Femininity

Femininity comprises the physical and mental attributes associated with the female sex and is partly culturally determined. Some of these attributes can be traced to the female reproductive role. Others are rooted in the socialization of a girl's early development and adjusted throughout adulthood by picking up or reacting to societal cues. Feminine characteristics are sometimes expressed through female gender roles, which can vary between societies and eras. Roles which are thought of as feminine change from culture to culture and generation to generation, the only constant being the role of mother.

Feminine attributes

Traits that are considered feminine can be categorized into the physical (such as breasts, wider hips in relation to body size, softer facial features without facial hair, etc.) and the psychological, manifested in such things as a concern for relationships (sympathy, sensitivity, high language skills, receptivity) aesthetics (decoration and ornamentation of home and person).

Distinctly feminine attributes are hard to pin down, as are the masculine, because each attribute can be manifested in either gender. The attempt to categorize traits into strict categories of masculine and feminine has been the subject of philosophy, sociology, psychology and science for centuries, and is unlikely to be resolved satisfactorily as there are diverse views, clues, and subsequent conclusions about the matter.

Femininity in the media

The notion of feminine beauty constantly changes, and ranges the spectrum between the ultra-feminine Gibson Girl of the 1910s to the tomboyish flapper of the 1920s. Many women take their cues from film, television, or women's magazines such as Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Redbook and Us Weekly. These periodicals usually feature a glamorous covergirl whose clothing, makeup and lifestyle sometimes represent the current state-of-the-art in beauty. Some radical feminists see the (sometimes airbrushed) standards of beauty presented in women's interest magazines as examples of sexual objectification. They may view these depicted standards as impossible for most women to actually meet, and these feminists criticize women's slavish devotion to meeting these standards as evidence of patriarchal oppression.

Femininity in lesbians

While the purported homosexual women depicted in pornography are often silicone-enhanced fantasy ideals, the stereotypical "real" lesbian is imagined as a rather androgynous woman who crops her hair short and wears jeans and leather vests. In reality there are many lipstick lesbians (feminine women who are attracted to other feminine women) but they tend to blend in with heterosexual women. Lipstick lesbians are differentiated from femmes who are feminine woman attracted to masculine women (or "butches").

Femininity in men

In circumstances such as prison where men are segregated from women, a fraction of the population will nevertheless divide according to persistent female principles, either voluntarily or through coercion. An effeminate man exhibits what Carl Jung called the anima, the subconscious feminine psychological factors within all males. However, feminine traits that society finds admirable or at least views as neutral in women (such as "womanish tears") have traditionally been viewed more negatively when expressed by men.

Femininity in other primates

Human children are not the only primates to exhibit girlish traits. A study by Dr. Gerianne Alexander found that that vervet males, like human boys, prefer toy trucks, while vervet females and human girls prefer dolls.

Other meanings

The word feminine can also refer to:

The property of being biologically female
A traditionally female gender role
The feminine grammatical gender
The antonym of masculinity
Things considered characteristic in women
A more proper and polite word for "Girl Power"