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120-392: Femininity (also called womanliness ) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls . Femininity can be understood as socially constructed , and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered feminine are influenced by both cultural factors and biological factors. To what extent femininity is biologically or socially influenced
240-665: A 2011 report from the Center for American Progress . Gender roles may be a means through which one expresses one's gender identity , but they may also be employed as a means of exerting social control , and individuals may experience negative social consequences for violating them. Different religious and cultural groups within one country may have different norms that they attempt to "police" within their own groups, including gender norms. The roles of women in Christianity can vary considerably today (as they have varied historically since
360-402: A babysitter, a factory worker, a clerk, or a prostitute than to be a leisure-class housewife. She made her plight and the plight of white women like herself synonymous with a condition affecting all American women. In so doing, she deflected attention away from her classism, her racism, her sexist attitudes towards the masses of American women. In the context of her book, Friedan makes clear that
480-463: A display of frailty, fear and incompetence". Scientific efforts to measure femininity and masculinity were pioneered by psychologists Lewis Terman and Catherine Cox Miles in the 1930s. Their M–F model was adopted by other researchers and psychologists. The model posited that femininity and masculinity were innate and enduring qualities, not easily measured, opposite to one another, and that imbalances between them led to mental disorders. Alongside
600-409: A feminine inner personality: anima; equivalently, in the unconscious of the female, it is expressed as a masculine inner personality: animus. In Western cultures, the ideal of feminine appearance has traditionally included long, flowing hair, clear skin, a narrow waist, and little or no body hair or facial hair. In other cultures, however, some expectations are different. For example, in many parts of
720-519: A few parts of Africa and Asia, neck rings are worn in order to elongate the neck. In these cultures, a long neck characterizes feminine beauty. The Padaung of Burma and Tutsi women of Burundi , for instance, practice this form of body modification. Femininity as a social construct relies on a binary gender system that treats men and masculinity as different from, and opposite to, women and femininity. In patriarchal societies, including Western ones, conventional attitudes to femininity contribute to
840-467: A fuller beard), an Adam's apple , wearing a woman's dress and high heels, carrying a purse would most likely draw ridicule or other unfriendly attention in ordinary social contexts. Because the dominant class sees this form of gender expression as unacceptable, inappropriate, or perhaps threatening, these individuals are significantly more likely to experience discrimination and harassment both in their personal lives and from their employers, according to
960-681: A masculine culture and have a higher salary. Leadership is associated with masculinity in Western culture and women are perceived less favorably as potential leaders. However, some people have argued that feminine-style leadership, which is associated with leadership that focuses on help and cooperation, is advantageous over masculine leadership, which is associated with focusing on tasks and control. Female leaders are more often described by Western media using characteristics associated with femininity, such as emotion. Psychologist Deborah L. Best argues that primary sex characteristics of men and women, such as
1080-432: A more attractive physical appearance. Occupational roles associated with these stereotypes include: midwife , teacher , accountant , data entry clerk , cashier , salesperson, receptionist , housekeeper , cook , maid , social worker , and nurse . Occupational segregation maintains gender inequality and the gender pay gap . Certain medical specializations, such as surgery and emergency medicine , are dominated by
1200-399: A more traditional, less dominant role for the women. Hindu deities are more ambiguously gendered than the deities of other world religions. This informs female and males relations, and informs how the differences between males and females are understood. However, in a religious cosmology like Hinduism , which prominently features female and androgynous deities, some gender transgression
1320-406: A person based on that person's sex . Gender roles can be linked with essentialism , the idea that humans have a set of attributes that are necessary to their identity based on their gender. Sociologists tend to use the term "gender role" instead of "sex role", because the sociocultural understanding of gender is distinguished from biological conceptions of sex. In the sociology of gender ,
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#17328589779321440-456: A person's gender identity can develop as early as three years of age. Money also argued that gender identity is formed during a child's first three years. People who exhibit a combination of both masculine and feminine characteristics are considered androgynous , and feminist philosophers have argued that gender ambiguity may blur gender classification. Modern conceptualizations of femininity also rely not just upon social constructions, but upon
1560-561: A prominent functionalist, had a flourishing career as an anthropologist. Chapter 7 : Friedan discusses the change in women's education from the 1940s to the early 1960s, in which many women's schools concentrated on non-challenging classes that focused mostly on marriage, family, and other subjects deemed suitable for women, as educators influenced by functionalism felt that too much education would spoil women's femininity and capacity for sexual fulfillment. Friedan says that this change in education arrested girls in their emotional development at
1680-474: A range of cultures. In addition, gender roles (and perceived gender roles) vary based on a person's race or ethnicity . Gender roles influence a wide range of human behavior , often including the clothing a person chooses to wear, the profession a person pursues, manner of approach to things, the personal relationships a person enters, and how they behave within those relationships. Although gender roles have evolved and expanded, they traditionally keep women in
1800-447: A result, The Feminine Mystique had substantial impact on a wide range of political activists, thinkers, and ordinary individuals." By the year 2000, The Feminine Mystique had sold over 3 million copies and had been translated into many foreign languages. On February 22 and 23, 2013, a symposium titled React: The Feminine Mystique at 50 , co-sponsored by The New School for Public Engagement and The Parsons School of Design ,
1920-541: A role in gendered behavior, the extent of its effects on gender roles is less clear. One hypothesis attributes differences in gender roles to evolution . The sociobiological view argues that men's fitness is increased by being aggressive, allowing them to compete with other men for access to females, as well as by being sexually promiscuous and trying to father as many children as possible. Women are benefited by bonding with infants and caring for children. Sociobiologists argue that these roles are evolutionary and led to
