Femininity in Literature

From UBC Wiki

What is Femininity?


The term femininity describes sets of attributes that contribute to how society believes young girls and women should act and behave when it comes to roles that are generally suited to females. It is socially constructed and although is not due to biological features, these factors may influence femininity.Stets, Burke Femininity does not always include women wearing heels and participating in household chores -- it also includes the sexualization of women and portraying them in a seductive or controllable way.

History of Femininity in Novels


There are many novels throughout history that have used female characters to act and behave in ways that are stereotypical of females and feminine values. Some of these include The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, "The Roundhouse" by Louise Erdrich, and "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson. In each of these examples, there are scenes of sexual assault and abuse experienced by the female characters, and femininity may be interpreted as a term that includes being controlled by males and people in patriarchal positions. As these three novels are written in the 1900s as well as the 2000s, it is visible throughout the years that sexualization of female characters is a popular topic. As well, the novel "Dracula" is a good example, as it includes female characters that are sexualized by their actions and stereotypical jobs and attributes discussed in the book that are typical of women -- especially in 1897, when it was written.

Affects of Femininity in Literature


Some affects of femininity portrayed in books includes how adolescent girls may come to believe how females are meant to behave in real-life situations. The social construction of gender can occur over time, and cause individuals to create opinions and view what it means to be female or male based on several factors. These include the behaviours and cognitions they view in literature and the media that are seen as stereotypical womanly traits. Younger women may assume these are meant to be followed. Roussell, 2013 There are many negative affects associated with stereotypical views of women in novels. Novels that hold such actions of female characters may show readers, what they will assume are, specific ideologies of femininity that hold and fix gender identity into strict patterns that are created for specifically males or females. By creating strict boundaries, it inhibits femininity from being fluid and crossing over into, categorically, less-feminine traits and attributes. Actions and behaviours that fail to fit into a strictly feminine category may be interpreted as being strictly male-related. Christian-Smith, 1990

Illustrations in Novels


Drawings and illustrations in novels, depending on the subject matter, can include racy and provocative images. Many novels will have images of women on the front cover - in order to attract readers - that are only half-clothed and with features that will exude the most sexualized and stigmatized details. This may be long, voluminous hair, big lips, makeup, large breasts, full figure, and suggestive facial expressions. As well, there will often be men standing behind them that exude the utmost masculine features in stereotypical terms. The man may be holding the women, or in a controlling stance. Some examples include Kathleen E. Woodiwiss’s, Flame and the Flower (1972), Amanda Quick's, The Mystery Woman (2013), and even some differing interpretations of the Pride and Prejudice novel by Jane Austen (1813). Novel covers These 3 novels range from the 19th century to the 21st century, demonstrating generally no shift in imaging and the sexualization of book covers.

Femininity in Men


The roles of men in literature are often stereotypical roles that consist of "manly" and "masculine" actions and behaviours. Due to these stereotypes in male characters, men that do not exude this behaviour are often "othered" -- even in novels and literature. Heroes in novels are often men, and it is rare to have anyone other than a "strong man" being the one to save the day. Examples include Atticus Finch in "To Kill A Mockingbird", Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and comic books that include Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and many other heroic figures that are praised because of their masculine qualities.

Stigma Surrounding Female Sexuality


There is a stigma that surrounds females in real life, in movies, and even females in novels where the women are sexual beings. Even in literature, women can be made to feel as if they cannot fully express themselves around men and even women, due to the stigma that women are innocent and pure creatures, and use our sexuality solely to pleasure men. We are overwhelmed with hypersexualized images of women in media and in literature, and this begins to dangerously normalize the objectification of females -- making it seem normal for people to sexualize female characters in books and movies. Duske, 2016 Researchers have looked at over 1,000 "Rolling Stones" covers, finding that 11 percent of men and 44 percent of females appeared to be sexualized in these magazine images in the 1960s. To compare, men are now at 17 percent and women at 83 percent in "Rolling Stones" magazine cover images.Duske, 2016 This mass hysteria in the sexualization of females in literature in order to sell has gone up in the past decades, potentially rising even higher in the years to come.