The impact of performing femininity on teenage girls’ wellbeing
Submitted by Imogen Hensler
In the UK, girls consistently report lower subjective well-being and higher rates of anxiety and depression compared to boys. While the reasons for these gender differences are complex, how girls conceptualise, experience, and “perform” femininity may be one pathway which makes their distress worse. To explore this idea, we conducted a study to examine how norms and experiences of femininity among seven girls aged 16–17 relate to their behaviours and experiences. To do this, we conducted two online focus groups and analysed this data using discourse analysis.
We identified two key discourses (i.e., systems that shape how we talk about a topic, like an invisible set of rules) relating to the concepts and experiences around femininity among these girls:
“Valued by conformity to femininity”, where girls discussed how they are judged by others based on their performance of femininity, and the social and protective benefits they get as a result. For example, acting “dumber” than they really are to make themselves more appealing to boys and men.
“An uncertain perception of the self”, resulting in constant awareness of being judged (hypervigilance) and confusion between knowing that beauty standards shouldn’t matter, yet continuing to perform them.
Our results suggest that the paradoxical and conflicting expectations around femininity, reinforced by others, may cause adolescent girls to experience cognitive distortions (inaccurate perceptions of reality) and dissonance (discomfort when experiencing two conflicting beliefs), increasing their vulnerability to low well-being and anxiety.
I’m a young person – what does this mean for me?
The expectations of femininity faced by adolescent girls can lead to hypervigilance, anxiety, uncertainty, and confusion, and may contribute to poorer mental health.
I’m a teacher - what does this mean for me?
Teachers should be aware of how adolescent girls are treated by their peers in school settings regarding femininity, and challenge behaviours which may be contributing to lower mental health.