Femininity And Masculinity

Looking back on history men’s and women’s roles haven’t always been divided; both genders were needed to work and provide and until the fourteen hundreds, they wore the same clothing. Men’s fashion developed to show the reality of their bodies with apparel such as tights, while women’s bodies were accentuated in tight bodices. Bordo shows us that as men’s clothing became more comfortable and utilitarian their role in society followed suit. Men today are supposed to be active; they are workers, the penetrators, the ones in control. Advertisements in the essay show us men continually portrayed as “rocks,” aggressively facing the camera or actively working. When women appear, they are simply to be gazed at and admired for their beauty. The images of men acting coincide with society’s standard of men being the

The notion that masculine and feminine have different meanings and associated behaviors in different cultures is obvious to anyone who spends even a miniscule amount of time comparing cultures; for example, while dresses and robes are considered predominantly feminine articles of clothing in the West, there are a number of countries and cultures where this is not the case. In fact, even in the West one may point to the Scottish kilt as an example of culture producing different standards for the expression of gender, because it is a traditional masculine

The Fashioned Body: Fashion, Dress, & Modern Social Theory notes that “to understand fashion, it is necessary to go beyond the discussion of pure aesthetics. It is a chain of [events], which are industrial, economic and cultural, as well as aesthetic” (p. 220). Simply put, the fashion industry and manufacturing process is like an unintentional collaborative process - one that brings society

There has been many influences regarding masculinity and feminity throughout past and recent years in America. Society, along with the media, has created a social spectrum with masculine and feminine on each extreme end. Society has altered the peoples perceptions of what a man and woman should act like, look like as well as be like within the society. Individuals who fall in-between the two extreme ends of the spectrum are belittled and mocked in a sense that who they are as a being, is not typical. This paper will examine the cultural influences on masculinity and feminity throughout history, and recent years.

In this paper I will present an analysis of two fitness magazines, Self and Men’s Fitness. Having read a lot of fitness magazines myself, I am used to the way women’s magazines look and what approach they have, so I find it interesting to compare that to how fitness is presented in a magazine for men. The feature I have chosen to look closer at is food, how it is presented to reach a male and female audience

When I took the “BEM Sex Role Survey” I got 62.5 masculine points, 69.167 feminine points and 54.63 androgyny points. I would never say I have been the ‘tomgirl’ or the stereotypical ‘girly girl’. These points seem accurate to describe my femininity, masculinity, and androgyny. I have never thought of myself as super feminine, I don't wear makeup, I don't normally wear dresses or high heels, I usually always wear my hair up in a ponytail. I have never considered myself ‘girly’ yet I have always considered myself feminine.I may not be the stereotypical feminine which is why I agree with my scores all being relatively close together for masculine and androgyny.

During the passage, Henry’s voice expresses his genuine sympathy for Catherine as he watches her suffer through child birth. He later watches her die after their child was pronounced dead. Henry has been extremely pessimistic about the birth, the baby and Catherine which foreshadows this dreadful ending, “[Henry] But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially,” (249). In the passage Henry is shown cursing God for Catherine’s suffering and sarcastically thanking God for the anesthesia that she wouldn’t have needed if she wasn’t in agony. Overall the tone of this excerpt is lamenting.

Your list between the stereotyped traits of femininity and masculinity. was very interesting The idea of women being loyal is significant because I think that is what fuels the idea of monogamy, and the ostracism women get for choosing non-monogamous relationships. This also fuels slut shaming and the fact that women are mostly condemned for having a lot of sex, while men are praised for this same act. It is interesting that you listed “independent,” “self-sufficient” and “individualistic” as a feminine trait. This is because when I think of stereotypes of women, I think of them as seemingly more dependent, especially on the collective unit of the family, as they are often characterized as the homemakers, and instead I would pair these traits

Before 1900, the norms on gender to buy clothes affect the designers or decision-makers to design some masculine and feminine clothes and through stressed the qualities of men and female to sell their products. The majority of children learn gender roles from their parents and understand how to categorise themselves by gender since they are three years old (Cahill 1986). Kaiser notes in ‘The Social Psychology of Clothing: Symbolic Appearances in Context’ (1990), gender to be a social construction. While clothing is a symbol of gender, which helps us to distinguish male and female (Freeman 2001). Gender norms have been deciding men and women what the type of clothing they should wear (Lorber & Farrell 1991). Traditionally, male and female were expected to wear pants, suits and ties, and skirts and blouses respectively. It also considered the dull colours such as gray to be men, whereas the pink colour is for women (Lorber & Farrell 1991). The themes or pattern of clothes are usually coded by gender, for example, kittens, butterflies and flower designs for women, while turtle snake and frog for men (Schulte 2016). During the Victorian Era, gender roles became specifically defined. People must follow the norms, otherwise, they will be treated as strange (Schulte 2016). So, the corset was designed for women, which physically prevented the expansion of the ribs, abdomen, and waist (Schulte 2016). As they would not be able to keep upright without and they are weaker than men (Summers 2001). On the other hand, suits are male gender symbols (Summers 2001). The clothes features of straight line, neat and simple cut could expose typical masculine characteristics including strength and power, which are marketed (Schulte 2016). For example, the brands used plenty of advertisements such as through the multi-page leaflets and posters to show ten to thirty men wearing different suits, arranged in a landscape or set out in rows, showed the masculine with power, and usually with a title, like 'new styles' (Rose 2010). This advertisement imposed certain gender stereotypes and roles upon men. Therefore, gender norms during the Victorian Era shape the production and consumption of clothes.

