«Фемининность» русской культуры: лингвистический аспект

Abstract

According to some cross-cultural studies carried out in the 1990s, Russia belongs to the so-called feminine cultures, whereas the majority of the countries of the Western Europe share the values of the so-called masculine cultures. Masculinity pertains to societies in which social gender roles are clearly distinct (i.e., men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success, whereas women are supposed to be more modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life); femininity pertains to societies in which social gender roles overlap (i.e., both men and women are supposed to share the same values which are more associated with the feminine ones). This article describes some aspects of the Russian grammar and vocabulary which could be linked to the femininity of the Russian culture in comparison with some aspects of various Western languages (English, German etc.) which could be linked to the masculinity. Dichotomy masculinity/ femininity is compared to the more well-known dichotomy individualism/ collectivism.