What it means to be feminine or girly is very different depending upon the society. None of these [original post shows pictures of 'traditionally feminine women in various cultures] is the “correct” femininity, just different versions from different cultures. There is no objective way to determine what makes someone feminine in any given culture- you have to ask people. The nature of femininity is totally subjective and relies on the collective agreement of society. If you move one of these women into a different society their defining feminine characteristics instead become physical characteristics with no gender designation at all. In fact, what would make you gender conforming in one culture would make you gender non conforming in another. Gender also changes in individual societies over time, so the meaning of being feminine in America in the 1800s would differ markedly from what it means to be feminine in America right now. How people feel about the construct changes its meaning.Thus we can easily say that gender is a social construct.
radfem-momma (account deactivated, but I really like this discussion of the arbitrary nature of the ‘femininity’ social construct, so quoting)