2040-649: A smaller proportion, in the male half. The yin can be characterized as slow, soft, yielding, diffuse, cold, wet, and passive. Although the Abrahamic God is typically described in masculine terms—such as father or king —many theologians argue that this is not meant to indicate the gender of God . According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church , God "is neither man nor woman: he is God". Several recent writers, such as feminist theologian Sallie McFague , have explored
2160-522: A third gender. An androgyne or androgynous person is someone with qualities pertaining to both the male and female gender. Some individuals identify with no gender at all. Many transgender people identify simply as men or women, and do not constitute a separate third gender. Biological differences between (some) trans women and cisgender women have historically been treated as relevant in certain contexts, especially those where biological traits may yield an unfair advantage, such as sport. Gender role
2280-420: A typical suburban housewife, she was involved with radical politics and labor journalism in her youth, and during the time she wrote The Feminine Mystique she worked as a freelance journalist for women's magazines and as a community organizer. The W. W. Norton publishing house, where Betty Friedan's work was initially circulated to be published as a book also generated some criticism. In fact an employee under
2400-471: A variety of social and cultural factors. Despite the terms femininity and masculinity being in common usage, there is little scientific agreement about what femininity and masculinity are. Among scholars, the concept of femininity has varying meanings. Professor of English Tara Williams has suggested that modern notions of femininity in English-speaking society began during the medieval period at
2520-410: A way that predisposes one to engaging in criminal behavior (including juvenile delinquency ). With regard to gender stereotypes , the societal roles and differences in power between men and women are much more strongly indicated than is a biological component. Ideas of appropriate gendered behavior vary among cultures and era, although some aspects receive more widespread attention than others. In
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#17328589779322640-439: A world which is sometimes hostile to them. Gender roles A gender role , or sex role , is a set of socially accepted behaviors and attitudes deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity . The specifics regarding these gendered expectations may vary among cultures, while other characteristics may be common throughout
2760-477: A young age, because they never had to face the painful identity crisis and subsequent maturation that comes from dealing with many adult challenges. Chapter 8 : Friedan notes that the uncertainties and fears during World War II and the Cold War made Americans long for the comfort of home, so they tried to create an idealized home life with the father as breadwinner and the mother as housewife. Friedan notes that this
2880-481: Is "the product of social doings of some sort undertaken by men and women whose competence as members of society is hostage to its production." This approach is described by Elisabeth K. Kelan as an "ethnomethodological approach" which analyzes "micro interactions to reveal how the objective and given nature of the world is accomplished," suggesting that gender does not exist until it is empirically perceived and performed through interactions. West and Zimmerman argued that
3000-507: Is a book by American author Betty Friedan , widely credited with sparking second-wave feminism in the United States. First published by W. W. Norton on February 19, 1963, The Feminine Mystique became a bestseller, initially selling over a million copies. Friedan used the book to challenge the widely shared belief that "fulfillment as a woman had only one definition for American women after 1949—the housewife-mother." In 1957, Friedan
3120-488: Is a man who wears flamboyant women's clothing and behaves in an exaggeratedly feminine manner for entertainment purposes. Feminist philosophers such as Judith Butler and Simone de Beauvoir contend that femininity and masculinity are created through repeated performances of gender; these performances reproduce and define the traditional categories of sex and/or gender. Many second-wave feminists reject what they regard as constricting standards of female beauty, created for
3240-453: Is allowed. This group is known as the hijras , and has a long tradition of performing in important rituals, such as the birth of sons and weddings. Despite this allowance for transgression, Hindu cultural traditions portray women in contradictory ways. Women's fertility is given great value, but female sexuality is depicted as potentially dangerous and destructive. The institution of marriage influences gender roles, inequality, and change. In
3360-932: Is consistent with the idea that maleness is more valued in contemporary culture than femaleness, whereas men being willing to give up masculinity in favour of femininity directly threatens the notion of male superiority as well as the idea that men and women should be opposites. To support her thesis, Serano cites the far greater public scrutiny and disdain experienced by male-to-female cross-dressers compared with that faced by women who dress in masculine clothes, as well as research showing that parents are likelier to respond negatively to sons who like Barbie dolls and ballet or wear nail polish than they are to daughters exhibiting comparably masculine behaviours. Serano notes that some behaviors, such as frequent smiling or avoiding eye contact with strangers, are considered feminine because they are practised disproportionately by women, and likely have resulted from women's attempts to negotiate through
3480-884: Is described as feminine. In many books of the Old Testament, including Wisdom and Sirach , wisdom is personified and called she . According to David Winston, because wisdom is God's "creative agent," she must be intimately identified with God. The Wisdom of God is feminine in Hebrew : Chokmah , in Arabic : Hikmah , in Greek : Sophia , and in Latin : Sapientia . In Hebrew , both Shekhinah (the Holy Spirit and divine presence of God) and Ruach HaKodesh (divine inspiration) are feminine. In Christian Kabbalah , Chokmah (wisdom and intuition)
3600-483: Is no fine underwear, no pantyhose, no nice lingerie[']" and "Sometimes I think the real Iron Curtain is made of silky, shiny images of pretty women dressed in wonderful clothes, of pictures from women's magazines ... The images that cross the borders in magazines, movies or videos are therefore more dangerous than any secret weapon, because they make one desire that 'otherness' badly enough to risk one's life trying to escape." As communist countries such as Romania and
3720-543: Is not necessarily related to a man's sexual orientation. Because men are pressured to be masculine and heterosexual, feminine men are assumed to be gay or queer because of how they perform their gender. This assumption limits the way one is allowed to express one's gender and sexuality. Cross-dressing and drag are two public performances of femininity by men that have been popularly known and understood throughout many western cultures. Men who wear clothing associated with femininity are often called cross-dressers. A drag queen
