Femininity

The women's movement of the 1960s and the 1970s excludes the transgender and gender fluid communities. However, activists do address the fluidity of feminine gender norms. They promote the idea that no one is required to conform to those norms. Because one's relationship to femininity is fluid, a change sometimes signifies a change in a character's relationship to her own body. Bethie is no longer proud of embodying the feminine ideal after she is sexually assaulted. Jo resists conforming to feminine gender norms because they do not permit her to express herself as a (closeted) queer woman.

Masculinity

The women's movement redefines femininity much more successfully than it redefines masculinity. None of the women in the Kauffman sisters' lives deliberately oppress them. However, few challenge the male/female power dynamic, where a man's perspective is privileged over a woman's. Jo's husband, Dave, does not adhere to...