Traditional Femininity

[Tales]

I am looking for books, shows or movies that demonstrate traditional femininity - the purpose is to find role models for women who were raised without such personal experience.  Does anyone have some suggestions?  Online searches just show up page after page about why there is no difference between men and women.

Cheers.

[Gardener]

A Lady's Life In The Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird.

Don't let the reviews through the lense of modern feminism trick you. Ms. Bird was a true lady. She writes of a time when the women were tougher than many of today's men and even the ruffians were generally gentlemen. She defers to men constantly throughout the book, but disallows any to bully her. She has an interesting set of experiences with a Calvinist family, where the diabolical nature of that heresy reveals itself in the uncomely bitterness of the women and the effete weakness of the father is shown forth in an authoritarian manner which betrays his actual power.

Another good one, though fiction, is The Awakening of Miss Prim. I was prepared to hate it, but my wife could not speak of it highly enough. I am glad I followed her recommendation as it was a joy to read.

[Tales]

Gardener,

Thank you for the suggestions, I will look into them.  If you also happen to think of any shows or movies that well model traditionally feminine women then please let me know (loving, caring mothers, gentle young women).

Cheers.

[Carleendiane]

Feminine maternity,  is few and far between. Not common, not wortby, and not  expected. A woman is  not  expected from us. Woman is expected to be.

[dymphna17]

Here are a few that can be found at Angelus Press and have been highly praised by many of the women here.  I'm not 100% sure what you mean by "the purpose is to find role models for women who were raised without such personal experience".  Are they looking as well?  Are these women or girls?  Wives, Mothers, discerning a vocation to such, a modern woman who is thinking of converting or is in the process?  Are you looking for something we, as Traditional Catholics would call "traditional femininity" or what would be considered it by modern senses?  In other words, old-fashioned or Trad, since they are not necessarily the same thing.  I'm not trying to be nosy, I'm just not sure which direction you are looking for this information to go.  I'll go ahead and post these for you, and if you are in need of something else just let me know and I will try to help.  While femininity can't necessarily be learned from reading a book, it will aid in the understanding of the principle, making it easier to move forward in living a feminine life.


https://angeluspress.org/collections/catholic-family/products/valiant-woman

THE VALIANT WOMAN (CONFERENCES FOR WIVES AND MOTHERS)

Abp. Landriot of Rheims

SKU: 8141  |  ISBN: 9781930278394

$19.95

The most valiant of all women is the Blessed Virgin Mary. Although this virtue is most manifest as a gift of the Holy Ghost, it is also manifest in the daily trials of the soldier of Christ who conquers inordinate self - love with God's grace. The valiant (strong) woman does not have to be a St. Joan of Arc, but she must rule well her home in prudence, mercy, justice and truth. In Proverbs 31, the Holy Ghost Himself describes the "valiant woman."

This book is an extended version of discourses delivered to married women. Each address begins with a theme drawn from the final verses of the similitudes of Solomon. Landriot then explains the moral of the passage with a practical brilliance that could only come from a confessor whose heart was well seasoned in discerning the particular characteristics and maternal predispositions of the feminine soul. What emerges is an achievable ideal for every truly Catholic woman. Not one page fails to demonstrate what grace, what beauty, and what joy supernatural can bring forth in the life of a woman called to the vocation of Christian motherhood.
213 pp, softcover

https://angeluspress.org/collections/catholic-family/products/dignity-woman

THE NATURE, DIGNITY, AND MISSION OF WOMAN

Fr. Karl Stehlin

SKU: 8598  |  ISBN: 9781937843229

$11.95

Who shall find a valiant woman? far and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her.

Women are attacked on all sides. One side of the attack finds its origin in Protestantism, in which women are sub-par creatures, not helpmates but slaves to men, never to develop the immense talents given by God. On the other side, far more common in our age, women are to remake themselves entirely into the strict imitation of men, breaking down all of the distinctions and differences which are the glory of woman. But what is the solution? Are we stuck in one or the other?

This excellent work The Nature, Dignity, and Mission of Woman is a resounding cry by Fr. Karl Stehlin against both of these errors. Fr. Stehlin, a priest with over 25 years of pastoral experience, takes up his pen to examine, explain, and defend real femininity. This book, the fruit of a series of talks given to young ladies at a Catholic boarding school, will help all Catholics, but especially the young, rediscover the immense dignity of being a woman, as lived out in accord with the plan of God‰?ó»s creation.