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3840-541: Is not the same thing as gender identity , which refers to the internal sense of one's own gender, whether or not it aligns with categories offered by societal norms. The point at which these internalized gender identities become externalized into a set of expectations is the genesis of a gender role. According to social constructionism , gendered behavior is mostly due to social conventions. Theories such as evolutionary psychology disagree with that position. Most children learn to categorize themselves by gender by
3960-875: Is related to women's and girls' sexual appeal to men and boys. Femininity is sometimes linked with sexual objectification . Sexual passiveness, or sexual receptivity, is sometimes considered feminine while sexual assertiveness and sexual desire are sometimes considered masculine. Scholars have debated the extent to which gender identity and gender-specific behaviors are due to socialization versus biological factors. Social and biological influences are thought to be mutually interacting during development. Studies of prenatal androgen exposure have provided some evidence that femininity and masculinity are partly biologically determined. Other possible biological influences include evolution , genetics , epigenetics , and hormones (both during development and in adulthood). In 1959, researchers such as John Money and Anke Ehrhardt proposed
4080-423: Is subject to debate. It is conceptually distinct from both the female biological sex and from womanhood, as all humans can exhibit feminine and masculine traits, regardless of sex and gender . Traits traditionally cited as feminine include gracefulness, gentleness , empathy , humility , and sensitivity , though traits associated with femininity vary across societies and individuals, and are influenced by
4200-463: Is the deliberate altering of the human body for aesthetic or non-medical purpose. One such purpose has been to induce perceived feminine characteristics in women. For centuries in Imperial China , smaller feet were considered to be a more aristocratic characteristic in women. The practice of foot binding was intended to enhance this characteristic, though it made walking difficult and painful. In
4320-457: Is the force in the creative process that God used to create the heavens and the earth. Binah (understanding and perception) is the great mother, the feminine receiver of energy and giver of form. Binah receives the intuitive insight from Chokmah and dwells on it in the same way that a mother receives the seed from the father, and keeps it within her until it's time to give birth. The intuition, once received and contemplated with perception, leads to
4440-947: Is the result of how females must behave in order to maintain a patriarchal social system . In his 1998 book Masculinity and Femininity: the Taboo Dimension of National Cultures , Dutch psychologist and researcher Geert Hofstede wrote that only behaviors directly connected with procreation can, strictly speaking, be described as feminine or masculine, and yet every society worldwide recognizes many additional behaviors as more suitable to females than males, and vice versa. He describes these as relatively arbitrary choices mediated by cultural norms and traditions, identifying "masculinity versus femininity" as one of five basic dimensions in his theory of cultural dimensions . Hofstede describes as feminine behaviors including service, permissiveness, and benevolence, and describes as feminine those countries stressing equality, solidarity, quality of work-life , and
4560-501: The Ladies' Home Journal in June 1964. Friedan's chapter on Freud was inspired by the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir 's The Second Sex (1949). The Feminine Mystique drew large numbers of white, middle-class women to the feminist cause. The National Organization for Women (NOW) was organized in 1966 with 30 women from different backgrounds; Friedan was one of them, and helped draft
4680-685: The World Values Survey , responders were asked if they thought that wage work should be restricted to only men in the case of shortage in jobs: in Iceland the proportion that agreed with the proposition was 3.6%; while in Egypt it was 94.9%. Attitudes have also varied historically. For example, in Europe, during the Middle Ages, women were commonly associated with roles related to medicine and healing. Because of
4800-516: The Charismatic and Pentecostal movements have embraced the ordination of women since their founding. Christian " saints ", persons of exceptional holiness of life having attained the beatific vision ( heaven ), can include female saints. Most prominent is Mary, mother of Jesus who is highly revered throughout Christianity, particularly in the Catholic and Orthodox churches where she is considered
4920-622: The Soviet Union began to liberalize, their official media began representing women in more conventionally feminine ways compared with the "rotund farm workers and plain-Jane factory hand" depictions they had previously been publishing. As perfumes, cosmetics, fashionable clothing, and footwear became available to ordinary women in the Soviet Union, East Germany , Poland, Yugoslavia and Hungary , they began to be presented not as bourgeois frivolities but as signs of socialist modernity. In China, with
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5040-597: The United Arab Emirates , non-Muslim Western women can wear crop tops, whereas Muslim women are expected to dress much more modestly when in public. In some Muslim countries, these differences are sometimes even codified in law. In some Muslim-majority countries, even non-Muslim women are expected to follow Muslim female gender norms and Islamic law to a certain extent, such as by covering their hair. (Women visiting from other countries sometimes object to this norm and sometimes decide to comply on pragmatic grounds, in
5160-499: The creation of the Universe . Communist revolutionaries initially depicted idealized womanhood as muscular, plainly dressed and strong, with good female communists shown as undertaking hard manual labour, using guns, and eschewing self-adornment. Contemporary Western journalists portrayed communist states as the enemy of traditional femininity, describing women in communist countries as "mannish" perversions. In revolutionary China in
5280-595: The interactionist approach, gender roles are not fixed but are constantly renegotiated between individuals. Geert Hofstede , a Dutch researcher and social psychologist who dedicated himself to the study of culture, sees culture as "broad patterns of thinking, feeling and acting" in a society In Hofstede's view, most human cultures can themselves be classified as either masculine or feminine. Masculine culture clearly distinguishes between gender roles, directing men to "be assertive, tough, and focused on material success," and women to "be more modest, tender, and concerned with
5400-716: The women's movement of the 1970s, researchers began to move away from the M–F model, developing an interest in androgyny . The Bem Sex Role Inventory and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire were developed to measure femininity and masculinity on separate scales. Using such tests, researchers found that the two dimensions varied independently of one another, casting doubt on the earlier view of femininity and masculinity as opposing qualities. Second-wave feminists , influenced by de Beauvoir, believed that although biological differences between females and males were innate,
