X removed from Y

Solution 1:

Not quite.

Normally, the form X removed from Y talks about X being part of Y in the past, but has now come out on its own.

But in your context, it relates to X interacting with Y in the past, and now being considered with Y excluded from its background.

Put differently, it isn’t removing Y from X, which would be a reversal of the statement, but a removal of Y from the background of X.

In the context of your specific quote, femininity can be thought of as having different aspects to its background: motherhood, love, career, family, etc.

The author poses the question (possibly rhetorical) of what femininity would look like or would be if it no longer implicitly referenced motherhood.