So.
Being a woman. Being female.
What does that mean?
Is it having breasts, no beard, a uterus, ovaries, wide hips?
Is it having a caring and nurturing nature?
Is it wanting to shop for shoes and bake?
I've been thinking about this over the weekend. And you know what? Really, I'm getting hung up on a label. Just because a dictionary tells me that a woman has a uterus does that mean I hafta buy into it?
And the other stuff, the caring, the shopping, ect...those are just stereotypes. My boyfriend is a better cook than I am. My dad is better with feelings than my mom. My brother has shoes that are more expensive than any I own. No males in my family can grow beards.
So why am I troubled by the thought that I am no longer a full woman, knowing that it's just a stupid label? I mean I could just as well be hung up on the term "mammal" because I won't give birth to live young or lactate.
Oh, good one Sonja. You had to go there, didn't you? Now what am I, a half mammal half reptile (since I still have eggs, maybe a bird)?
Anyway.
I won't be the stereotypical woman, but then again, I never was a stereotypical girl.
Is there something so ingrained, so apart of me, whether in my brain or in my DNA, that I can't shake the feeling that I'm less of a woman because of lack of reproductive organs?
I realized since my hyst I have been redefining what being a woman means to me. I have also asked some of my friends to give me their definition of what makes a woman a woman. These definitions will make their way up during the week, hopefully. I was hoping to get mine up tonight, but I'm not quite done thinking about it, hence the way this post came out.
(I just heard "Roseanne's" definition of a woman: "We're sugar and spice, and everything nice. So bite me." LOL)
So stay tuned this week for blurbs and definitions.
I am so there with you on this one, but I think you know that... Being a "broken" woman kind of blows!
ReplyDeleteSIF--I like to think of it as "it freakin sucks."
ReplyDeleteThat's why I'm having so much trouble writing these themed posts. Logically I know that I'm more than my missing part, but sometimes I'm just not feeling it.
I know the feeling, my PCOS also has me shaving my beard and being covered in cysts. Doesn't feel very womanly ~ at least in traditional mindsets. I'm intrigued to see where these posts go!
ReplyDelete:)
If you ARE going there, I'm going to go with bird not reptilian. You are too cute, and not scaly and slimy. Eff. That's an amphibian. However you would describe the rough feeling of a reptile.
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo...I define womanhood on strength, caring, and whippability. We all know you are incredibly strong, VERY thoughtful and caring (I have a CD's worth of songs off iTunes that I never would have bought myself and think of how lucky I am to have you as a friend every time I jump in my truck and hear it start to play). Now, go run off and try to get Justin whipped. Even if he's mildly whipped soon, you have succeeded, because it will just be downhill from there for him : ) And if Andy wasn't, don't feel like you have failed, I don't think any man or woman on this planet could break him.