5520-462: The " Theotokos ", i.e. "Mother of God". Women prominent in Christianity have included contemporaries of Jesus, subsequent theologians, abbesses, mystics, doctors of the church , founders of religious orders, military leaders, monarchs and martyrs, evidencing the variety of roles played by women within the life of Christianity. Paul the Apostle held women in high regard and worthy of prominent positions in
5640-418: The "private" sphere, and men in the "public" sphere. Various groups, most notably feminist movements, have led efforts to change aspects of prevailing gender roles that they believe are oppressive , inaccurate, and sexist . A gender role , also known as a sex role , is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for
5760-472: The 1950s, Western journalists described Chinese women as "drably dressed, usually in sloppy slacks and without makeup, hair waves or nail polish " and wrote that "Glamour was communism's earliest victim in China. You can stroll the cheerless streets of Peking all day, without seeing a skirt or a sign of lipstick; without thrilling to the faintest breath of perfume; without hearing the click of high heels, or catching
5880-463: The Civil Rights Movement, Friedan's text "barely mentions African-American women." In her Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center , Black feminist bell hooks writes "She did not speak of the needs of women without men, without children, without homes. She ignored the existence of all non-white women and poor white women. She did not tell readers whether it was more fulfilling to be a maid,
6000-432: The United States who were unhappy despite living in material comfort and being married with children. Friedan also questions the women's magazine, women's education system, and advertisers for creating this widespread image of women. The detrimental effects induced by this image were that it cornered women into the domestic sphere, and that it led many women to lose their own identities. Chapter 1 : Friedan points out that
6120-419: The United States, gender roles are communicated by the media, social interaction, and language. Through these platforms society has influenced individuals to fulfill from a young age the stereotypical gender roles in a heterosexual marriage. Roles traditionally distributed according to biological sex are increasingly negotiated by spouses on an equal footing. The Feminine Mystique The Feminine Mystique
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#17328589779326240-522: The ability to bear children, caused a historical sexual division of labor and that gender stereotypes evolved culturally to perpetuate this division. The practice of bearing children tends to interrupt the continuity of employment. According to human capital theory, this retracts from the female investment in higher education and employment training. Richard Anker of the International Labour Office argues human capital theory does not explain
6360-676: The age of three. From birth, in the course of gender socialization, children learn gender stereotypes and roles from their parents and environment. Traditionally, boys learn to manipulate their physical and social environment through physical strength or dexterity, while girls learn to present themselves as objects to be viewed. Social constructionists argue that differences between male and female behavior are better attributable to gender-segregated children's activities than to any essential, natural, physiological, or genetic predisposition. As an aspect of role theory , gender role theory "treats these differing distributions of women and men into roles as
6480-685: The alias "L M" wrote in a two-page memo that Friedan's theoretical views were "too obvious and feminine", as well as critiquing her approach by suggesting it to be unscientific. In addition, Friedan has been criticized for focusing solely on the plight of middle-class white women, and not giving enough attention to the differing situations encountered by women in less stable economic situations, or women of other races. According to Kirsten Fermaglich and Lisa Fine, "women of color— African American , Latina, Asian American and Native American women—were completely absent from Friedan's vision, as were white working-class and poor women." Despite being written during
6600-403: The assumption that the proper role of a woman was to be solely a wife and mother. She notes that they secured important rights for women, including education, the right to pursue a career, and the right to vote. Chapter 5 : In this chapter, Friedan, who had a degree in psychology, criticizes the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud (whose ideas were very influential in the United States at
6720-511: The average age of marriage was dropping, the portion of women attending college was decreasing and the birthrate was increasing for women throughout the 1950s, yet the widespread trend of unhappy women persisted, although American culture insisted that fulfillment for women could be found in marriage and housewifery. Although aware of and sharing this dissatisfaction, women in the 1950s misinterpreted it as an individual problem and rarely talked about it with other women. As Friedan pointed out, "part of
6840-660: The book, which they felt implied that wives and mothers could never be fulfilled. "Women who valued their roles as mothers and housewives interpreted Friedan's message as one that threatened their stability, devalued their labor, and disrespected their intelligence." In a Letter to Editor in McCall 's , one woman wrote, "All this time I thought I was happy, and a nice person. Now I discover I've been miserable and some sort of monster in disguise—now out of disguise. How awful!" Another said, "Mrs. Friedan should save her pity for those who really need it—the half starved, oppressed people in
6960-529: The chance to develop their fullest human potential." The Feminine Mystique is widely regarded as one of the most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century, and is widely credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States. Futurist Alvin Toffler declared that it "pulled the trigger on history." Friedan received hundreds of letters from unhappy housewives after its publication, and she herself went on to help found, and become
7080-726: The church, though he was careful not to encourage disregard for the New Testament household codes , also known as New Testament Domestic Codes or Haustafelen , of Greco-Roman law in the first century. According to Dhami and Sheikh, gender roles in Muslim countries are centered on the importance of the family unit, which is viewed as the basis of a balanced and healthy society. Islamic views on gender roles and family are traditionally conservative. Many Muslim-majority countries, most prominently Saudi Arabia , have interpretations of religious doctrine regarding gender roles embedded in their laws. In
7200-427: The circumstances men, not women, would be buying these household products and women having actual careers would increase women's buying power while increasing advertisers profits. Chapter 10 : Friedan interviews several full-time housewives, finding that although they are not fulfilled by their housework, they are all extremely busy with it. She postulates that these women unconsciously stretch their home duties to fill
7320-435: The concepts of femininity and masculinity had been culturally constructed, with traits such as passivity and tenderness assigned to women and aggression and intelligence assigned to men. Girls, second-wave feminists said, were then socialized with toys, games, television, and school into conforming to feminine values and behaviors. In her significant 1963 book The Feminine Mystique , American feminist Betty Friedan wrote that
