World Femininity Day takes place on 24 June, with London and New York as flagship hosts and another 10 countries joining in.
It seems that Feminism is having a bit of a renaissance at the moment. Protest movements such as SlutWalk are spreading across the world, expressing anger at the prevalence of yesteryear’s attitudes towards women. There are female writers who reject Feminism, there are those who argue over its elements, there was a First-, Second- and Third-Wave and then there's Post-Feminism. There are also those who wish to celebrate Femininity in its traditional sense, but with a bit of an empowered twist. Here enters World Femininity Day.
Organiser Zoe Charles is a Femininity Coach who runs burlesque school 'The Cheek of It'. She explains that the purpose of the event is to provide “an opportunity to transform our selves and the world through owning and relishing in being powerful through our femininity as opposed to using masculine ways of being to portray power.”
The celebration will take place on open top buses and in shop windows across the city, and women can show their support by wearing a flower in their hair to symbolise “femininity and unity”.
The philosophy behind World Femininity Day is in sharp contrast with women who power-dress to compete in male-dominated situations by harnessing masculine qualities, as well as those who argue that, in order to foster equality, women must dress and behave in a more gender-neutral way.
Zoe stresses that (like SlutWalk) the event is not exclusively for women, and invites people to participate by creating their own events to celebrate and define what femininity is for them.
Visit their website www.worldfemininityday.com for more information and an Official Awareness Raising Kit.
