University Library
  • Login
A gateway to Melbourne's research publications
Minerva Access is the University's Institutional Repository. It aims to collect, preserve, and showcase the intellectual output of staff and students of the University of Melbourne for a global audience.
View Item 
  • Minerva Access
  • Arts
  • School of Culture and Communication
  • School of Culture and Communication - Research Publications
  • View Item
  • Minerva Access
  • Arts
  • School of Culture and Communication
  • School of Culture and Communication - Research Publications
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Is there anything "toxic" about femininity? The rigid femininities that keep us locked in

    Thumbnail
    Download
    Accepted version (246.1Kb)

    Citations
    Scopus
    Web of Science
    Altmetric
    2
    2
    Author
    McCann, H
    Date
    2020-07-05
    Source Title
    Psychology and Sexuality
    Publisher
    Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
    University of Melbourne Author/s
    McCann, Hannah
    Affiliation
    School of Culture and Communication
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Document Type
    Journal Article
    Citations
    McCann, H. (2020). Is there anything "toxic" about femininity? The rigid femininities that keep us locked in. Psychology and Sexuality, https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2020.1785534.
    Access Status
    Open Access
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11343/254288
    DOI
    10.1080/19419899.2020.1785534
    Description

    Accepted version has the title: Theorizing Toxic Femininity: The Rigid Femininities That Keep Us Locked In

    Abstract
    In recent years there has been rising popular discourse around ‘toxic masculinity’, and the problems of a hegemonic gender structure that facilitates male violence and misogyny. In the public debate over whether toxic masculinity is fact or fiction, ‘toxic femininity’ is often raised by men’s rights activists and others as an anti-feminist retort, to suggest that women can be ‘toxic’ too. This paper provides a sketch of how the term has been used so far, in tandem with an overview of the limitations of the more extensively discussed idea of ‘toxic masculinity’. This paper suggests that rather than deploying ‘toxic femininity’, it is more useful to consider what might be ‘toxic’ about some approaches to femininity. Drawing on existing theories of femininity, including emphasised, hegemonic, normative, patriarchal femininity, pariah femininities, and femmephobia, this paper offers the notion of ‘rigid femininities’ to explain the structures that keep us locked into a ‘toxic’ gender system. This paper utilises the term toxic femininity as a jumping-off point for theorising femininity broadly. In theorising femininity, this paper offers a conceptualisation of the ‘toxic’ attachments that reinforce the gendered power structure/essentialized gender.

    Export Reference in RIS Format     

    Endnote

    • Click on "Export Reference in RIS Format" and choose "open with... Endnote".

    Refworks

    • Click on "Export Reference in RIS Format". Login to Refworks, go to References => Import References


    Collections
    • Minerva Elements Records [45689]
    • School of Culture and Communication - Research Publications [1623]
    Minerva AccessDepositing Your Work (for University of Melbourne Staff and Students)NewsFAQs

    BrowseCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects
    My AccountLoginRegister
    StatisticsMost Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors