Femininity

My friend asked me for my non Christian, feminist view on femininity, which I thought I'd share. I have had a good think and some great chats with my brother and mum. I found it quite difficult to get my head around the idea of femininity, but being a social construct I just find it pretty nonsensical. The idea of being 'feminine' is celebrating your womanhood and I believe that what makes up a 'woman' is down to how a person identifies. I'm not a massive fan of gender roles and attributes that have been put in place by western society (pink and dolls for girls, blue and cars for boys... etc). I think if you identify as being a female, you are a woman, 'correct' genitalia or not. I guess I do put on makeup for special occasions (or just when I cba) but when I do, I tend to appropriate the styles created by drag queens, who are in essence female impersonators. So that's interesting. It's more of an exaggerated mask, more than subtle beauty. I don't go out of my way to wear makeup daily and 'correct' my face, eyes and nose in order to make them more symmetrical (what we are told is feminine), yet I feel girly in my manner. Whether I am wearing a floral dress or all black, or shorts, leggings and a geeky tshirt, usually mirroring half the men at my work. With a bald head or long hair I feel equally womanly, sometimes even more so when totally bald. But fashion magazines and tv tell us that women are supposed to have thick, flowing locks. I think the rise in strong, short haired (and bald) women in film is reflective of the diminishing importance of superficial gender stereotypes in the mainstream. Although this is by no means over. This is all a bit rambling, but my point is that I feel like a woman because I identify as one. Through nearly 29 years living within a society telling me what is and isn't feminine it's difficult to separate my own thoughts and feelings with what we are force-fed from birth. But I feel at my most feminine when I am in control of my life and I'm being strong. I think the core of being a woman is strength. As women we have a daily fight for fairness, equality and the need to be taken seriously in a very chauvinistic world. The most important women in this world have fought 10 times harder than their male counterpart to get where they are and I am proud to be fighting along with them. To me, being a woman isn't heels and makeup and glitter and pink, it's finding the strength to a survive everyday, learning as much as I can and making my own choices as a kind and considerate human being.

Subtle mermaidy realness (hair and makeup by me)

So I’m thinking of making some variations on these horns, attached to headbands and/or clips for selling on etsy… would anyone buy them?! They were originally made for a demonic prosthetic makeup and sat on the forehead, but I think they’d make a super cute accessory! 😈

Note to self