MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

To assess perceptions of what “feminine” means today, two generations of women (50 college-aged women, 35 of their mothers/aunts) of diverse ethnic identities participated in focus group- and one-on-one interviews while reacting to 45 images of women from 100 years of women’s magazines (1910-2010) used as stimulus materials. Two specific dimensions emerged. First, images most frequently selected by women to represent their own idea of “most feminine” were consistent with stereotypically female gender roles like mother and bride – and fashions featuring skin, the color pink, lace, silk, corset, gowns, and jewelry. Second, images most frequently selected by women to represent their own idea of “least feminine” were illustrations of women wearing trousers, blue jeans, leather jacket, and engaging in activities like baseball, fishing, horse riding, gardening, motorcycling, and holding a handgun.

These preliminary findings contribute to Feminine Gender Role Conflict theory building, an understudied area (as compared to Masculine Gender Role Conflict theory work), that requires greater attention to gauge and predict how women negotiate inner turmoil when considering the way they look in conjunction with roles they play in public and private spheres. In general, gender role conflict is a complex, multidimensional construct describing an unconscious phenomenon produced when perceptions of gender roles deviate from, restrict, devalue, or violate norms. Research participants seemed acutely aware that women’s bodies are objectified in mass media images, that women internalize gendered body image messages, and that femininity is a product of historical processes. Assessments of “femininity” offered by both younger women and their older counterparts suggest adoption of a male gaze as benchmark as women become carriers of femininity in fulfilling their gender roles. Finally, few differences emerged along ethnic identity lines; with images of Caucasian/White women most frequently represented among images deemed “most feminine.”