femininity

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femininity

the characteristics associated with the female sex. The historical (often masculinist) study of femininity documents feminine identity linked to passivity nurturing, co-operation, gentleness and relation to motherhood, with an emphasis upon the relegation of women to the private sphere, the sphere of domesticity Feminists and sociologists have challenged the stereotypes relating to ‘femininity’, ‘feminine identity’ and the binary categories man/mind, woman/nature which dominate many conceptions of sexual difference, including the reduction of sociocultural processes to biological givens. For French feminist theorists (e.g. CIXOUS, KRISTEVA) ‘feminine’ is an arbitrary category given to woman's appearance or behaviour by patriarchy For Sue Lees (Sugar and Spice: Sexuality and Adolescent Girls, 1993), changing the social constructions of masculinity and femininity will mean a fundamental shift in our conceptions of femininity and MASCULINITY within the context of dominant conceptions of rationality and morality

Femininity

Belphoebe

perfect maidenhood; epithet of Elizabeth I. [Br. Lit.: Faerie Queene]

Darnel, Aurelia

personification of femininity. [Br. Lit.: Sir Launcelot Greaves]

Miss America

winner of beauty contest; femininity high among virtues desired. [Am. Hist.: Payton, 445]

References in periodicals archive ?

Lastly, support by mother and attachment to school favors the development of unmitigated femininity (p [less than or equal to] .

The role of gender identity in adolescents' antisocial behavior

I take the image of the proletarian woman in Shanghai, Spring 1930 as an entry point for a discussion of the leftist imaginary of modernity, class, and femininity in the wider cultural context of 1930s Shanghai, a city which was itself a contested symbol of Chinese modernity.

Transnational Socialist Imaginary and the Proletarian Woman in China

But after competing against some of the world's most beautiful women, current Miss Wales, Michelle Bush, is in no doubt about the ideal image of femininity.

'Perfect' female shape shrinks to the boyish; RETRO REPORT

Sumera Jawad, a graduate and teacher of Punjab University explored various forms of femininity as depicted through the ages in the realm of art.

Abstract femininity, real expressions displayed in Press Preview

Keywords: Masculinity, Femininity, Smoking, Working women and Bem Sex role inventory

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MASCULINITY AND SMOKING AMONG WORKING WOMEN

Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) Masculinity and femininity were assessed using the Chinese version of the BSRI (Bem, 1974), which contains orthogonal 20-item masculinity and femininity scales, and a 20-item social desirability scale whose items are now mainly used as fillers.

Sexual self-labels and personality differences among Chinese lesbians

The subjects are connected by their fierce assertion of their own identities and their ability to articulate deftly their attitudes toward feminism, femininity and queer politics.

Queering femininity: Femmes of Power explodes gender and revels in the fallout

Stephanie examined how attitudes to femininity have evolved since the 1960s.

Does the 'F' word scare you ung women? Emma Pinch discovers if feminism means anything at all to the current generation

Showcasing Tamar Garb's continuing interest in representations of gender in nineteenth-century French visual culture, The Painted Face: Portraits of Women in France, 1814-1914, and The Body in Time: Figures of Femininity in Late Nineteenth-Century France, focus on well-known portraits, offering informative recapitulations of past scholarship while positing fresh connections between the works and their historical period.

The Painted Face: Portraits of Women in France, 1814-1914

Malcom (2003) suggests that in response to a social context where sports are associated with hegemonic masculinity, female athletes may exhibit the reformed apologetic defense of exaggerating their femininity while at the same time embracing their athleticism.

Wrestling with identity: an exploration of female wreslers' perceptions

popular culture, Femininity in Flight creates a compelling argument for why understanding so-called pink collar work is critical to understanding work in the 20th century.

A History of Flight Attendants

The watch skill-fully aligns sports styling and femininity that is expected to prove popular among the Arab consumers as well as expatriates in the region.