Publication Date

5-1-2006

Degree Program

Department of Sociology

Degree Type

Master of Arts

Abstract

Individuals who use the Internet can obtain uncensored information about nearly any subject with ease. The unlimited access and the perceived freedom make the Internet an extremely popular media form. The purpose of this research is to examine the differences in how the types of sites individuals visit affect their gendered views. I specifically examined (1) individuals who go to gender-issue sites are less likely to support traditional, female gender-roles and (2) individuals who go to political sites are more likely to support traditional female, gender-roles. This study, using special questions pertaining to gender-roles within the household and visiting gender and political websites from the 2002 General Social Survey, examines the question as to whether the Internet has an effect on people's gendered views. The relationship among the dependent variable and the independent variables, control variables, and mediating variables were examined in both a bivariate and a multivariate context. First, to test my hypotheses I examined the bivariate correlations between the dependent variables and other variables. Next, I examined the relationships in the multivariate context using a regression model. This analysis creates a model with three separate steps, with the first step being an examination of the relationship between the dependent variable and the control variables. The second step examined the relationship between the dependent variable, control variables, and the independent variables. The final step in the forward step regression model examined the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables and the effects the control and mediating variables had on the relationship. The only significant finding of the current study is that of sex, age, and income, with sex having a more significant effect than either of the other two variables. Females tended to have a more traditional view of female gender-roles. It does not appear that visiting gender-issues or political sites affects a person's traditional female gender-role. This finding indicates that females tend to toe the gender line much more strongly than do males in that they were more likely to do the traditionally female household tasks and not do traditionally males tasks. Male respondents, however, reported that they engaged in both traditionally male and traditionally female household jobs.

Disciplines

Gender and Sexuality | Sociology

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