To think women used to be less "feminine"

[Kalvinette]

A Skunk Anansie video popped up on my FB feed (blast from the past!) and it got me thinking how it's strange that we've never been as feminist as a culture, but actually women in the public eye used to look stereotypically less feminine. I'm thinking of Skin, Sinead O'Connor, etc. Lots of women used to wear their hair really short, there was that whole masculine/unisex dressing style.
With men as well, you had the whole longer hair thing, and then the glam rock thing, men in make up with glitter, feathers, etc.

AIBU to think that although we've never been as vocally supportive of "gender fluidity", in actual fact women and men today seem to stick quite rigidly to masculine and feminine codes?

@TheSkatesOfCoachBombay

I just wonder where all the "Tom boys" went.

Growing up in the 90's we had a few in our school years. I was even one for a while before discovering the make up box age 15.

These days they seem non existent 🤷🏻‍♀️

We got told we were trying to be boys and had to give it up aged 11/when puberty hit or face constant abuse and threats for 'being lesbians', that's what happened.

I think a lot of women these days do more to look feminine than they used to, with lots of attention given to hair and make up. I think in behaviour
women are less inclined to traditional feminine behaviours than in previous decades. I think the artists you are referring to are indicative of a time when there was less emphasis on looks in the music industry. A lot of successful female artists from the 80s are not particularly mainstream attractive or feminine, just average looking with good voices. These days it's rare for a female artist to succeed unless she is also considered attractive.

Listening to Grace Jones yesterday and feeling nostalgic about the fact that being teens in the 80s we all had different looks style-wise. Lots of short hair & clothes were mostly charity shop adaptations. Does seem so homogeneous now generally.

It's probably a fashion trends. Dd refuses to be caught dead in trousers, jeans or short hair. I didn't even own a single dress or skirt aside from the school uniform as an 80s child / 90s teenager, just refused to. Had denim dungarees too, although I find that embarrassing 😳