Effeminacy is a trait in males that generally contradicts traditional male (masculine) gender roles. A gender role is defined as a set of perceived behavioural norms associated particularly with Males or Females in a given social group or system It is a derogatory term frequently applied to femininity; or womanly behavior, demeanor, and appearance displayed by a man, typically used implying criticism or ridicule of this behavior (as opposed to, for example, merely describing a man as feminine, which is more neutral). The term effeminate is most often used by people who subscribe to the conventional view that men should conform to traditional masculine traits and behaviors. Effeminacy is a trait in males that generally contradicts traditional male ( masculine) Gender roles It is a derogatory term frequently applied to Femininity Generally, the description is applied to individuals, but may be used to describe entire societies as an inflammatory allegation. Although in the Western tradition, as described below, effeminacy has often been considered a vice, indicative of other negative character traits and often involving a pejorative insinuation of homosexual tendencies, in other societies men who do not conform to male gender roles may have a special social function, as is the case of Two-Spirits in some Native American groups. The software program VICE (all caps standing for V ersat' I' le C ommodore E mulator, is an Emulator for Commodore A trait is a distinct phenotypic character of an organism that may be inherited environmentally determined or somewhere in between Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. Two-Spirit (also two spirit or twospirit) people are Native Americans who fulfill one of many mixed Gender roles found traditionally among many Furthermore, in contemporary culture, effeminacy has come to be seen by some to be simply one characteristic or trait which might be a part of a particular person's "gender role", and in this sense would not be considered a vice or indicative of any other characteristics. An effeminate man is similar to a fop or a dandy, though these tend to be archaic identities that are taken on by the individual rather than insulting labels. For the meanings of the acronym FOP see FOP (disambiguation. The fop (also known as a fribble, popinjay, fashion-monger A dandy (also known as a beau gallant or flamboyant person is a man who places particular importance upon Physical appearance, refined language and leisurely hobbies

Contents 1 Social acceptance and intolerance 2 Effeminacy and gay men 3 History 3.1 Etymology 3.2 Ancient Greece and Rome 3.2.1 Greece 3.2.2 Rome 3.3 The Bible 3.4 United States 4 See also 5 Sources 6 References

Social acceptance and intolerance

In most cultures, effeminacy was traditionally considered, if not a vice, at least a weakness, indicative of other negative character traits and more recently often involving a negative insinuation of homosexual tendencies. The software program VICE (all caps standing for V ersat' I' le C ommodore E mulator, is an Emulator for Commodore A trait is a distinct phenotypic character of an organism that may be inherited environmentally determined or somewhere in between Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation.

The definition of what constitutes effeminate behavior varies greatly depending on the social and cultural context, as well as on the time period. While some effeminate behavior evokes impressions of homosexuality in some people, others may simply view the behavior as "unmanly" without questioning the sexual orientation of the person in question.

Examples of behavior noncompliant with conventional masculinity have included:

• Interest in language and literature, academic disciplines generally more associated with women.
• Interest in women's fashion.
• Discussing personal feelings and emotions with other males.
• Speaking in a high voice, possibly with a lisp. A gay lisp is not a technical Lisp, but refers to stereotypical speech attributes assigned to and sometimes heard in Gay Males The phenomenon
• Cross-dressing or use of makeup. Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothing commonly associated with another gender within a particular Society.

These examples have changed over time and will always vary depending on different contextual factors. During the Enlightenment, period fashion prescribed stockings, elaborate knee-length robes and long wigs for men, things that would most certainly be considered unacceptable for men (and women) in contemporary society. The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century During the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, men idolized the Renaissance Man who was skilled in all walks of life - a "real" man of this time was to be skilled in armed combat and knowledgeable of literature and art, among other things. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere A polymath ( Greek polymathēs, πολυμαθής "having learned much" is a person whose knowledge is not restricted to one subject area

