Another NetMeme: Bem Sex Role Inventory

I saw the meme of the Bem masculinity/femininity test first on Snowninja's LiveJournal (where she scored higher than 95% of her age/gender cohort), followed by Catherine's analysis and criticism/debunking of said test.

That being said, I took it, and I found the results interesting enough to write about them. To wit, my test results:

Androgynous You scored 60 masculinity and 56 femininity!

You scored high on both masculinity and femininity. You have a strong personality exhibiting characteristics of both traditional sex roles. My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 42% on masculinity You scored higher than 34% on femininity

Link: The Bem Sex Role Inventory Test written by weirdscience on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

I ended up with a relatively balanced/androgynous reading, which surprised me a little bit, but not too much. At least 2/3 of my answers were in the sometimes/often category, which pushes me towards the middle. The bar charts mean that 58% of my age/gender cohort had higher masculinity scores. Note that the test is not an assessment of external masculine/feminine "flags"—e.g., sports, cars, and tools vs. makeup, jewelry, and shoes. It was meant more to gauge stereotypical (read: 1950's) gender behaviors:

Twenty of the characteristics are stereotypically feminine (e.g., affectionate, gentle, understanding, sensitive to the needs of others) and twenty are stereotypically masculine (e.g., ambitious, self-reliant, independent, assertive).

Understanding the limitations of this test (see Catherine's post and comments), I found it interesting to gauge myself against "classical" male behavior. I'm not naturally assertive; I would rather not lead, given a choice. But I will take charge if I have to and nobody else seems to be stepping up. I know that I am self-reliant in spades (perhaps 'pathologically independent' would not be a stretch), but not enough to counteract the side of being (at least moderately) helpful, sympathetic, and understanding.

The lack of aggression/confidence in my personality could partially explain my romantic situation: the male has classically been the active/instigating/hunting partner in male/female relationships. I.e., since I'm not asking them out, they're sure not asking me out.

Second, I wonder if this might shed some light on why I end up being typically being 'friended' by women: "You're a really nice guy, and I like you a lot, but I can only think of you as a friend." Perhaps the androgynous subconscious signals I'm sending say "I'm just one of your girlfriends," and that's how they end up mentally mapping/pigeonholing me. Then again, given my lack of raging sex appeal, wanting to be a "friend" instead of dating me makes a fair amount of sense.