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#17328589779327440-489: The contemporary magazines and articles of the period did not place women solely in the home, as Friedan stated, but in fact supported the notions of full- or part-time jobs for women seeking to follow a career path rather than being a housewife. These articles did, however, still emphasize the importance of maintaining the traditional image of femininity. Daniel Horowitz, a Professor of American Studies at Smith College , points out that although Friedan presented herself as
7560-526: The domination of women by men, especially in agricultural societies". According to Eagly et al., the consequences of gender roles and stereotypes are sex-typed social behavior because roles and stereotypes are both socially-shared descriptive norms and prescriptive norms. Judith Butler , in works such as Gender Trouble and Undoing Gender , contends that being female is not "natural" and that it appears natural only through repeated performances of gender; these performances, in turn, reproduce and define
7680-529: The earliest known shamans were female, and contemporary shamanic roles such as the Korean mudang continue to be filled primarily by women. In Hindu traditions, Devi is the female aspect of the divine. Shakti is the divine feminine creative power, the sacred force that moves through the entire universe and the agent of change. She is the female counterpart without whom the male aspect, which represents consciousness or discrimination, remains impotent and void. As
7800-462: The economic liberation started by Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s, the state stopped discouraging women from expressing conventional femininity, and gender stereotypes and commercialized sexualization of women which had been suppressed under communist ideology began to rise. In many cultures, men who display qualities considered feminine are often stigmatized and labeled as weak. Effeminate men are often associated with homosexuality , although femininity
7920-495: The empirical evidence that gender discrimination exists in areas traditionally associated with one gender or the other. It is sometimes used to explain why people have a tendency to evaluate behavior that fulfills the prescriptions of a leader role less favorably when it is enacted by a woman. Shamanism may have originated as early as the Paleolithic period, predating all organized religions. Archeological finds have suggested that
8040-454: The establishment of traditional gender roles, with women in the domestic sphere and men dominant in every other area. However, this view pre-assumes a view of nature that is contradicted by the fact that women engage in hunting in 79% of modern hunter-gatherer societies. However, an attempted verification of this study found "that multiple methodological failures all bias their results in the same direction...their analysis does not contradict
8160-412: The extreme what these days seems extraordinary for its complete denial of the notion of natural inclination." They concluded that gonads , hormones , and chromosomes did not automatically determine a child's gender role. Among the many terms Money coined was gender role, which he defined in a seminal 1955 paper as "all those things that a person says or does to disclose himself or herself as having
8280-411: The fact that many children have lost interest in life or emotional growth, attributing the change to the mother's own lack of fulfillment, a side effect of the feminine mystique. When the mother lacks a self, Friedan notes, she often tries to live through her children, causing the children to lose their own sense of themselves as separate human beings with their own lives. Chapter 13 : Friedan discusses
8400-453: The female manifestation of the supreme lord, she is also called Prakriti , the basic nature of intelligence by which the Universe exists and functions. In Hinduism , the universal creative force Yoni is feminine , with inspiration being the life force of creation. In Taoism , the concept of yin represents the primary force of the female half of yin and yang . The yin is also present, to
8520-555: The feminine mystique. She also advocates a new life plan for her women readers, including not viewing housework as a career, not trying to find total fulfillment through marriage and motherhood alone, and finding meaningful work that uses their full mental capacity. She discusses the conflicts that some women may face in this journey to self-actualization, including their own fears and resistance from others. For each conflict, Friedan offers examples of women who have overcome it. Friedan ends her book by promoting education and meaningful work as
8640-637: The figure that the human female presents in society" and "one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman". The idea was picked up in 1959 by Canadian-American sociologist Erving Goffman and in 1990 by American philosopher Judith Butler , who theorized that gender is not fixed or inherent but is rather a socially defined set of practices and traits that have, over time, grown to become labelled as feminine or masculine. Goffman argued that women are socialized to present themselves as "precious, ornamental and fragile, uninstructed in and ill-suited for anything requiring muscular exertion" and to project "shyness, reserve and
8760-793: The first century church). This is especially true in marriage and in formal ministry positions within certain Christian denominations, churches, and parachurch organizations . Many leadership roles in the organized church have been restricted to males. In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, only men may serve as priests or deacons, and in senior leadership positions such as pope , patriarch , and bishop . Women may serve as abbesses . Some mainstream Protestant denominations are beginning to relax their longstanding constraints on ordaining women to be ministers, though some large groups are tightening their constraints in reaction. Many subsets of
8880-466: The first president of the National Organization for Women , an influential feminist organization. In addition to its contribution to feminism, The Feminine Mystique related to many other coinciding movements. "Her work indicates for us the ways that feminism was interconnected with the struggles of working-class men and women, with black and Jewish battles against racism and anti-Semitism… As
9000-422: The founding statement of NOW. The statement called for "the true equality for all women". NOW demanded the removal of all barriers to "equal and economic advance". Friedan's influence can be seen in the founding statement; a main emphasis of the book is "women's need for identity and autonomy", and NOW's statement says "NOW is dedicated to the proposition that women first and foremost are human beings, who… must have
9120-1235: The glint of legs sheathed in nylon." In communist Poland , changing from high heels to worker's boots symbolized women's shift from the bourgeois to socialism ." Later, the initial state portrayals of idealized femininity as strong and hard-working began to also include more traditional notions such as gentleness, caring and nurturing behaviour, softness, modesty and moral virtue, requiring good communist women to become "superheroes who excelled in all spheres", including working at jobs not traditionally regarded as feminine in nature. Communist ideology explicitly rejected some aspects of traditional femininity that it viewed as bourgeois and consumerist, such as helplessness, idleness and self-adornment. In Communist countries, some women resented not having access to cosmetics and fashionable clothes. In her 1993 book of essays How We Survived Communism & Even Laughed , Croatian journalist and novelist Slavenka Drakulic wrote about "a complaint I heard repeatedly from women in Warsaw, Budapest, Prague, Sofia, East Berlin: 'Look at us – we don't even look like women. There are no deodorants, perfumes, sometimes even no soap or toothpaste. There
