As women, we have a lot of expectations to uphold. One is the expectation of being "feminine." Google defines femininity as "the quality of being female; womanliness."
That... doesn't tell me much. Based on that, every woman would be "feminine." But we know that's not true. There are requirements to being feminine.
Feminine women wear makeup, we're told. But then again---not too much makeup. And, actually, should we be wearing makeup at all? Are we wearing makeup for men, or for ourselves? Is it even possible to wear makeup for ourselves in a patriarchy? Maddie deals with this question in her own life in her latest piece.
And of course, to be feminine is to be "soft." Depending on how it's used, that is often an insult. However, Laura argues that being soft isn't a bad thing, and maybe certain things should stay that way.
How is femininity portrayed on screen? Are women being portrayed as multi-dimensional human beings, or is their so-called femininity a prison? What are we supposed to do about it? Should we even care? Devin explores that question in her latest piece.
Whether you consider yourself feminine or are unsure of what that word means (and I'm with you on that one), I encourage you all to go through your week behaving whichever way you wanna behave, whether it fits what society deems an appropriate portrait of femininity or not.
