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The Weaponization of Femininity: How Society Manipulates Women's Roles
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Jun 5, 2025
This video explores the fascinating yet problematic ways femininity is often weaponized against women. Discover how we can turn the tide and embrace true empowerment! #SelfImprovement #MentalHealth #Mindset #Youtuber #Wellbeing #feminism
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hi guys this is sanity here and welcome
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to sanas a channel where women are being
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real and Soo so today we are diving into
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a topic that's not just fascinating but
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also so essential for understanding the
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Dynamics of our society the
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weaponization of femininity now
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femininity isn't merely just a
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collection of traits we are assigned
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it's a powerful tool that the society
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has manipulated for centuries just to
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control women so grab your favorite
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drink get cozy and let's unravel this
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intricate web together because whoa I
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myself I just cannot wait to dwell deep
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into this I don't even know where to
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start but uh let's touch on History uh
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let's touch on History femininity has
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has always been portrayed as delicate
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submissive and nurturing these traits
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have been idealized but also so much
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weaponized in many historical contexts
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women were expected to embody these
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traits as a means of control for
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instance during the Victorian era
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Society created this fragile image of a
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woman making it easy for them to to be
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confined in domestic roles women were
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celebrated for for being virtuous and
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this celebration came at a at a high
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cost because now they were expected to
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prioritize the family and the homes
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Above All Else including their own
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education their own Ambitions and life
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plans you know so you had to sacrifice
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all of yourself back then all of
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yourself to to the family and to the
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home just that that was all you you you
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were destined to become to be so take
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the The Cult of the true woman who for
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an
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example um the 19th century ideology it
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revolves around three virtues which is
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Purity submissiveness and
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domestic domestic domestic City that's
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how they that's how they they call it
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women who embodied these traits were
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were held up like were held up as
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Paragons of virtue then those who didn't
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than those who didn't the ones who
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didn't that the ones who didn't hold
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this this stature they were facing
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severe social repercussions this created
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a prison of expectations limiting
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women's freedom and potential fast
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forward to today and we can still see
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The Echoes of those ideas in in how
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women are still being judged for their
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choices where whether it's in their
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career paths or parenting Styles or even
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their own personal lives you know these
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Shadows of that anger of that error they
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still linger they still linger a lot and
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women often feel the pressure to conform
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to these outdated
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Norms wow this this this is just to show
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you that this is deep rooted the trauma
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is deep deep rooted now let's talk about
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the media's role in reinforcing these
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stereotypes from movies and
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advertisements femininity has always
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been portrayed in ways that reinforce
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narrow definitions of what it means to
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be a woman the classic Dam soul in
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distress mhm it's still alive and well
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take a moment and uh and consider um
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Disney Princesses they they've even
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evolved so much now but still day they
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still rely on a prince to complete their
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Journey look at Snow White she was put
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to sleep and could only be woken up by
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the true love's
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kiss so without any man coming to kiss
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her who truly loves her without anyone
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doing that for her she's not going to
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stand up she's not going to wake up and
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live her life she had to depend on that
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man for her to to to regain her life
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back
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look at Cinderella who who who needed a
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fairy godmother to transform her these
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narratives feed into the belief that a
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woman's ultimate goal is to find love
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rather than achieving her own dreams and
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aspirations and these portrayals are so
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harmful especially to to to young girls
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who may internalize the idea that their
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worth is tied to romantic relationships
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this belief can hinder their their
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confidence and aspirations making making
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them feel like they greatest
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achievements are secondary to their
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relationships with men do you see the
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the programming that happens do you see
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the the the the the the movies that the
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children are watching are so are so
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toxic are so toxic now let's bring this
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discussion into the
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workplace yeah femininity is is
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weaponized as well leading women to face
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double bind if they exhibit a
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traditionally feminine traits like being
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nurturing or collaborative they might be
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viewed as weak or too soft on the other
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hand if they Embrace um more
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traditionally masculine traits like
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assertiveness they risk being called and
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labeled aggressive and unfeminine
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imagine being a woman and and and being
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told you are unfeminine how is that
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going to make you feel how is that going
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to make you
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feel you're going to start questioning
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yourself what's wrong with you as a
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woman what's wrong with you as a woman
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that people don't see a womanness they
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tell you that you are so
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unfeminine H Cheryl um I was reading
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this this book by Cheryl Sandberg it's
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called lean in it highlights the
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struggle she discusses how how many
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women often face harsh critics for being
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too ambitious or assertive while
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simultaneously being penalized for
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displaying warmth and vulnerability the
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societal pressure to find balance
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creates an internal conflict causing
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many women to question their
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professional identities moreover the the
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expectations extend to how women dress