9240-454: The idea of "God as mother", examining the feminine qualities attributed to God. For example, in the Book of Isaiah , God is compared to a mother comforting her child, while in the Book of Deuteronomy , God is said to have given birth to Israel. The Book of Genesis describes the divine creation of the world out of nothing or ex nihilo . In Wisdom literature and in the wisdom tradition , wisdom
9360-424: The identity of woman is determined by her biology." Friedan goes on to argue that the problem is women needing to mature and find their human identity: "In a sense that goes beyond any woman's life, I think this is a crisis of women growing up—a turning point from an immaturity that has been called femininity to full human identity." Chapter 4 : Friedan discusses early American feminists and how they fought against
9480-401: The individualized choices made by women. Philosopher Mary Vetterling-Braggin argues that all characteristics associated with femininity arose from early human sexual encounters which were mainly male-forced and female-unwilling, because of male and female anatomical differences. Others, such as Carole Pateman , Ria Kloppenborg, and Wouter J. Hanegraaff , argue that the definition of femininity
9600-459: The interest of their own safety , such as " modest " dress codes which failing to abide by risk being perceived as a prostitute .) Islamic prophet Muhammad described the high status of mothers in both of the major hadith collections ( Bukhari and Muslim). One famous account is: "A man asked the Prophet: 'Whom should I honor most?' The Prophet replied: 'Your mother'. 'And who comes next?' asked
9720-689: The key to women's subjugation lay in the social construction of femininity as childlike, passive, and dependent, and called for a "drastic reshaping of the cultural image of femininity." Traits such as nurturance, sensitivity, sweetness, supportiveness, gentleness, warmth, passivity, cooperativeness, expressiveness, modesty, humility, empathy, affection, tenderness, and being emotional, kind, helpful, devoted, and understanding have been cited as stereotypically feminine. The defining characteristics of femininity vary between and even within societies. The relationship between feminine socialization and heterosexual relationships has been studied by scholars, as femininity
9840-423: The man. The Prophet replied: 'Your mother'. 'And who comes next?' asked the man. The Prophet replied: 'Your mother!'. 'And who comes next?' asked the man. The Prophet replied: 'Your father'" The Qur'an prescribes that the status of a woman should be nearly as high as that of a man. How gender roles are honored is largely cultural. While some cultures encourage men and women to take on the same roles, others promote
9960-687: The modern feminine ideal of thinness. In many Muslim countries, women are required to cover their heads with a hijab (veil). It is considered a symbol of feminine modesty and morality. Some, however, see it as a symbol of objectification and oppression. Cultural standards vary on what is considered feminine. For example, in 16th century France, high heels were considered a distinctly masculine type of shoe, though they are currently considered feminine. In Ancient Egypt , sheath and beaded net dresses were considered female clothing, while wraparound dresses, perfumes , cosmetics, and elaborate jewelry were worn by both men and women. In Ancient Persia , clothing
10080-599: The non-material quality of life, for children and for the weak. Feminine cultures, on the other hand, define relatively overlapping social roles for the sexes, in which, in particular, men need not be ambitious or competitive but may go for a different quality of life than material success; men may respect whatever is small, weak, and slow. In feminine cultures, modesty and relationships are important characteristics. This differs from masculine cultures, where self-enhancement leads to self-esteem. Masculine cultures are individualistic and feminine cultures are more collective because of
10200-523: The position of women will surely be what it is: in youth an adored darling and in mature years a loved wife." Friedan also points out that Freud's unproven concept of " penis envy " had been used to label women who wanted careers as neurotic, and that the popularity of Freud's work and ideas elevated the "feminine mystique" of female fulfillment in housewifery into a "scientific religion" that most women were not educated enough to criticize. Chapter 6 : Friedan criticizes functionalism , which attempted to make
10320-560: The prenatal hormone theory. Their research argues that sexual organs bathe the embryo with hormones in the womb, resulting in the birth of an individual with a distinctively male or female brain; this was suggested by some to "predict future behavioral development in a masculine or feminine direction". This theory, however, has been criticized on theoretical and empirical grounds and remains controversial. In 2005, scientific research investigating sex differences in psychology showed that gender expectations and stereotype threat affect behavior, and
10440-480: The primary origin of sex-differentiated social behavior, [and posits that] their impact on behavior is mediated by psychological and social processes." According to Gilbert Herdt , gender roles arose from correspondent inference, meaning that general labor division was extended to gender roles. Social constructionists consider gender roles to be hierarchical and patriarchal. The term patriarchy, according to researcher Andrew Cherlin , defines "a social order based on
10560-439: The process whereby an individual learns and acquires a gender role in society is termed gender socialization . Gender roles are culturally specific, and while most cultures distinguish only two ( boy / man and girl / woman ), others recognize more. Some non-Western societies have three genders: men, women, and a third gender . Buginese society has identified five genders. Androgyny has sometimes also been proposed as
10680-472: The psychologist Abraham Maslow 's hierarchy of needs and notes that women have been trapped at the basic, physiological level, expected to find their identity through their sexual role alone. Friedan says that women need meaningful work just as men do to achieve self-actualization, the highest level on the hierarchy of needs. Chapter 14 : In the final chapter of The Feminine Mystique , Friedan discusses several case studies of women who have begun to go against
10800-468: The quality of life." Feminine cultures tolerate overlapping gender roles, and instruct that "both men and women are supposed to be modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life." Hofstede's Feminine and Masculine Culture Dimensions states: Masculine cultures expect men to be assertive, ambitious and competitive, to strive for material success, and to respect whatever is big, strong, and fast. Masculine cultures expect women to serve and care for
