Femininity is not merely a psychologically or biologically defined attribute. Despite the significance of biological and psychological mechanisms in the formation of gender, it is important to define it as a non-essentialist concept formed through socio-cultural processes.
This exploratory study investigated women’s perceptions of femininities among Mazandarani, Azeri and Kurdish female university students in Iran. The study was conducted using interviews with sixteen female university students. Analysis of interviews revealed that three main components predicted general understandings of the concept of femininity: personality traits such as emotionality and dependency, engaging in domestic and care-giving activities in private spaces, and beauty and sexual competition as intrinsic feminine attributes.
There was also a general tendency among participants to approach femininity from metaphysical and biological essentialist approaches. Based on the extracted components and interviewees’ articulation of the concept, four types of femininity were recognized: passive, traditional, independent, and active. Passive femininity was observed among Azeri and Kurdish students; traditional and independent types existed among students of all three groups and active femininity was observed in the Mazandarani student group.
Findings suggest that despite the persisting traditional perceptions and despite differences between student groups, the traditional perceptions of femininity have undergone great transformations in all groups of university students, and the traditional model has been widely reconceptualized. Based on results, we discuss that it is more accurate to speak of femininities, rather than femininity as a singular and homogeneous concept.
Co-written with Z Mahmudabadi
Read the original article here.
Published by Ladan Rahbari
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