Womanhood

What makes a woman, woman?

Is it age? Once puberty has done its magic—once the breasts have come in, the curves molded, and the consciousness of the opposite sex and the things we put in our faces are all in appearance—is that when we are women?

Or is it the way we act? The feminine gaits, the soft tones, the maternal instincts—are we women because we are gentler than boys? Are we women because we screech and nag and cry?

Or might it be the things we wear? Skirts and dresses, pinks and reds. Are we only women when we have long hair, a made up face, and flawless skins that turn necks? But long hairs are so hard to maintain, and men sometimes wear them long too. Does that make them women too?

Are we only women when we want the opposite sex? When we flirt and preen for the sake of attracting a man—which in itself is a question (for what does it take to be man?)?

I don’t suppose it could be our ability to bear children? Wide hips, large breasts, capable hands. Many people seem to think you can only ever be truly a woman once you’ve given life, but nature itself has never been a fair mistress for she has blessed some with more than others. The ability to give birth is not a universal privilege of anyone with a uterus, is it?

Are we women only when we are declared as such at birth? “It’s a girl!” they say, and then assign us as female at a glance upon our naked sex. No one ever asks that baby if she wants to be girl.

Or is it perhaps the thing between our legs that most everyone find so hard to name they come up with so many terms for it? Does a vagina define a woman then? Does it? Is someone who was born with a penis then decided to have it changed less of a woman than someone who was born with it?

What does it mean to be a natural-born woman?

Who gets to decide if you’re a woman or not—if you’re less or more of a woman than others are?

How does one decide such things, when there are so many things to consider?

How?

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