How do middle-aged women women in contemporary Japan understand the concept of femininity? Young women (n=118) and their middle-aged mothers (n=118) participated in a study, in which the Femininity Consciousness Scale (FCS) was developed and used to identify four factors: "Personal Magnetism," "Traditional Image," "Appearance and Looks," and "Negative Image." Results indicated that middle-aged women did not attach as much importance to Appearance and Looks as did young women. Moreover, the self-evaluation of middle-aged women was below the average. The Attitudes toward 'Femininity' Scale (AFS) was also developed and two factors, "Affirmative Attitude" and "Negative Attitude" were identified. Results indicated that Affirmative Attitudes were not high and Negative Attitudes were low in which group of women. Results of correlation analysis between the FCS and AFS indicated that there was a positive correlation between there was a positive correlation between Affirmative Attitude, Personal Magnetism and Traditional Image of young women, and that Affirmative Attitude and Negative Attitude were positively correlated with Negative image in middle-aged women. These findings suggest that the relationship between attitudes and consciousness about femininity in contemporary Japan is different in different generations of women.

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論文