'You can play with the ball, but don't get dirty': A hierarchy of heterosexual women's gender expressions

This research how femininities are understood and experienced by Australian heterosexual women, and develops language for conceptualising the hierarchies within femininities, and femininities and masculinities. Furthermore, through analysis of gender maneuvering this research provides insight into the intricacies of the relationship between structure and agency in expressing one’s gender. Motivated by a lack theoretical works on multiple femininities, this thesis uses focus groups with different communities of practice to understand how women’s gender expressions are constructed hierarchically, and to examine the complexities around embodying various forms of femininities.