Topics Covered Include:

The Human Being as the Image of God
Union of Opposites
The Essential Vocation of Woman: Virgo, Sponsa, Mater, Icona Immaculata
Woman as Home-Maker
Woman‰?ó»s Mission in Serving, Suffering, and Hoping
Today‰?ó»s Problems
Preserving Her Beauty
Finding Her Vocation
The Specific Choice of a Husband
Much more!
This book is perfect for any woman or young lady who wishes to understand her important role as a Catholic woman created in the image of God and given a beautiful nature, dignity, and mission!

106 pp, softcover

https://angeluspress.org/collections/catholic-family/products/life-of-gabrielle-lefebvre

THE LIFE OF GABRIELLE LEFEBVRE

Fr. Le Crom

SKU: 6583  |  ISBN: 9780935952551

$5.50

The story is told by the spiritual director of the mother of Archbishop Lefebvre - a mother of eight children, five of whom entered religion. After the baptism of the future archbishop, she would say, "He will have a great role to play in the holy Church, at Rome, near the Holy Father." Admittedly, that strikes most of us as odd, proposterous or even freaky, but that is indeed what she said!

Describes her commitment to the ordinary way of salvation and some of what is known of her mysticism.
35 pp. Softcover.

https://angeluspress.org/collections/catholic-family/products/integrity-4-motherhood-and-family

INTEGRITY 4 - MOTHERHOOD AND FAMILY

Integrity Magazine

SKU: 8335  |  ISBN: 9781892331632

$9.95

The 16 chapters of Motherhood and Family can be summarized in the following cut lines. If any of these hit home, ladies, Motherhood and Family is talking about it with you.

Get out of the way while God sanctifies your child through danger and suffering.
Avoid the discouragement of reforming your husband according to your ideas of (feminine) holiness.
Multiply the spiritual goods coming from homebirth and breastfeeding.
Debunk worldly notions of love and romance for your growing girls.
Use the watchwords of common sense and courage to help your family.
Invite poverty to be a necessary part of your Family Rule.
Serve the Church, family, and parish as a single woman.
Understand the similarities between marriage and consecrated religious life which advance holiness.
Prepare for the end of active motherhood and the beginning of a gracious old age.

Motherhood and Family is the book for girls, young ladies, and women of all ages who look to enjoy the privilege of being a woman, or who are prayerfully desiring to discover it or to recover it.

Chapter titles include:

The Tragedy of Modern Woman, Children and Creative Activity, The Love Education of Girls, Mothers-in-Law, Mother or Cow, He Married an Angel, Children and the Imitation of Mary, On Having Babies at Home, Spirituality of Married Life, Teaching Children to Pray, The Latter Day, Poverty in Marriage

Once you've spent some time in Motherhood and Family you'll want to spread the word. Forget the airy fairy stuff that doesn't connect. This is practical spiritual reading for the privileged female who wants to learn all the angles of God's beautiful call, Woman.
208 pages. Color softcover.

Now don't look at this title and scoff.  This is the true story of the lives of this family which shows how strong this woman, Maria, was in getting her family through the terrible times of war, without being overbearing or bitter.  IMO, she embodied what true feminism is for women.
https://angeluspress.org/collections/catholic-family/products/the-story-of-the-trapp-family-singers

THE STORY OF THE TRAPP FAMILY SINGERS

Maria Augusta Trapp

SKU: 8431  |  ISBN: 9780060005771

$14.95

With nearly 1,500 Broadway performances, six Tony Awards, more than three million albums sold, and five Academy Awards, The Sound of Music, based on the lives of Maria, the baron, and their singing children, is as familiar to most of us as our own family history. But much about the real-life woman and her family was left untold.

Here, Baroness Maria Augusta Trapp tells in her own beautiful, simple words the extraordinary story of her romance with the baron, their escape from Nazi-occupied Austria, and their life in America.

Now with photographs from the original edition.
330 pp. softcover.

[Tales]

dymphna17,

Thank you for the book recommendations!