Many boys are raised in a home where there is a dominant male, most of the parents and psychologist agree that young men need more feminism, even in their homes. Young men do need to be more concerned about women's right on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality of men. There are many examples of women being superior to men, and yes men do need to be raised so they have more “Rugged masculinity”But they also need to need to learn how to respect and try to gain more rights for woman. There needs to be more of a change in the way we raise boys. Women are being disrespected and the men involved have slower brain development.

Womanhood is often associated with femininity while manhood with masculinity. Masculinity is the idea that men are tough both physically and mentally. Femininity, a term associated with being women is used to describe a women’s comportment and attitude. A gentle individual male or female, who wears dresses, skirts, high heels, makeup, and has long hair would be identified as feminine. Unfortunately, society judges and criticizes a women who do not depict feminine characteristics. Such women are regarded as either homosexual or queer. I chose two pictures of Grace Jones to compare in this essay since she happens to be a gender bender and victim of alike persecutions. Additionally, Grace Jones is a supermodel and singer from Jamaica, who’s renowned for cross-dressing and artistic fashion styles (Williams). The picture titled, “Grace Jones/Nightclubbing,”was derived from the National Portrait Gallery,while the other from, “Essense” website, Jones demonstrates that women can be feminine or soft in one picture and masculine or hard in the other picture through her appearance.

In society, ‘being a man means not being like women’ (Brod, H., & Kaufman, M. (1994). However, the definition of masculinity tends to fluctuate in value. Culture determines what it means to be male or female. It is an essentialist claim about gender: certain behaviours and personality attributes are associated to each gender and thus become what is considered ‘appropriate’. Masculinity is a social construction where the ‘foundation may be biological but the structure is manmade’ (Craig. S, 1992, p79) Nevertheless, masculinity is subject to change over time. Problems with the concept arise form issues of difference and variety. There are studies that have demonstrated historical societies and situations when masculinity is not present as a

Since the time of Florence Nightingale nursing has been popularly understood to be a highly gendered profession based on abilities of caring, helping, and nurturing – which are characteristics stereotypically identified with women and not men in the Western world (Cottingham, 2014; Rajacich, Kane, Williston, & Cameron, 2013; Stanley, 2012). Nightingale’s profound influence on nursing was filtered through the rigid Victorian cultural concepts of her time that viewed women as carers and helpers and men as active doers and experts, with white women of the middle class being the ideal helpers for knowledgeable and powerful male doctors whose primary function was scientific excellence and technical mastery and not the human dimension of caring, showing empathy, or serving others (Andrews, Stewart, Morgan, & D’Arcy, 2012; Cottingham, 2014). After Nightingale, the identification of femininity with nursing continued as the essentialist notion that women are carers and men are doers went essentially unchallenged (McMurry, 2011; Rajacich et al., 2013). This construction was based upon gendered notions of the characteristics of masculinity – defined as “hyper-heterosexuality, control, technical/physical competence, autonomy, and rationality” that are constructed as superior to “feminine” characteristics and deserve more respect, celebration, and recognition by society (Cottingham, 2014). In essence, to be a male and a nurse was therefore to be

The masculinities and femininities which exist in society play an important role in the gender inequality and gender relations. There are many cultural activities which are gendered and contribute to the construction and reconstruction of these femininities and masculinities. One of the most prominent cultural activities which are gendered is sport. Therefore we need to be aware of the role sport has in constructing masculinities and femininities and the ideology, sportocracy. Sport is a gendered cultural activity because it perpetuates many gender stereotypes and promotes or encourages specific masculinities, especially aggression, physicality, competitiveness and dominance.

During our life we construct many different identities of who we want to portray ourselves as to the rest of society; fashion plays a vital role in generating who we are. With the ideas from Storry and Childs they state that “the way that we dress can either serve to confirm or to subvert various facets of our identities, such as our gender,