Effeminacy
Effeminacy describes traits in a human male that are more often associated with feminine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or gender roles rather than masculine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or roles. It is a term frequently applied to womanly behavior, demeanor, style and appearance displayed by a male, typically used implying criticism or ridicule of this behaviour. The term
effeminate is most often used by people who subscribe to the widespread view that males should display masculine traits and behaviours. Generally, the description is applied to individuals, but may be used to describe entire societies as an inflammatory allegation. Until the modern period, "effeminacy" in the Western tradition referred to a complicated intersection of both social and sexual identities typically associated with females. The ancient Greeks, for example, described whole societies as effeminate if they were characterized by a slavish, deferential, or autocratic political culture. Here, it was the form of sexual relationships, but not the fact of homosexual relations that was critical to the sexual dimension of the term.