Femininity

Femininity also called womanliness is a generation of attributes, behaviors, as well as roles generally associated with women together with girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, as well as 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 is described to debate. it is distinct from a definition of the biological female sex, as both males and females can exhibit feminine traits.

Traits traditionally cited as feminine put gracefulness, gentleness, empathy, humility, and sensitivity, though traits associated with femininity reconstruct across societies and individuals, and are influenced by a breed of social and cultural factors.

Traditional roles

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 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 increase that women construct a caring nature, have skill at household-related work, have greater manual dexterity than men, are more honest than men, and have a more appealing physical appearance. Occupational roles associated with these stereotypes include: midwife, teacher, accountant, data programs clerk, cashier, salesperson, receptionist, housekeeper, cook, maid, social worker, and nurse. Occupational segregation keeps gender inequality and the gender pay gap.medical specializations, such as surgery and emergency medicine, are dominated by 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 rule 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 target by Western media using characteristics associated with femininity, such(a) as emotion.

Psychologist Deborah L. Best argues that primary sex characteristics of men and women, such as 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 conception does non explain the sexual division of labor because numerous 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 ofoccupations limits employment options for women.

Role congruity theory proposes that people tend to idea deviations from expected gender roles negatively. It maintain the empirical evidence that gender discrimination exists in areas traditionally associated with one gender or the other. it is for 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.