W S 3010 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Machismo

• School: Clemson University
• Department: Women's Studies
• Course: W S 3010
• Professor: Elizabeth Adams

Document Summary

Adjectives associated with traditional notions of femininity in contemporary mainstream. North american society include soft, passive, domestic, nurturing, emotional, dependent, sensitive, delicate, intuitive, fastidious, needy, fearful, etc. These qualities kept women in positions of subordination and encouraged them to do the domestic and emotional work of society. African american women may not identify with some aspects of femininity more readily associated with white femininity such as passivity. The contemporary ideal woman is strong, assertive, active, and independent rather than passive, delicate, and dependent. To be a modern woman today is to be able to do everything: the superwoman. Women work in the public world and yet still are expected to do the domestic and emotional work of the home and family as well as stay fit and beautiful. Gender encompasses not only the socially constructed, intersecting differences prescribed for different kinds of human beings but also the values associated with these differences.