10920-431: The resolution of conflicts by compromise and negotiation. In Carl Jung 's school of analytical psychology , the anima and animus are the two primary anthropomorphic archetypes of the unconscious mind. The anima and animus are described by Jung as elements of his theory of the collective unconscious , a domain of the unconscious that transcends the personal psyche. In the unconscious of the male, it finds expression as
11040-410: The rise of witch-hunts across Europe and the institutionalization of medicine, these roles became exclusively associated with men. In the last few decades, these roles have become largely gender-neutral in Western society . Vern Bullough stated that homosexual communities are generally more tolerant of switching gender roles. For instance, someone with a masculine voice, a five o'clock shadow (or
11160-401: The same kind of decision. Many women dropped out of school early to marry, afraid that if they waited too long or became too educated, they would not be able to attract a husband. Friedan argues at the end of the chapter that although theorists discuss how men need to find their identity, women are expected to be autonomous. She states, "Anatomy is woman's destiny, say the theorists of femininity;
11280-426: The sense of Max Weber's ideal types (an exaggerated and simplified version of a phenomenon, used for analytical purposes) rather than how they appear in reality. Model A described a total separation of male and female roles, while Model B described the complete dissolution of gender roles. The model is consciously a simplification; individuals' actual behavior usually lies somewhere between these poles. According to
11400-457: The sexual division of labor because many occupations tied to feminine roles, such as administrative assistance, require more knowledge, experience, and continuity of employment than low-skilled masculinized occupations, such as truck driving . Anker argues the feminization of certain occupations limits employment options for women. Role congruity theory proposes that people tend to view deviations from expected gender roles negatively. It supports
11520-518: The significance of personal relationships. 'The dominant values in a masculine society are achievement and success; the dominant values in a feminine society are caring for others and quality of life'. "In the 1950s, John Money and his colleagues took up the study of intersex individuals, who, Money realized, 'would provide invaluable material for the comparative study for bodily form and physiology, rearing, and psychosexual orientation'." "Money and his colleagues used their own studies to state in
11640-412: The social sciences more credible by studying the institutions of society as if they were parts of a social body, as in biology. Institutions were studied in terms of their function in society, and women were confined to their sexual biological roles as housewives and mothers as well as told that doing otherwise would upset the social balance. Friedan points out that this is unproven and that Margaret Mead ,
11760-473: The status of boy or man, girl or woman." In recent years, the majority of Money's theories regarding the importance of socialization in the determination of gender have come under intense criticism, especially in connection with the inaccurate reporting of success in the "John/Joan" case, later revealed to be David Reimer . Candace West and Don H. Zimmerman developed an interactionist perspective on gender beyond its construction of "roles." For them, gender
11880-411: The strange newness of the problem is that it cannot be understood in terms of the age-old material problems of man: poverty, sickness, hunger, cold." This chapter concludes by declaring: "We can no longer ignore that voice within women that says: 'I want something more than my husband and my children and my home. ' " Chapter 2 : Friedan states that the editorial decisions concerning women's magazines at
12000-746: The studies have been identified. A study on 1950s American teenage girls who had been exposed to androgenic steroids by their mothers in utero exhibited more traditionally masculine behavior, such as being more concerned about their future career than marriage, wearing pants, and not being interested in jewelry. Sociologist Linda L. Lindsey critiqued the notion that gender roles are a result of prenatal hormone exposure, saying that while hormones may explain sex differences like sexual orientation and gender identity, they "cannot account for gender differences in other roles such as nurturing, love, and criminal behavior". By contrast, some research indicates that both neurobiological and social risk factors can interact in
12120-627: The subordination and objectifying of women and self-perpetuated by reproductive competition and women's own aesthetics. Others, such as lipstick feminists and some other third-wave feminists , argue that feminism should not devalue feminine culture and identity, and that symbols of feminine identity such as make-up, suggestive clothing and having a sexual allure can be valid and empowering personal choices for both sexes. Julia Serano notes that masculine girls and women face much less social disapproval than feminine boys and men, which she attributes to sexism. Serano argues that women wanting to be like men
12240-423: The subordination of women, as women are seen as more compliant, vulnerable, and less prone to violence. Gender stereotypes influence traditional feminine occupations, resulting in microaggression toward women who break traditional gender roles. These stereotypes include that women have a caring nature, have skill at household-related work, have greater manual dexterity than men, are more honest than men, and have
12360-511: The time available, because the feminine mystique has taught women that this is their role, and if they ever complete their tasks they will become unneeded. Chapter 11 : Friedan notes that many housewives have sought fulfillment in sex, unable to find it in housework and children. She notes that sex cannot fulfill all of a person's needs, and that attempts to do so often drive married women to have affairs or drive their husbands away as they become obsessed with sex. Chapter 12 : Friedan discusses
12480-773: The time of the bubonic plague in the 1300s. Women in the Early Middle Ages were referred to simply within their traditional roles of maiden , wife , or widow . After the Black Death in England wiped out approximately half the population, traditional gender roles of wife and mother changed, and opportunities opened up for women in society. The words femininity and womanhood are first recorded in Chaucer around 1380. In 1949, French intellectual Simone de Beauvoir wrote that "no biological, psychological or economic fate determines
12600-469: The time of the book's publication). She notes that Freud saw women as childlike and destined to be housewives, once pointing out that Freud wrote, "I believe that all reforming action in law and education would break down in front of the fact that, long before the age at which a man can earn a position in society, Nature has determined woman's destiny through beauty, charm, and sweetness. Law and custom have much to give women that has been withheld from them, but
12720-672: The time were being made mostly by men, who insisted on stories and articles that showed women as either happy housewives or unhappy careerists, thus creating the "feminine mystique"—the idea that women were naturally fulfilled by devoting their lives to being housewives and mothers. Friedan also states that this is in contrast to the 1930s, at which time women's magazines often featured confident and independent heroines, many of whom were involved in careers. Chapter 3 : Friedan recalls her own decision to conform to society's expectations by giving up her promising career in psychology to raise children, and shows that other young women still struggled with
