Femininity (also called womanliness or womanhood) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with girls and women. Femininity is made up of both socially defined and biologically created factors. This makes it distinct from the simple definition of the biological female sex, as women, men, and transgender people can all exhibit feminine traits.
Behavioral traits generally considered feminine include gentleness, empathy, and sensitivity, though traits associated with femininity often vary depending on location and context, and include a variety of social and cultural factors. The counterpart to femininity is masculinity.
Read more about Femininity: History, Behavior and Personality, Clothing and Appearance, Ideal Feminine, Traditional Roles, Femininity in Men, Feminist Views
Famous quotes containing the word femininity:
“Only when manhood is dead—and it will perish when ravaged femininity no longer sustains it—only then will we know what it is to be free.”
—Andrea Dworkin (b. 1946)
“Our ability to fall in love requires enough comfort with our masculinity to join it with someone’s femininity and feel enhanced. . . . If our mother made us feel secure and proud in our masculinity, then we want to find that again in our wife. If we are really comfortable with our mother, we can even marry a woman who is a friend rather than an adversary, and form a true partnership.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“Older women can afford to agree that femininity is a charade, a matter of coloured hair, écru lace and whalebones, the kind of slap and tat that transvestites are in love with, and no more.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)