feminine ideals
Traditional female virtues
Feminine ideals are culturally constructed standards of womanhood—expectations about how women should look, behave, and occupy social roles.
These vary across time and place: Victorian feminine ideals emphasized modesty and domesticity; contemporary ideals might stress both professional achievement and physical beauty.
The phrase often appears in feminist critique: She rejected the feminine ideals she'd been raised with.
Someone who embodies or challenges feminine ideals becomes a focal point for broader debates about gender.
- musesConsiders carefully; inspirational figures
- queenshipFemale sovereign's rank
- motherhoodState of being a female parent
- graceEffortless beauty of motion
- heroinesBrave, admired women
good mother · kindness · empathy · caregiving · domestic goddess · elegance · sisterhood · beauty · sensitivity · tender heart · modesty · inner beauty · homemaking · lady of the house · patience · humility · compassion · heart of gold
feminine idealsmasculine ideals
Standards of proper manhood
traditional masculinity · machismo · virility · rugged individualism · warrior ethos
feminine idealsgender nonconformity
Diverging from expected roles
androgyny · tomboyishness · gender fluidity · gender neutrality
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