How feminine or masculine are you? Take this inventory.

Oh--she takes care of herself

She can wait if she wants

She's ahead of her time

Oh--and she never gives out
And she never gives in
She just changes her mind
--From Joel and She's Always a Woman

I've been reading the book, Wander Woman, by Marcia Reynolds. It's a new book about how high-achieving women - you know the ones who land big jobs only to become quickly disenchanted and full of wanderlust - can find contentment and direction. It's a practical book, and I plan to write a full review as soon as I finish reading it. (I like it so much I've already become a Wander Woman Facebook fan.)

What I wanted to go ahead and pass along today is a link to the Bem Sex Role Inventory, Reynolds writes about in the book's second chapter. The BSRI was developed in 1971 by Dr. Sandra Lipsitz Bem. It characterizes one's personality as masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated. The BSRI is based on gender stereotypes, so what it's actually measuring is how well individuals fit into traditional sex roles. Thus, a score may say as much about how our cultural expectations have changed over the last 35 years as it does about one's personality.

Based on Reynolds research of Generation X women, they are not becoming more like men; they are becoming stronger women. Do do you buy this? My test results validate that I have equally feminine and masculine personality traits.

On Sunday, The Washington Post reported that a prominent woman used Spanish vulgarity to express her
opinion about the President. She said a female governor had the male body parts the President did not have, which were necessary to accomplish a feat.

It's hard for me to imagine that someone who has risen so high in national prominence can stoop so low. When a woman attempts to grab power or wield influence by emasculating a man, it is not femininity she has abandoned, it's self respect. Something tells me she didn't memorize the Girl Scout law and promise.

Based on all the secondary research I have done about Generation X over the last two years, I would guess that if Generation X women are developing more masculine traits while maintaining feminine characteristics, Generation X men are exhibiting more feminine personality traits while hoping to hold fast to masculine characteristics. As explained above, cultural expectations have changed.

How do you think this shift will impact families, marriages, careers and/or health?