Femininity

Recently we have been learning about femininity and how our society affects girls and femininity. Throughout our lives, we have all been affected by the social construction of our environment and it has in a way, taught us how to behave "properly" according to our gender. As a girl, I was always taught when i was young that i have to like the color pink, and to play with barbies, and to want to grow up and be able to wear makeup and high heels, and people may have found it weird if i didn't follow my gender role. Our society puts an immense amount of pressure on girls to be perfect and while watching "Killing Us Softly" I realized how much larger the effect of media on our actions than I thought it was. I always thought that if I just ignored ads and commercials because i knew that they were not real, they would not affect me at all, but little did i know that being exposed to all of these gender construction media ads when I was younger really has affected how I view myself and others. Girls are taught to be thin, fragile, and pretty, and when they aren't all that it's considered wrong.