feminine ideal
Idealized female archetype
The feminine ideal is a cultural standard of what women should be—how they should look, behave, and present themselves.
These ideals vary across time and place: Victorian femininity emphasized modesty and domesticity; contemporary ideals often focus on physical appearance and professional achievement simultaneously.
The phrase usually appears critically: Women are exhausted trying to meet an impossible feminine ideal.
The ideal is always a moving target, shaped by fashion, media, and social expectations.
- beautyAesthetic excellence
- inner beautyAttractiveness of character
- graceEffortless beauty of motion
- eleganceRefined, graceful quality
- softnessYielding to gentle pressure
delicate · nurturing · goddess · curves · soft curves · hourglass figure · purity · modesty · virtue · domesticity · motherhood · gentleness · refinement · finishing school · charm · poise · radiance · dainty
feminine idealmasculine ideal
Model of true manhood
hypermasculinity · rugged individualism · machismo · alpha male
feminine idealunfeminine
Contrary to womanly traits
butch · gender nonconformity · unwomanly · tomboyishness · androgyny
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