company and its employees than
a masculine one.