Feminism vs. the Femininity Movement – Which Side Will You Choose?

Julia
May 23
3 min read

Updated: Jul 6

Feminism has been breaking barriers since the 19th century. The Femininity Movement embraces womanhood with softness and grace.

Both offer freedom, just in very different forms.

So, which side are we standing with?

Let's start with a story....

Once upon a time, a mother named Wisdom had two daughters:

Feminism & Femininity.

They were born of fire and water.

One burned with revolution.

The other flowed in stillness.

Feminism: She was bold, loud, unapologetic.

She showed up when women were being pushed to the sidelines, and screamed:

"Enough!"

"Feminism, my friend.

You are the fire that fought for our voice.

You burned paths through silence, through laws that forgot our names and stepped into rooms we were never invited to.

You told us we could build empires, write constitutions, dream bigger than our mothers and grandmothers were ever allowed to.

You roared even when no one would listen. We love you for that. We thank you with every breath we take in freedom."

"But sister, in your righteous rage, sometimes you tried to scrub away everything that makes us womanly.

Sometimes you forget that mystery is not weakness, that softness is not submission. My love, being special is actually a good thing.

You still have to learn that we are not stronger when we are more like men.

We are strongest when we are fully Woman, in all our layered magic."

Feminism kicks down doors.

She's strong and powerful.

Exhausted, sometimes.

But still, she stands, and she fights.

For all of us.

Let me introduce you to her sister.

Femininity: She is softer and soulfull.

She didn't want

to climb the career ladder.

She wanted to

make a home under it.

"Femininity, my Dear.

You returned us to the sanctuary of our nature.

You reminded us that there is power in the sway of hips, in nurturing hands, in beauty that invites and heals.

You’ve made it safe to love being a woman again - not in resistance, but in reverence.

You reminded us that women and men are beautifully different, and most complete when they come together in harmony. You’ve shown us the deep fulfillment of returning to our roots.

We adore you for that."

"But sometimes, darling, you forget the world isn’t always gentle.

Love isn’t always soft petals and sweet words.

Being a woman is so much more than the aesthetic of floral dresses and baking cookies.

Sometimes, it’s armor. Sometimes, it’s boundaries. Sometimes, it has to be a storm.

My love, strength was never the opposite of femininity."

Femininity politely opens up doors, smiling softly while entering.

Nonetheless, powerful.

She's here to remind us what was once our sacred beauty:

rhythm, rest, romance & grace.

So here we stand, carrying both sisters in our hearts:

fierce and gentle, steel and silk.

Society tells us we have to choose one side.

But which one should we choose?

Let's not choose at all.

Let's stand in both.

Why?

Because a woman is not a slogan.

She is a story.

And stories, the real ones, need both the ink and the fire.

Both the light and the mirror.

The ambition and the beauty.

The fists and the flowers.

We need feminism, to keep breaking ceilings.

We need the feminine, to keep weaving beauty beneath them.

And maybe, just maybe, we are only truly ourselves when we remember:

We were never meant to be either or.

We were always all.

With love, always.

All ways.

Photo credits from Unsplash:

Janko Ferlic, Anthony Tran, Caroline Hernandez, Meder Adabaev,Caique Nascimento, Lauren Mitchell, Chris Mok, Shot by Cerquiera, Tamara Bellis 2x, Naeim Jafari, Miguel Bruna, Julia Caesar