Toxic femininity can explain any instance where women are explicitly asked to conform to traditional stereotypes or try to fit themselves into those stereotypes.  Toxic femininity stems from society’s rigid moulds, individual people reinforce it all the time. Some of the stereotypical “Feminine Traits” are:

• Passiveness, selflessness, and nurturance
• Compliance, submissiveness, or docility
• Cooperation
• Sensitivity
• Politeness
• Empathy and compassion
• Home and family-oriented values

Some examples of toxic Femininity in real world are:

A school teacher who tells a female student to “act like a lady” when she shows fierceness.

A parent who continually pressure their daughter to have children because “that’s what women do.”

A relative who says you have not set up love because men find your confidence “bogarting.”

Some common indicators of presence of toxic femininity are:

1. The need to have a romantic male partner, even if a woman particularly does not desire a romantic relationship or is not ready for it.

2. Putting the needs of male counterparts before the needs of their own.

3. Being shamed for not bearing children.

4. Making significant sacrifices, unwillingly to fit the societal expectations of being “a woman”.

5. Underestimating one’s capabilities and avoiding being too ambitious.

6. Avoiding confronting men and nit raising voice against them, even when needed.

• Impacts on Mental Health

Since toxic femininity means adhering to a predefined set of very limiting ideas about what femininity means, it can also lead to developing insecurity or even self-loathing when women stray from the mould.

Ways to handle Toxic Femininity

1. Consider where your beliefs came from. It can help to consider where you first picked up on sundries of toxic femininity. Parents? peers? The media? relating the source of these ideas can help you begin untangling them from your own true beliefs.

2. Question your provocations. poisonous femininity can be so hardwired that certain actions may feel automatic. That’s why getting curious about your conduct. Do those choices truly represent what’s stylish for you?

3. Practice tone- confirmation. Women are commonly mixed up and trained to hide their gesticulations and tame their passions in order to console males. Decide to validate yourself, then.

4. Notice when and where you feel most authentic. Noticing when you most feel the appetite to conform to conceptions and distancing yourself from those scripts. Creating distance may involve setting boundaries with people who would rather press you to fit their prospects than celebrate your oneness.

5. Be aware of the media you consume. However, publications, social media accounts, if you fete that certain channels. rather taking by inclusive media that challenge gender morals and represent the wide array of gender expressions that live.

Conclusion

Toxic femininity, to put it simply, describes behaviour that reflects or supports gender- grounded conceptions or social morals for women. Exposure to these social morals and conceptions generally begins at an early age, and this mindset is not your fault. 

To consult with the best mental health professionals online, go to No matter the search criteria, you can search by “online counselling”  or online counsellor .