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and present themselves at work women
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often feel that they must choose between
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being taken seriously and being
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themselves leading to the phenomenon
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known as the appearance
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penalty I was busy researching for for
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this topic which I'm talking about now
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and I came across a study which found
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that um
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which found that women who dress
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feminine are often judged as less
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competent perpetuating the idea that
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femininity must be muted in professional
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settings
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H
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H why can't women just be accepted for
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for for for for the human beings that
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they are why is it why is there so much
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so much
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that's got that's got to happen before a
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woman can just be allowed to be now
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let's talk about social
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media platforms like Instagram and Tik
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Tok have Amplified the conversation
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around femininity and also presented a
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disorted view women are bombarded with
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images that promote an
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idealist um vision of
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femininity perfect body the Flawless
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makeup and pcture perfect
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lives a picture perfect
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life this
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Instagram this Instagram filter effect
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creates an unrealistic standards that
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many women feel treur to meet it's not
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just about uh
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Aesthetics no no no no it impacts your
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self-esteem and ident entity women may
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feel they need to conform to these hyper
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feminine ideals um which can lead to
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toxic cycle of comparison and
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inadequacy the rise of influences and
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Beauty GS have you are perating
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perpetuating the belief that woman must
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invest in their appearances to be
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failured that's all
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you've got to look good for you to to be
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seen as valuable if you don't look
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good you don't have value the pressure
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to maintain a perfect online Persona
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often sh overshadows women's achievement
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and contributions reducing their
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identities to their looks rather than
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just their skills and their intellect
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hm this is this is this is deep rooted
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this is so deep rooted but here but
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here's the good news Okay um femininity
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can also be powerful can also be a a
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very powerful form of self-expression
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it's all about reclaiming femininity on
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your own terms feminine tra like um
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empathy intuition and collaboration and
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weakness NES they are strengths they are
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strength you you just need to know your
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balance you just need to know your
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balance um I'm not saying limit yourself
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but don't go
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overboard don't fall into the Trap of
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now serving the society while in the
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process of doing all that you are losing
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yourself I I don't know if you
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understand me but look at modern
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feminists like Michelle Obama and Ruth
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Bader they've redefined what it means to
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be feminine and Powerful they Embrace
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their femininity while smashing through
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glass ceilings by owning their
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identities they show us that femininity
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can coexist with strength and
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Leadership I'm talking about women who
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are clearly feminine but they are also
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so powerful they are also so so strong
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and so bold and they are
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respected they are respected even in
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arts uh we see women like um Beyonce
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like Lady Gaga who celebrate femininity
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through their work they leverage their
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femininity to express their identities
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they challenge these societal norms and
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Inspire others to do the same and they
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they oh my God these are great woman
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these are great woman who stood up and
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say you know what I'm going to be who I
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am and the world is going to respect me
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for that so what's the take away in all
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of
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this femininity has been weaponized
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that's a fact that's a fact uh women
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are victims in the society victims of so
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much mental trauma victims of so much
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mental abuse mental Sal prison but again
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femininity can also be a tool for
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empowerment it's time to embrace
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femininity on our own terms on our own
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terms celebrating the traits we love
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while dismantling these stereotypes that
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hold us back remember femininity doesn't
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have to fit in a box it's a spectrum and
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every woman gets to decide where she
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fits on the
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Spectrum so let's not limit ourselves
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let's not limit
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ourselves let's let's realize that
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femininity is a pool of many
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types of
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identities of many types
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of
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opportunities women cannot only be
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confined into one thing women are are
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visit child beings women women are very
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much capable of running a life and doing
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it the the way they want to do it if
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women do that if if more women stopped
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feeling this
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pressure to to to be a certain way
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because oh my God the world would still
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move in
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harmony the world will move in
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harmony so guys I've I've said quite a
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lot and yeah I enjoyed this it just that
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topics like this they get my mind
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running so much there's so much I still
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want to talk about but hey I'm so
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grateful I'm so thankful that you you've
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watched this thought-provoking
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discussion with me um so if you enjoyed
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this this video please just don't forget
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to like subscribe and share your
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thoughts in the comments below now I
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have a question how do you define
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femininity let's keep the conversation
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going comment on on the comment section
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below and tell me how do you define
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femininity because I do I do think that
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for so many people femininity can mean
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so many things so I just want to know
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about you how do you define femininity
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and guys until next time toles bye
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