Effeminacy and gay men

In the United States, boys are often homosocial (Gagnon, 1977), and gender role performance determines social rank (David and Brannon, 1976). In Sociology, homosociality describes same-sex relationships that are not of a romantic and/or Sexual nature While gay boys receive the same enculturation, they are less compliant, Martin Levine summarizes: "Harry (1982, 51-52), for example, found that 42 percent of his gay respondents were 'sissies' during childhood. Only 11 percent of his heterosexual samples were gender role nonconformists. Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith (1981, 188) reported that half of their male homosexual subjects practiced gender-inappropriate behaviour in childhood. Among their heterosexual males, the rate of noncompliance was 25 percent. Saghir and Robins (1973, 18) found that one-third of their gay male respondents conformed to gender role dictates. Only 3 percent of their heterosexual men deviated from the norm. " Thus effeminate boys, or sissies, are physically and verbally harassed (Saghir and Robins, 1973, 17-18; Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith 1981, 74-84), causing them to feel worthless (Harry 1982, 20) and "de-feminise" (Harry 1982, 20; Saghir and Robins 1973, 18-19). (Levine, 1998, p. 15-16)

Prior to the Stonewall riots, inconsistent gender role performance had been noticed among gay men (Karlen, 1978; Cory and LeRoy, 1963; Newton, 1972), "They have a different face for different occasions. The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28 1969 at the Stonewall Inn In conversations with each other, they often undergo a subtle change. I have seen men who appeared to be normal suddenly smile roguishly, soften their voices, and simper as they greeted homosexual friends. . . . Many times I saw these changes occur after I had gained a homosexual's confidence and he could safely risk my disapproval. Once as I watched a luncheon companion become an effeminate caricature of himself, he apologised, 'It is hard to always remember that one is a man. '" (Stearn 1962, 29) (Levine, 1998, p. 21-23)

“	There is a definite prejudice towards men who use femininity as part of their palate; their emotional palate, their physical palate. Is that changing? It’s changing in ways that don’t advance the cause of femininity. I’m not talking frilly-laced pink things or Hello Kitty stuff. I’m talking about goddess energy, intuition and feelings. That is still under attack, and it has gotten worse.	”
—RuPaul, [1]

Pre-Stonewall "closet" culture accepted homosexuality as effeminate behaviour, and thus emphasized camp, drag, and swish including an interest in fashion (Henry, 1955; West, 1977) and decorating (Fischer 1972; White 1980; Henry 1955, 304). RuPaul (born RuPaul Andre Charles on November 17 1960) is an American drag performer Dance music singer Actor Drag in its broadest sense means any clothing one wears however the traditional use of the term is for any Costume or outfit that carries symbolic significance Swish is a derogatory term for effeminate behaviour and interests ( camp) emphasized and sanctioned in pre- Stonewall Gay male communities Masculine gay men did exist but were marginalised (Warren 1972, 1974; Helmer 1963) and formed their own communities, such as leather and Western (Goldstein, 1975), and/or donned working class outfits (Fischer, 1972) such as sailor uniforms (Cory and LeRoy, 1963). (Levine, 1998, p. 21-23, 56)

Post-Stonewall, "clone culture" became dominant and effeminacy is now marginalised. One indicator of this is a definite preference shown in personal ads for masculine-behaving men (Bailey et al 1997).

The avoidance of effeminacy by men, including gay ones, has been linked to possible impedance of personal and public health. Regarding AIDS, masculine behaviour was stereotyped as being unconcerned about safe sex practices while engaging in promiscuous sexual behaviour. Early reports from New York City indicated that more women had themselves tested for AIDS than men. (Sullivan, 1987). (Levine, 1998, p. 148)

David Halperin (2002), compares "universalising" and "minoritising" notions of gender deviance: "'Softness' either may represent the specter of potential gender failure that haunts all normative masculinity, an ever-present threat to the masculinity of every man, or it may represent the disfiguring peculiarity of a small class of deviant individuals. "

The term effeminaphobia was coined to describe strong anti-effeminacy. Michael Bailey (1995) coined the similar term femiphobia to describe the ambivalence gay men and culture have about effeminate behaviour. Author Tim Bergling (September 1997) also coined the term sissyphobia.

