Previous gender-role research on depression has revealed a consistent inverse relationship between masculinity and depression, but a non-significant relationship between femininity and depression. In light of the stronger affiliative needs for feminine individuals, received social support was speculated to moderate the relationship between femininity and depression in the present research. In a...

In two studies we disentangled and systematically investigated the impact of subtle facial cues to masculinity/femininity and gender category information on first impressions. Participants judged the same unambiguously male and female target persons-either with masculine or feminine facial features slightly enhanced-regarding stereotypically masculine (i.e., competence) and feminine (i.e., warm...

Australian TV series Underbelly: Razor represents gangsters Kate Leigh and Tilly Devine as women equipped to compete on an equal footing with their male counterparts. These women's 'toughness' is simultaneously tempered and reinforced by gestures toward stereotypes of 'female weakness', which they employ to fulfil their criminal agendas. This paper will analyse how the TV series frames these wo...

The facial width-to-height ratio (face ratio), is a sexually dimorphic metric associated with actual aggression in men and with observers' judgements of aggression in male faces. Here, we sought to determine if observers' judgements of aggression were associated with the face ratio in female faces. In three studies, participants rated photographs of female and male faces on aggression, feminini...

This paper examines the use of the term “primary femininity” in current psychoanalytic thinking. The concept of primary feminity arose in reaction to early theories about female sexuality and development; based on a model of male development, these presented problems when applied to females. The author attempts to demonstrate the clinical advances that have resulted from the idea of primary fem...

OBJECTIVE The aim of the current study was to investigate associations between gender role orientation and eating pathology in a sample of females with eating disorders (ED). METHODS Sixty-eight women with anorexia nervosa and 123 women with bulimia nervosa completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), the Eating Disorders Inventory, and the Sexual Anxiety subscale of the Anorexia Nervosa Inve...

Symmetry and masculinity in human faces have been proposed to be cues to the quality of the owner. Accordingly, symmetry is generally found attractive in male and female faces and femininity is attractive in female faces. Women’s preferences for male facial masculinity vary in ways that may maximise genetic benefits to women’s offspring. Here we examine sameand opposite-sex preferences for both...