femininity

noun

Etymology: From Middle English femynynytee, femyninytee, variants of femynyte (archaic modern English feminity), equivalent to feminine + -ity.

1. The sum of all attributes that are feminine or convey womanhood.

   “It's almost eerie, in the wake of the Lawrence Summers controversy, to encounter the words of an earlier Harvard president, John Kirkland, a "friend and mentor" of Elizabeth's, who advised her that if any woman "is raised by genius and knowledge above the level of her sex, her neglect of attention appropriate to the best half of creation, attentions called femininities, will more than counterbalance all her advantages and reduce her below other women."”

   “A contributing factor to this slightly regressive femininity may have been the sugary fabrics (silver lamé, tulle over sequins) and the meringuelike puffs and baby Googums bows at the neck.”