This relates to the concepts highlighted in Cahn's (1993) writing on alternative femininities in athletics, wherein we see that women who do not fit the socially ascribed ideals of femininity "suffer from condemnation" and 'othering' (350). Through the exaltation of certain demonstrations of gender and the subordination of others, a message is sent about what traits are truly valued in a society. …show more content…
Here, we can once again observe a similar idea in Cahn's work, which demonstrates how ideal expectations of womanhood transform when man's dominance is threatened, and when "gender and sexual relations" shift (348). Moreover, just as Cahn describes the onset of panic that results from alternative femininities (and masculinities), Connell refers to the "crisis tendencies" that surface when the constructed- and increasingly questioned-gender order is threatened