Many women today were raised in a household and educated in a system that lacks femininity.  Girls are taught that they are no different from boys, they are taught to be assertive and aggressive, that they should be able to do absolutely everything themselves, that they should focus on work and career success, and so on so forth.  For women who have lived their wholes lives knowing only this, it is impossible to know what they do not know - hence why I'd like some "role models" in literature, TV and movies that can display traditional feminine personality & actions.  When I say traditional I am not using it in the Trad / N.O. sense, but rather just the non-modern sense.

Thanks!

[Lynne]

Here are a few that can be found at Angelus Press and have been highly praised by many of the women here.  I'm not 100% sure what you mean by "the purpose is to find role models for women who were raised without such personal experience".  Are they looking as well?  Are these women or girls?  Wives, Mothers, discerning a vocation to such, a modern woman who is thinking of converting or is in the process?  Are you looking for something we, as Traditional Catholics would call "traditional femininity" or what would be considered it by modern senses?  In other words, old-fashioned or Trad, since they are not necessarily the same thing.  I'm not trying to be nosy, I'm just not sure which direction you are looking for this information to go.  I'll go ahead and post these for you, and if you are in need of something else just let me know and I will try to help.  While femininity can't necessarily be learned from reading a book, it will aid in the understanding of the principle, making it easier to move forward in living a feminine life.


https://angeluspress.org/collections/catholic-family/products/valiant-woman

THE VALIANT WOMAN (CONFERENCES FOR WIVES AND MOTHERS)

Abp. Landriot of Rheims

SKU: 8141  |  ISBN: 9781930278394

$19.95

The most valiant of all women is the Blessed Virgin Mary. Although this virtue is most manifest as a gift of the Holy Ghost, it is also manifest in the daily trials of the soldier of Christ who conquers inordinate self - love with God's grace. The valiant (strong) woman does not have to be a St. Joan of Arc, but she must rule well her home in prudence, mercy, justice and truth. In Proverbs 31, the Holy Ghost Himself describes the "valiant woman."

This book is an extended version of discourses delivered to married women. Each address begins with a theme drawn from the final verses of the similitudes of Solomon. Landriot then explains the moral of the passage with a practical brilliance that could only come from a confessor whose heart was well seasoned in discerning the particular characteristics and maternal predispositions of the feminine soul. What emerges is an achievable ideal for every truly Catholic woman. Not one page fails to demonstrate what grace, what beauty, and what joy supernatural can bring forth in the life of a woman called to the vocation of Christian motherhood.
213 pp, softcover

https://angeluspress.org/collections/catholic-family/products/dignity-woman

THE NATURE, DIGNITY, AND MISSION OF WOMAN

Fr. Karl Stehlin

SKU: 8598  |  ISBN: 9781937843229

$11.95

Who shall find a valiant woman? far and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her.

Women are attacked on all sides. One side of the attack finds its origin in Protestantism, in which women are sub-par creatures, not helpmates but slaves to men, never to develop the immense talents given by God. On the other side, far more common in our age, women are to remake themselves entirely into the strict imitation of men, breaking down all of the distinctions and differences which are the glory of woman. But what is the solution? Are we stuck in one or the other?

This excellent work The Nature, Dignity, and Mission of Woman is a resounding cry by Fr. Karl Stehlin against both of these errors. Fr. Stehlin, a priest with over 25 years of pastoral experience, takes up his pen to examine, explain, and defend real femininity. This book, the fruit of a series of talks given to young ladies at a Catholic boarding school, will help all Catholics, but especially the young, rediscover the immense dignity of being a woman, as lived out in accord with the plan of God‰?ó»s creation.

Topics Covered Include:

The Human Being as the Image of God
Union of Opposites
The Essential Vocation of Woman: Virgo, Sponsa, Mater, Icona Immaculata
Woman as Home-Maker
Woman‰?ó»s Mission in Serving, Suffering, and Hoping
Today‰?ó»s Problems
Preserving Her Beauty
Finding Her Vocation
The Specific Choice of a Husband
Much more!
This book is perfect for any woman or young lady who wishes to understand her important role as a Catholic woman created in the image of God and given a beautiful nature, dignity, and mission!

