10 myths about femininity debunked
1. Women are born ‘gentle’.
Gender doesn’t determine your personality; a woman isn’t born gentle and a man isn’t born strong. Behaviours are learnt and these identities have been constructed for us…but times are changin’ – as a society we seem to be addressing and challenging these traditional notions and labels, instead opting for a neutral, more fluid approach to gender.
2. Girls are made of sugar and spice and all things nice.
Last time I checked, I was made of skin, muscle, bone and array of chemical elements. Oh, and of course pizza. Don’t forget pizza.
3. Femininity = hair and makeup.
As Diane Baker once said: “It’s not any direct way of dressing or putting on makeup. It’s your attitude.” It’s time the terms femininity and masculinity became synonymous with individuality – if you feel feminine, then you are feminine!
4. Women should be hairless.
Women grow hair, just like men – it’s totally normal and natural! Yet thanks to mainstream media we have been shamed into thinking body hair is repulsive and something to be immediately removed, when in actual fact, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Whether you are as hairless as a Sphinx cat, or as furry as rabbit – if you like it, rock it!
5. All women prefer not to have numerous sexual partners.
Not true. Some women prefer to be in relationships whilst some enjoy casual sex. FYI: The latter should be able to do so without being slut shamed for their choices.
6. All women are emotional.
Emotional, crazy, hysterical, hormonal etc etc are adjectives commonly hurled at women as reasons why they won’t make good leaders, or to discredit the legitimacy of a woman’s point in an argument. These descriptors are used against women to silence them and keep them within roles that have been carved out by the patriarchy.
7. Women don’t make good leaders.
Queen Elizabeth 1st. Argument = lost.
8. All women are good homemakers.
It’s 2017, not 1950. While some women are great homemakers, other women are great doctors, mechanics, CEOs etc.
9. Women are worse at driving/ parking than men.
Only when we have our eyes closed. JOKING. One study revealed that men are more than three times as likely to be ticketed for “aggressive driving” than women, and more than 25 percent as likely to be at fault in an accident.
10. Women talk more than men.
That depends on how much coffee we have consumed.
