Aspects of Femininity

    Women use their clothing as an extension of their personalities in order to portray specific aspects of femininity. During my visit to Regal Cinema, I observed a couple of twenty-somethings having lunch. The girl was dressed in a modest, cream colored blouse, a structured jacket in navy, and a pair of dark jeans. Her boyfriend was wearing a plaid button down and jeans. She spoke quietly, yet lively. This could be seen by the laughter which her speech would evoke. Also, she publicly displayed her affection very minimally. I took notice of a group of six jewelry store employees, one was female, and the rest were male.  The male employees would address each other as a group and laugh and joke all together, but the female employee would address each male individually. She would seductively, touch their hands, while looking into their eyes and smiling. She wore a very fitted white blouse, a black bra, a skin tight, charcoal miniskirt, black pumps, and a belt under her chest to accentuate her breasts. Both of these women were emulating feminine gender roles. The flirtatious girl wore the hat of the "bad girl" or a "harlot", while the other would have been considered a "good girl". Still, women have portrayed their stereotypical roles for centuries. 19th century Harlots would use their dress to draw attention to themselves. They would wear bells on their ankles, and brightly colored, loud clothing, while the clothing worn by other women of that time period was used to portray the image of a domestic goddess. They used corsets to cinch their waists, hoop skirts to create an hourglass figure which referenced their fertility, and aprons to show the domesticity.