Rhetoric of Femininity

Donnalyn Pompper is professor in the School of Media and Communication at Temple University.

Conducting and analyzing rich interviews from three generations of a hundred adult women of diverse social identities provides Pompper with an informed foundation from which to explore femininities and how they have shaped the lived experiences of girls and women throughout history and today. Coupling the voices of these women with prominent feminist theoretical frameworks illustrate the many paradoxes and metaphorical ‘corsets’ of femininity that constrain women’s ability to be authentic in work, sports, sexuality, and politics and negatively impact their health and well-being. This text will be of high interest to scholars and students within the many fields that aim to eradicate social prescriptions that limit girls and women.

• ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1: Femininity Matters Chapter 2: Ideal Femininity According to Family, Tradition, and Media Chapter 3: Female Gender Role Stress/Conflict: Learning about/from FemininityChapter 4: Consumerist Misrepresentations: Rituals and Industries that Shape Femininity Chapter 5: Women's Femininity at Work Chapter 6: Women at Play: Sports and Femininity Chapter 7: Femininity as Shaped by Intersectionalities of Social Identity DimensionsChapter 8: Sexuality, Masculine Femininity, and Feminine Masculinity Chapter 9: Age, Health, and Femininity Chapter 10: Femininity and Politics Chapter 11: Lessons and Moving Forward BibliographyAbout the Author