Abstract

The meaning of femininity not only varies in different societies but also in different segments of a society. This chapter explores the meaning and understanding of femininity in everyday life. The data for this chapter were collected using an in-depth interview technique with 15 Malay women and 15 Malaysian Indian women in Malaysia aged 18–30 years old. They were selected using a purposive sampling technique. All participants were highly educated and lived in an urban area in Malaysia. After the interviews were transcribed, the data were analysed to identify common themes in the meaning of femininity among these women. Three main themes were identified: an essentialist view of femininity; traditional gender roles and spaces, and masking empowerment. Many participants understood gender from an essentialist perspective. Women are naturally made to have characteristics which are considered feminine. In addition to this, they also highlighted the constraints experienced by them in everyday life due to the expected norms of femininity. Women also talked about masked empowerment, a strategy they used either to fit into the notion of emphasized femininity or to pursue empowered femininity by not overtly challenging the cultural norms of femininity. Women use this strategy to be able to exercise their agency and to play the role of a cultural carrier in their society.