106 pp, softcover

https://angeluspress.org/collections/catholic-family/products/life-of-gabrielle-lefebvre

THE LIFE OF GABRIELLE LEFEBVRE

Fr. Le Crom

SKU: 6583  |  ISBN: 9780935952551

$5.50

The story is told by the spiritual director of the mother of Archbishop Lefebvre - a mother of eight children, five of whom entered religion. After the baptism of the future archbishop, she would say, "He will have a great role to play in the holy Church, at Rome, near the Holy Father." Admittedly, that strikes most of us as odd, proposterous or even freaky, but that is indeed what she said!

Describes her commitment to the ordinary way of salvation and some of what is known of her mysticism.
35 pp. Softcover.

https://angeluspress.org/collections/catholic-family/products/integrity-4-motherhood-and-family

INTEGRITY 4 - MOTHERHOOD AND FAMILY

Integrity Magazine

SKU: 8335  |  ISBN: 9781892331632

$9.95

The 16 chapters of Motherhood and Family can be summarized in the following cut lines. If any of these hit home, ladies, Motherhood and Family is talking about it with you.

Get out of the way while God sanctifies your child through danger and suffering.
Avoid the discouragement of reforming your husband according to your ideas of (feminine) holiness.
Multiply the spiritual goods coming from homebirth and breastfeeding.
Debunk worldly notions of love and romance for your growing girls.
Use the watchwords of common sense and courage to help your family.
Invite poverty to be a necessary part of your Family Rule.
Serve the Church, family, and parish as a single woman.
Understand the similarities between marriage and consecrated religious life which advance holiness.
Prepare for the end of active motherhood and the beginning of a gracious old age.

Motherhood and Family is the book for girls, young ladies, and women of all ages who look to enjoy the privilege of being a woman, or who are prayerfully desiring to discover it or to recover it.

Chapter titles include:

The Tragedy of Modern Woman, Children and Creative Activity, The Love Education of Girls, Mothers-in-Law, Mother or Cow, He Married an Angel, Children and the Imitation of Mary, On Having Babies at Home, Spirituality of Married Life, Teaching Children to Pray, The Latter Day, Poverty in Marriage

Once you've spent some time in Motherhood and Family you'll want to spread the word. Forget the airy fairy stuff that doesn't connect. This is practical spiritual reading for the privileged female who wants to learn all the angles of God's beautiful call, Woman.
208 pages. Color softcover.

Now don't look at this title and scoff.  This is the true story of the lives of this family which shows how strong this woman, Maria, was in getting her family through the terrible times of war, without being overbearing or bitter.  IMO, she embodied what true feminism is for women.
https://angeluspress.org/collections/catholic-family/products/the-story-of-the-trapp-family-singers

THE STORY OF THE TRAPP FAMILY SINGERS

Maria Augusta Trapp

SKU: 8431  |  ISBN: 9780060005771

$14.95

With nearly 1,500 Broadway performances, six Tony Awards, more than three million albums sold, and five Academy Awards, The Sound of Music, based on the lives of Maria, the baron, and their singing children, is as familiar to most of us as our own family history. But much about the real-life woman and her family was left untold.

Here, Baroness Maria Augusta Trapp tells in her own beautiful, simple words the extraordinary story of her romance with the baron, their escape from Nazi-occupied Austria, and their life in America.

Now with photographs from the original edition.
330 pp. softcover.

Great links!

[james03]

I recommend searching for Fr. Ripperger talks.  He gave retreats for women and pulls no punches.  Some of his stuff is on Youtube, and he has a website with MP3 files available.

[james03]

gentle young women

Be careful by what you mean by "gentle".  It depends on YOUR personality.  I dated a wallflower one time and it drove me nuts.  It might be a fit for you, again it is about personality.   My late wife had Celtic blood and she did not stifle her emotions when I pissed her off.  At the same time she was very gentle with her children and loved animals.  Note she was rabidly anti-feminist and an outstanding cook.  Note also while I allowed her to unleash her emotional storm on me, and even approved of it, I was not a push over and oftentimes she was wrestled to the ground and spanked.  Which was probably her goal anyway.

Note also Fr. Ripperger warns women about the dangers of trying to "mother" their husbands.

A good model for a marriage which is running around the manosphere is the Captain/First Officer model.  The husband has ultimate authority, but the wife is his first officer with delegated authority and respect.

