This paper analyzes gendered social identity in Japan and the United States, countries with comparable postindustrial economic systems but distinct cultural traditions. Using national surveys (1995), we find gender differences in value orientations to be neither systematic nor consistent. They often dis- appeared after controlling for demographic and human-capital variables, though not so often for Japan. Other variables proved more important predictors of values than gender, although in different ways in Japan and the United States. We conclude by reassessing the use of the term gender in so- cial research and the cultural meaning of gender relations by addressing the feminist concerns with issues of gender location.
(2006). Sociological Forum, 21(4), 659-691. With Catherine B. Silver