In 1949, French intellectual Simone de Beauvoir wrote that 'no biological, psychological or economic fate determines the figure that the human female presents in society' and 'one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman'. The words femininity and womanhood are first recorded in Chaucer around 1380. : 4 After the Black Death in England wiped out approximately half the population, traditional gender roles of wife and mother changed, and opportunities opened up for women in society.

Women in the Early Middle Ages were referred to simply within their traditional roles of maiden, wife, or widow. Professor of English Tara Williams has suggested that modern notions of femininity in English-speaking society began during the medieval period at the time of the bubonic plague in the 1300s. : 5 Among scholars, the concept of femininity has varying meanings. Venus was a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty and fertility.ĭespite the terms femininity and masculinity being in common usage, there is little scientific agreement about what femininity and masculinity are. The Birth of Venus (1486, Uffizi) is a classic representation of femininity painted by Sandro Botticelli.