Femininity and masculinity would be considered a small part of binary opposites which is quite a broad topic so you have smaller subjects/topics like femininity vs masculinity, black vs white, peace vs war etc…
Identity can be quite a political topic especially now since more people are starting to speak about inequalities they face due to their identity. You have lots of people who will be in support of equality for everyone no matter who they are. However you will still have some people who wont agree and will discriminate due to race, gender, social class etc…
There have been many movements in the past to fight for more equality such as suffragettes movement, black lives matter protest, civil rights movement, pride parades and many others.
Femininity– “qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of women or girls.”
Historically society have given women these role such as being a mother (which most may be however that does not define them) and someone who should do all the cooking, cleaning and taking care of the house and family while her husband is out
Society also seems to have quite high expectations of women and how they should be feminine by always looking perfect with their hair done, makeup on, nails done. Often women are looked down on when they aren’t “perfect”.
Now more then other women are trying to defy these stereotypical thoughts and ideas about what it means to be feminine. It was always quite a masculine trait to be brave, powerful and strong but more women are now saying that being strong can be feminine too.
Masculinity– “referring to the roles, behaviours and attributes that are considered appropriate for boys and men”
While women were said to be at home men were quite the opposite they were said to be the ones that had to go out to work everyday to earn money for their home and family. They were said to be taking care of their family financially.
As a society we have kind of told men they have to be tough, they cant be vulnerable and emotional they have to be strong for their family. It was quite common for people to tell men that they cant cry and to get over their problems they were facing.
Recently now as a society we have been trying to stop these damaging stereotypes as they hold no purpose and just isolate people. Its now although not mainstream it is more common to see a man wear makeup. Its now more alright for men to get upset and need support too.
How the war effected gender roles– A big defiance against these gender roles/rules were the war, this is because when the men went off to the war it meant there was no one to do the “man” jobs therefore the women had to start doing those jobs which showed everyone that they are just as capable as men. Not only did they start doing men’s jobs but they also had to carry ion with their original jobs like cooking and looking after the kids so it really proved to everyone how strong and capable women actually are.