A home stay is typically defined as a period of time in which a person resides with a family in a home located outside his or her country of residence. Living with a host family is frequently connected to learning a language and immersion in a foreign culture. Study abroad students often participate in home stays, but there is little academic research to-date that gives evidence of why students should (or should not) choose to live with a host family. No existing research was found that compares the home stay experiences of male and female study abroad participants. International Studies Abroad (ISA) places many of their students with host families. The organization offers year, semester, summer, and intensive month programs in Belgium, Spain, Italy, France, Chile, Costa Rica, Argentina, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, England, and Australia. In ISA's Spain and Latin American sites, the majority of the students are placed with host families. This study explores the home stay experiences of male and female ISA students. The purpose of this research is to seek an understanding of the perceptions that male and female students hold towards living with a host family, to analyze what has shaped their experience and subsequently their views, and to generate a theory about the home stay perceived as a "gendered" experience. Based on the data collected in this study, male and female students have relatively similar views about the host family experience. Both genders recognize the importance of the home stay to cultural exposure, including fostering language learning and insights into the host culture. Male and female students alike recommended staying with a host family while studying abroad. (Contains 3 tables.)