Masculinity describes the degree to which society focus on assertiveness and achievement. When in contrary, femininity describes the focus of society to quality-of-life issues, such as caring for others, group solidarity and helping the less fortunate are valued. In other words, society still recognizes a gap between male and female values. This dimension is frequently viewed as taboo in highly masculine societies.

DEFINITION:

Femininity– The qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of women or girls, Or the quality or nature of the female sex : the quality, state, or degree of being feminine or womanly.

Masculinity– The social expectations of being a man. The term ‘masculinity’ refers to the roles, behaviours and attributes that are considered appropriate for boys and men in a given society. Masculinity is constructed and defined socially, historically and politically, rather than being biologically driven.

 HOW IDENTITY CAN BE INFLUENCED:

Identity formation and evolution are impacted by a variety of internal and external factors like society, family, loved ones, ethnicity, race, culture, location, opportunities, media, interests, appearance, self-expression and life experiences.

An example of how identity can be influenced is Andy Warhol’s image of Marilyn Monroe. The image shows how the media and public viewed her and her actual personal life was. The central image on a gold background evokes a religious tradition of painted icons.

Masculinity and Femininity:

Gender is a big part of your identity as it can better help someone understand your personality, interests or anything else in general, gender roles are dominant ideologies in our society. For example, it is expected that a man would be strong and tough and would have a job involving more physical and practical activity such as construction or boxing, these would be seen as “masculine” roles. It is expected for a woman to be caring and friendly and do softer work like nursing and cleaning, they would also be interested in fashion and looking good, roles like these would be “feminine”. Even traditionally, the man of the family would be the one to go out and work and the woman would stay home and take care of the children. However, those times are long over and women have the same opportunities as men do now. But the themes of “Masculinity” and “Femininity” do remain in our society, and there are still many differences between men and women. For example, men are still expected to not show emotion or feelings as it’s seen as a sign of weakness. They may not be seen as a man if they show any kinds of sadness or fear etc. and it can be very humiliating for a man to do so. Women are still not always expected to be as capable as a man and to do things as well as a man can, they are still objectified and taken advantage of by others.