ABSTRACT
Alternative experiences and evaluations of the feminine self are reported in communities that present women with other ideals and norms, as, for example, among lesbian groups and in the African American community. Self-awareness about feminine looks makes its appearance early in a woman's life. In fact, self-evaluations regarding physical acceptability enter a girl's consciousness in a variety of ways. The picture that emerges is one in which the feminine self is developed through a vigilant and sensitive response to ever-present external assessment: from parents, boyfriends, husbands, and friends. The skills needed to create the feminine body are developed both through cooperation and competition with other girls/women: cooperation, insofar as techniques and fashion consciousness are learned from mothers and girlfriends; competition, because the attention women get from all quartersteachers, family, friends, and men-depends in large measure on how their bodily appearance stacks up in comparison to others: real people, professional models, and media images of femininity.