12840-541: The topic, not a book, but no magazine would publish the work. The phrase "feminine mystique" was coined by Friedan to describe the assumptions that women would be fulfilled from their housework, marriage, sexual lives, and children. The prevailing belief was that women who were truly feminine should not want to work, get an education, or have political opinions. Friedan wanted to prove that women were unsatisfied and could not voice their feelings. At that time, women were unaware that their sense of living an unfulfilling life
12960-490: The traditional categories of sex and/or gender. Working in the United States in 1955, Talcott Parsons developed a model of the nuclear family , which at that place and time was the prevalent family structure. The model compared a traditional contemporaneous view of gender roles with a more liberal view. The Parsons model was used to contrast and illustrate extreme positions on gender roles, i.e., gender roles described in
13080-422: The ultimate method by which American women can avoid becoming trapped in the feminine mystique, calling for a drastic rethinking of what it means to be feminine, and offering several educational and occupational suggestions. Friedan originally intended to write a sequel to The Feminine Mystique , which was to be called Woman: The Fourth Dimension , but instead only wrote an article by that name, which appeared in
13200-808: The use of "role" to describe gender expectations conceals the production of gender through everyday activities. Furthermore, they stated that roles are situated identities, such as "nurse" and "student," which are developed as the situation demands, while gender is a master identity with no specific site or organizational context. For them, "conceptualizing gender as a role makes it difficult to assess its influence on other roles and reduces its explanatory usefulness in discussions of power and inequality." West and Zimmerman consider gender an individual production that reflects and constructs interactional and institutional gender expectations. Historically, gender roles have been largely attributed to biological differences in men and women. Although research indicates that biology plays
13320-623: The wide body of empirical evidence for gendered divisions of labor in foraging societies". Another hypothesis attributes differences in gender roles to prenatal exposure to hormones . Early research examining the effect of biology on gender roles by John Money and Anke Ehrhardt primarily focused on girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), resulting in higher-than-normal prenatal exposure to androgens . Their research found that girls with CAH exhibited tomboy -like behavior, were less interested in dolls, and were less likely to make-believe as parents. A number of methodological problems with
13440-449: The women she saw as victimized by sexism were college-educated white women". Friedan has also been criticized for prejudice against homosexuality . In part, this criticism stems from her adherence to the paradigmatic belief at the time that "bad mothers" caused deviance from heteronormative and cisnormative society. Despite these criticisms, her "language aimed at white American middle-class women won large numbers of supporters to
13560-421: The world, underarm hair is not considered unfeminine. Today, the color pink is strongly associated with femininity, whereas in the early 1900s pink was associated with boys and blue with girls. These feminine ideals of beauty have been criticized as restrictive, unhealthy, and even racist. In particular, the prevalence of anorexia and other eating disorders in Western countries has frequently been blamed on
13680-433: The world." When women critical of the work were not expressing personal offense at Friedan's description of the housewife's plight, they were accusing her of planning to destroy American families. Jessica Weiss quoted in her paper, "If the mothers, (or housewives as we are called) took this advice, what would become of our children? Or better yet, the future of the world." Historian Joanne Meyerowitz argues that many of
13800-422: Was asked to conduct a survey of her former Smith College classmates for their 15th anniversary reunion; the results, in which she found that many of them were unhappy with their lives as housewives, prompted her to begin research for The Feminine Mystique , conducting interviews with other suburban housewives, as well as researching psychology, media, and advertising. She originally intended to create an article on
13920-776: Was discussed in Makers: Women Who Make America . In 2014, the Betty Friedan Hometown Tribute committee won the Superior Achievement award in the special projects category for its 50th anniversary celebration of the publication of The Feminine Mystique . They received the award from the Illinois State Historical Society. Immediately after its publishing, The Feminine Mystique was the recipient of much backlash against feminism. Significant numbers of women responded angrily to
14040-573: Was generally unisex , though women wore veils and headscarves . Women in Ancient Greece wore himations ; and in Ancient Rome women wore the palla , a rectangular mantle, and the maphorion. The typical feminine outfit of aristocratic women of the Renaissance was an undershirt with a gown and a high-waisted overgown, and a plucked forehead and beehive or turban-style hairdo. Body alteration
14160-721: Was held. An accompanying exhibit titled REACT was also on display, consisting of twenty-five pieces of artwork responding to The Feminine Mystique . Also in February 2013, a fiftieth-anniversary edition of The Feminine Mystique was published, with a new introduction by Gail Collins . Also in 2013, to celebrate its centennial the U.S. Department of Labor created a list of over 100 Books that Shaped Work in America , which included The Feminine Mystique . The Department of Labor later chose The Feminine Mystique as one of its top ten books from that list. Also in 2013, The Feminine Mystique
14280-938: Was helped along by the fact that many of the women who worked during the war filling jobs previously held by men faced dismissal, discrimination, or hostility when the men returned, and that educators blamed over-educated, career-focused mothers for the maladjustment of soldiers in World War II. Yet as Friedan shows, later studies found that overbearing mothers, not careerists, were the ones who raised maladjusted children. Chapter 9 : Friedan shows that advertisers tried to encourage housewives to think of themselves as professionals who needed many specialized products in order to do their jobs, while discouraging housewives from having actual careers, since that would mean they would not spend as much time and effort on housework and therefore would not buy as many household products, cutting into advertisers' profits. Critics of this theory point out that under
14400-407: Was shared by many other women. With the help of this book, ladies no longer felt confined to their homes and were more comfortable voicing their ideas to one another. The Feminine Mystique begins with an introduction describing what Friedan called "the problem that has no name"—the widespread unhappiness of women in the 1950s and early 1960s. She discusses the lives of several housewives from around
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