History

Etymology

Effeminacy comes from the Latin, ex which is "out," and femina which means woman; it means "to be like a woman. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. " The Latin term is mollities, meaning "softness. "

A Greek word that approaches one modern meaning of effeminate is kinaidos (cinaedus in its Latinized form), a man "whose most salient feature was a supposedly "feminine" love of being sexually penetrated by other men. " (Winkler, 1990) However, "cinaedus is not actually anchored in that specific sexual practice. It refers instead to a man who has an identity as gender deviant. " (Williams, 1999). The Greek word for an effeminate man is μαλακός – malakos (literally "soft"), which is still used in modern Greek in that derogatory sense. Furthermore, a "boy" is not generally considered to be motivated by the pleasure of penetration itself, but rather gratifying (charizesthai) the normative masculine desire of an older male (Halperin, 2002).

"A cinaedus is a man who fails to live up to traditional standards of masculine comportment. Indeed, the word's etymology suggests no direct connection to any sexual practice. Rather, borrowed from Greek kinaidos (which may itself have been a borrowing from a language of Asia Minor), it primarily signifies an effeminate dancer who entertained his audiences with a tympanum or tambourine in his hand, and adopted a lascivious style, often suggestively wiggling his buttocks in such a way as to suggest anal intercourse. . . . The primary meaning of cinaedus never died out; the term never became a dead metaphor. " (Williams, 1999)

Other contemporary words for effeminacy include: "pansy", "nelly", "pussy", and "girl" (when applied to a boy or, especially, adult man). The pansy or pansy violet s are a large group of plants cultivated as garden Flowers Pansies are derived from Viola tricolor and can include Pussy is an English word meaning Cat. It may also refer to the female genitalia in slang among other definitions A girl is any Female Human from birth through Childhood and Adolescence to attainment of Adulthood The term may also be used to mean Contrastingly, a masculine girl would be called a "tomboy" or anti-gay slurs. Tomboy is a Girl who behaves according to the Gender role of a Boy. The word effete similarly means effeminacy or over-refinement, but comes from the Latin effetus, from ex- + fetus (fruitful).

Ancient Greece and Rome

See main article Classical definition of effeminacy. In Greek society Effeminacy ( Greek: grc ἀνανδρία &ndash anandria; grc μαλακία &ndash malakia Latin: mollites

Greece

Greek historian Plutarch recounts that Periander, the tyrant of Ambracia, asked his "boy", "Aren't you pregnant yet?" in the presence of other people, causing the boy to kill him in revenge for being treated as if effeminate or a woman (Amatorius 768F). Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c

As part of Greek politician Aiskhines(Aeschines)' proof that a member of the prosecution against him, Timarkhos(Timarchus), had prostituted himself to (or been "kept" by) another male while young, he attributed fellow prosecutor Demosthenes' nickname Batalos ("arse") to his "unmanliness and kinaidiā and frequently commented on his "unmanly and womanish temper", even criticising his clothing: "If anyone took those dainty little coats and soft shirts off you . Aeschines (in Greek, 389&ndash314 BC Greek Statesman and one of the ten Attic orators. Timarchus was a usurper in the Seleucid empire between 163-160 BCE For the Athenian general see Demosthenes (general. For the ancient physician see Demosthenes Philalethes. . . and took them round for the jurors to handle, I think they'd be quite unable to say, if they hadn't been told in advance, whether they had hold of a man's clothing or a woman's. " (Dover, 1989)

Demosthenes is also implicated in passive homosexuality and the prostitution of youth (Aiskhines iii 162): "There is a certain Aristion, a Plataean. . . , who as a youth was outstandingly good-looking and lived for a long time in Demosthenes' house. Allegations about the part he was playing [lit. , 'undergoing or doing what'] there vary, and it would be most unseemly for me to talk about it. " (Dover, 1989)

