The wavering concept of gender

Femininity is no longer just a girl thing, boys are getting in on it too

Like many girls, I attempt to embody conventional femininity; I like the colour pink, and I’m rarely seen without lipstick, earrings and eyeliner.

Throughout all these self-conscious processes of vanity, I’ve started to question what it’s all for. True, it’s partly a self-confidence thing. But perhaps it’s also because I’m vaguely aware that female femininity is now under threat.

It seems that femininity is no longer a realm only inhabited by women; western men have started to claim some of its traits for themselves.

This trend, certainly in terms of personal styling, can be observed in a number of celebrities. Luke Pritchard of The Kooks. Paolo Nutini. Mark Owen from Take That. Alex James, ex-member of Blur. Jay Kay of Jamiroquai fame. OK, he beats up the paparazzi from time to time, but maybe this is merely an attempt at virility after sporting pink and white fluffy suits and dressing up as a rather too convincing woman in his video for Feels Just Like It Should.

Vice versa isn’t, admittedly, very common, but nevertheless, there is something pretty masculine about female stars such as Pink, Eve and Lil Kim.

Society seems to have gone beyond the meterosexual man. Clothes traditionally designed for women are becoming increasingly popular with men, from David Beckham’s infamous sarong incident to the relatively new must-have item for the fashion-conscious male: the cardigan. It’s now the norm for some men to have as many, if not more, grooming products than women. Hair straighteners, fake tan, highlight kits, anti-wrinkle formulae – you name it, several thousand guys out there will own it.

The results of this rise in male beautification are everywhere. When I’m on a night out, I’ve actually found myself feeling quite put out by the appearance of some of the guys I’ve seen.

From their perfectly-coiffured long fringes to their eyeliner to their extremely defined legs, shown off to their best advantage in a pair of tight trousers, they’re exuding femininity.

Even men’s figures are becoming increasingly waif-like, leaving some women (OK, maybe it’s just me) feeling rather puzzled about the boundaries between the two genders.

What are the implications of this shift within gender? Are we gradually becoming a nation of androgynies? Probably not, but nonetheless changes are definitely apparent.

These changes, I would argue, go beyond mere physical appearance; they affect the entire psyche behind gender.

Of course, gender is constructed not only through body language, facial features and the clothes you wear, but through emotional perception, social interaction and job choice. Are these areas, more related to character than physical particularities, also altering?

Before answering that, it’s important to note that conventions of masculinity and femininity have been, for the most part, historically and politically constructed. The rise of colonialism during the 1850s was a central period in creating rigid segregations between the sexes.

Men were expected to be the ruthless defenders of the empire, and open displays of emotion became completely unacceptable.

Separations between men and women were reinforced after World War II, when men returning from war were threatened by the fact that women had competently taken over many of their jobs in their absence.

The domesticated housewife was, more than ever, the desired role attributed to women from men, to keep them firmly in their place.

The second wave of feminism in the 1960s certainly helped combat some of the repression that women had endured, but there was (and is) still a long way to go, if genuine equality between the sexes is the goal.

The birth of the ‘ladette’ in the 1990s illustrated what happens when women start behaving like (certain) men. It’s not a pretty picture by any means.

Ladettes can teach us some vital lessons; they represent everything that most women dislike about men, just as drag kings, when convincing, teach men how women would like to be treated.

The main problem involved with the concept of gender is exactly that – it’s a concept. Society has ground it into us that women should be feminine, and men should be masculine. But when you actually come to define femininity, for example, it’s not all that easy.

I know some men who have conventionally feminine mannerisms and very girlish features, yet they’re completely straight, and study ‘manly’ subjects like Physics and Engineering.

Do these features make them feminine, effeminate, or neither of these?

In a similar way, I can raise or lower my level of femininity when needed, by putting on a higher pitched voice or tuning into the ‘little girl lost’ look. I’m not sure that any of my actions stem from an innate femininity. Gender and sexuality will never be as straightforward as they’re made out to be.

So is gender fluidity a positive thing? I would argue yes, as it alters the rigid boundaries between the two sexes. Whether changes in physical appearance will trigger changes to male chauvinism and sexism, both of which are, unfortunately, still very much prevalent in Western culture, remains to be seen.

Women with high-powered jobs, particularly in the financial sector, can expect to earn 20% less than their male counterparts, for example.

However, from my limited perspective, I’ve noticed a significant difference in the way my grandparents’ generation of men speak to and of women, and that of my own generation; generally, there is much more respect.

Men today, on the whole, seem more open-minded and emotionally aware than their immediate ancestors. And it’s changes like this which gradually help to alleviate inequalities between women and men.