Femininity

For whatever reason, I began thinking about the word "feminine." It sounds so . . . feminine. There is a subtle flow to the word. It is light and pleasant. Contrast the word "masculine." It's got a throaty velar scrape that makes me wonder if all wars were started by men (or women) who were feeling like the word "masculine" sounds. I'm rather egalitarian, but I do recognize certain fundamental differences between female and male, feminine and masculine. But I do recognize significant overlap in the gifts typically attributed to females and males. I know men who are more nurturing than most women, and I know women who are more hardchargers than most men. Just to clarify.

My actual point in this post on femininity is the atrocity of the label "feminine hygiene." I know it's not the poetry that some would hope from something titled "Femininity." But something needs to be done about it! There is nothing feminine about the need for those sorts of products. Doubtless, the conditions that necessitate the products are uniquely female. But I feel a word like "feminine" should be reserved for applications more in keeping with my sentiments on the word above.

I can think of two reasons this label emerged. One is a solid reason: that women will feel better about feeling unfeminine while using the products if they think of it in terms of making them more feminine. (I honestly don't know that most women buy into that.) The other reason, and my blood is boiling, is that marketers thought, "We can sell this product by making women think they're more feminine if they use this." Okay, there's a third reason: at the time this product class emerged, it was not polite to speak of such matters. They needed a code word that women would know was directed toward that issue (pun partially not intended). But I'm wondering in this day when all things personal, intimate and private are displayed daily in mainstream media, if we can reclaim the word "feminine" to mean something more befitting its onomatopoetic self.