The late Greek (possibly c. fourth century), Erôtes ("Loves", "Forms of Desire", "Affairs of the Heart"), preserved with manuscripts by Lucian, contains a debate "between two men, Charicles and Callicratidas, over the relative merits of women and boys as vehicles of male sexual pleasure. Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανός ὁ Σαμοσατεύς Lucianus c " Callicratidus, "far from being effeminised by his sexual predilection for boys. . . Callicratidas's inclination renders him hypervirile. . . Callicratidas's sexual desire for boys, then, makes him more of a man; it does not weaken or subvert his male gender identity but rather consolidates it. " In contrast, "Charicles' erotic preference for women seems to have had the corresponding effect of effeminising him: when the reader first encounters him, for example, Charicles is described as exhibiting 'a skillful use of cosmetics, so as to be attractive to women. '"

Rome

Over-refinement, fine clothes and other possessions, the company of women, certain trades, and too much coitus with women were all deemed effeminate traits in Roman society. Taking an inappropriate sexual position -- passive or "bottom" (kinaidos, see above) -- in same-gender sex was considered effeminate and unnatural. Touching the head with a finger and wearing a goatee were also considered effeminate (Holland, 2004).

Roman consul Scipio Aemilianus questioned one of his opponents, P. Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Numantinus (185 - 129 BC also known as Scipio Aemilianus or Scipio Africanus the Younger, was a leading general and Sulpicius Galus: "For the kind of man who adorns himself daily in front of a mirror, wearing perfume; whose eyebrows are shaved off; who walks around with plucked beard and thighs; who when he was a young man reclined at banquets next to his lover, wearing a long-sleeved tunic; who is fond of men as he is of wine: can anyone doubt that he has done what cinaedi are in the habit of doing?" (fr. 17 Malcovati; Aulus Gellius, 6. 12. 5; cited/translated by Williams 1999, p. 23)

Roman orator Quintilian described, "The plucked body, the broken walk, the female attire," as "signs of one who is soft [mollis] and not a real man. " (Institutes 5. 9. 14, cited/translated by Richlin, 1993)

For Roman men masculinity also meant self-control, even in the face of painful emotions, illnesses, or death. Cicero says, "There exist certain precepts, even laws, that prohibit a man from being effeminate in pain," (Fin. Marcus Tullius Cicero ( Classical Latin ˈkikeroː usually ˈsɪsərəʊ in English January 3, 106 BC &ndash December 7, 43 BC was a Roman 2. 94) and Seneca adds, "If I must suffer illness, it will be my wish to do nothing out of control, nothing effeminately. Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca, or Seneca the Younger; Σένεκας in Ancient Greek literature (c " (Epist. 67. 4)

In his commentaries on the Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar wrote that the Belgians were the bravest of all Gauls, because "merchants least frequently resort to them, and import those things which tend to effeminate the mind". Commentarii de Bello Gallico is Julius Caesar 's third-person account of his nine years of war in Gaul. The Gallic Wars were a series of Military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes, lasting from The Belgae were a group of tribes living in northern Gaul in the 1st century BC and later also attested in Britain. Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western (Commentarii_de_Bello_Gallico, I,1)

The Bible

Malakos is listed among other vices in the New Testament book of 1 Corinthians. 6:9. Translations use different terms to express this: "The JB (1966) chooses 'catamite,' the NAB (1970) renders arsenokoités and malakos together as 'sodomite,' others translate malakos as 'male prostitute' (NIV 1973, NRSV 1989), and again some combine both terms and offer the modern medicalised categories of sexual, or particularly homosexual, 'perversion' (RSV 1946, TEV 1966, NEB 1970, REB 1992). " (Martin, 1996). The word malakos, #3120 in the Greek Dictionary of The New Testament of James Strong's Exhaustive Concordance to The Bible translates: "of uncertain affinity".

