The New York Times proclaimed last year that girls rule the internet, thanks in part to the success of the Barbie movie and Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. But, while stereotypical femininity made an unexpected comeback, it remains unknown what femininity is or what a more feminine world looks like. Feminists themselves disagree. Second-wave feminists reject traditional feminine aesthetics, while third-wave feminists often celebrate them. The Barbie movie had a feminist narrative, but it still led to a 136% rise in searches for clothing with traditional Barbie-like aesthetics.
Should we reject the re-introduction of traditional feminine stereotypes as undermining of the core goals of feminism? Should we focus on practical matters like the defence of equal pay and abortion rights? Or is the female/male binary at fault and do we need to give up categorising people or behaviours as feminine in the first place?