[Carleendiane]

gentle young women

Be careful by what you mean by "gentle".  It depends on YOUR personality.  I dated a wallflower one time and it drove me nuts.  It might be a fit for you, again it is about personality.   My late wife had Celtic blood and she did not stifle her emotions when I pissed her off.  At the same time she was very gentle with her children and loved animals.  Note she was rabidly anti-feminist and an outstanding cook.  Note also while I allowed her to unleash her emotional storm on me, and even approved of it, I was not a push over and oftentimes she was wrestled to the ground and spanked.  Which was probably her goal anyway.

Note also Fr. Ripperger warns women about the dangers of trying to "mother" their husbands.

A good model for a marriage which is running around the manosphere is the Captain/First Officer model.  The husband has ultimate authority, but the wife is his first officer with delegated authority and respect.

Yep, I'm seein it...

[Perpetua]

What does home birth have to do with traditional Catholicism? I have never thought of it in that aspect.

[Sophia3]

This might not be what you are looking for, but I loved reading Jane Eyre

[Carleendiane]

This might not be what you are looking for, but I loved reading Jane Eyre

I LOVED JAYNE EYRE. Just sayin. It was a beautiful story. Though fiction, I would love to know her.

[Maximilian]

This might not be what you are looking for, but I loved reading Jane Eyre

I LOVED JAYNE EYRE. Just sayin. It was a beautiful story. Though fiction, I would love to know her.

One person who did not love Charlotte Bronte was the saintly Father Faber.

Growth in Holiness
Chapter: Spiritual Idleness

Such a habit should be regarded by parents and guardians with the
greatest horror, and met by prompt and even severe
remedies, remedies often amounting to temporary
separation. For this form of castle-building is the ruin
of after-life. It is the cause of a great amount of the
unhappiness in marriage. I can hardly think of a
habit of sin, which would frighten me more in young
people than this peculiar form of castle-building ; its
poison is so penetrating, so tenacious, and so long-lived.

Mrs. Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Bronte gives us a fearful
picture of the misery and ruin, which may come of
it even in its most favourable form, the form in which
self appears to mingle least.

A soul corrupted by this habit is the hotbed of every vice.
Sin grows in it; with almost visible rapidity, attains tropical
stature, and brings forth with tropical exuberance. So far as
future consequences are concerned, a boy or a girl might
as well read the vilest novels all day long, as have a
habit of thinking novels in their own heads. It would
require a distinct treatise to trace out in all their unsuspected
windings the deplorable contaminations of
this habit. We must try to believe that no evil habit
is incurable ; but are there many amongst us who have
had the comfort of knowing a case in which this habit
was actually and radically cured ?

[Carleendiane]

This might not be what you are looking for, but I loved reading Jane Eyre

I LOVED JAYNE EYRE. Just sayin. It was a beautiful story. Though fiction, I would love to know her.

One person who did not love Charlotte Bronte was the saintly Father Faber.

Growth in Holiness
Chapter: Spiritual Idleness

Such a habit should be regarded by parents and guardians with the
greatest horror, and met by prompt and even severe
remedies, remedies often amounting to temporary
separation. For this form of castle-building is the ruin
of after-life. It is the cause of a great amount of the
unhappiness in marriage. I can hardly think of a
habit of sin, which would frighten me more in young
people than this peculiar form of castle-building ; its
poison is so penetrating, so tenacious, and so long-lived.

Mrs. Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Bronte gives us a fearful
picture of the misery and ruin, which may come of
it even in its most favourable form, the form in which
self appears to mingle least.

A soul corrupted by this habit is the hotbed of every vice.
Sin grows in it; with almost visible rapidity, attains tropical
stature, and brings forth with tropical exuberance. So far as
future consequences are concerned, a boy or a girl might
as well read the vilest novels all day long, as have a
habit of thinking novels in their own heads. It would
require a distinct treatise to trace out in all their unsuspected
windings the deplorable contaminations of
this habit. We must try to believe that no evil habit
is incurable ; but are there many amongst us who have
had the comfort of knowing a case in which this habit
was actually and radically cured ?

OH!!!!! I now only like her.        Thank you Maximilian.