United States

To strengthen the argument of the "mechanics", Thomas Jefferson said something similar to Xenophon (see above):

"The mobs of great cities add just so much to the support of pure government, as sores do to the strength of the human body. Thomas Jefferson (April 13 1743 – July 4 1826 was the third President of the United States (1801–1809 the principal author of the Declaration of Independence I consider the class of artificers as the panderers of vice, and the instruments by which the liberties of a country are generally overturned. " (8)

Being friends with women, having limp or loose wrists, a high and/or lispy voice, a swaying walk, occupations such as hairdressing, and hobbies and interests such as theater, musicals, or "domestic" activities such as design, sewing, or cleaning, are all often considered effeminate within various historical contexts in the United States. A gay lisp is not a technical Lisp, but refers to stereotypical speech attributes assigned to and sometimes heard in Gay Males The phenomenon

See also

• Butch and femme
• Genderqueer
• Androgyne
• Bishonen
• Ritualism
• Ergi
• Classical definition of effeminacy
• Asexuality

Sources

• On Virtues and Vices, Aristotle, trans. Genderqueer and intergender are catchall terms for gender identities other than man and woman Androgyny is a term derived from the Greek words ανήρ ( anér, meaning man and γυνή ( gyné, meaning woman that can refer to either of two is a Japanese term literally meaning "beautiful boy or beautiful youth this article is on the Anglican church in particular See Orthopraxis for ritualism in general Ergi (noun and argr (adjective are two Old Norse terms of Insult, denoting Effeminacy or other unmanly behavior In Greek society Effeminacy ( Greek: grc ἀνανδρία &ndash anandria; grc μαλακία &ndash malakia Latin: mollites Asexuality is a Sexual orientation that describes individuals who do not experience Sexual attraction. H. Rackham, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, l992. Vol. #285
• The Eudemian Ethics, Aristotle, trans. H. Rackham, Loeb Classical Library. Vol. #285
• Oxford English Dictionary, 20 vol. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English It has 75 references in English literature of over 500 years of usage of the word 'effeminate'.
• Davis, Madeline and Lapovsky Kennedy, Elizabeth (1989). "Oral History and the Study of Sexuality in the Lesbian Community", Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay & Lesbian Past (1990), Duberman, etc, eds. New York: Meridian, New American Library, Penguin Books. ISBN 0-452-01067-5.
• Winkler, John J. (1990). The Constraints of Desire: The Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece. New York: Routledge.
• Williams, Craig A. (1999). Roman Homosexuality: Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Martin, Dale B. (1996). "Arsenokoités and Malakos: Meanings and Consequences", Biblical Ethics & Homosexuality: Listening to Scripture, Robert L. Brawley, ed. Westminster John Knox Press. [1]
• Holland, Tom (2004). Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-50313-X.
• Halperin, David M. (2002). How To Do The History of Homosexuality, p. 125. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-31447-2.
• K. J. Dover, (1989). Greek Homosexuality. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-36270-5.
• Levine, Martin P. (1998). Gay Macho. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-4694-2.
  • Gagnon, John H. (1977). Human Sexualities. Glenview, Ill. : Scott, Foresman.
  • David, Deborah S. and Brannon, Robert (1976). The Forty-Nine Percent Majority: The Male Sex Role. Reading, Mass. : Addison-Wesley.
  • Harry (1982). Gay Children Grown Up: Gender, Culture and Gender Deviance. New York: Praeger.
  • Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith (1981). Sexual Preference: Its Development in Men and Women. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  • Saghir and Robins (1973).
  • Karlen, Arno (1978). "Homosexuality: The Scene and Its Student", The Sociology of Sex: An Introductory Reader, James M. Henslin and Edward Sagarin eds. New York: Schocken.
  • Cory, Donald W. and LeRoy, John P. (1963). The Homosexual and His Society: A View from Within. New York: Citadel Press.
  • Newton, Esther (1972). Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America. Englewood Cliffs, N. J. : Prentice-Hall.
  • Stearn, Jess (1962). The Sixth Man. New York: MacFadden.
• Bergling, Tim (2001). Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior. New York: Harrington Park Press. ISBN 1-56023-990-5.
  • Bailey, Michael; Kim, Peggy; Hills, Alex; and Linsenmeier, Joan (1997). "Butch, Femme, or Straight Acting? Partner Preferences of Gay Men and Lesbians. ", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(5), pp. 960-973.
  • Bergling, Tim (1997). "Sissyphobia", Genre, p. 53. September.
  • Bailey, Michael (1995). "Gender Identity", The Lives of Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals, p. 71-93. New York: Harcourt Brace.

References

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