Whatever the result of being myself is…
Someone wrote…
I am a woman, and present myself as such. This does not mean I am anybody else’s expectation of what a woman is, but my own. I’m always reinventing the meaning of womanhood by just being myself, and knowing that whatever the result of being myself is, it is being a woman. I think that goes for everybody and any gender identity they may have.
What’s your experience?
Posted by julian on March 26th, 2010 at 08:00 am
Category: your voice 6 comments »
March 26th, 2010 at 2:55 pm |
I like this. A lot.
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March 26th, 2010 at 3:06 pm |
I couldn’t have phrased it better myself. (and really, I’ve tried for years and years to put it into words as clearly as this.)
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March 26th, 2010 at 4:20 pm |
I so wish that the word “woman” could have that resonance for me. It just really doesn’t. I guess I feel like I have experienced too much gender-based violence for ‘woman’ to feel like a free and open category.
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March 26th, 2010 at 5:41 pm |
This is a view I’ve struggled with often. If I like/do A, B, and C, which are not “normal woman” things, and I have a female-coded body, why can’t I just identify as a woman who likes/does A, B, and C?
It’s a question I haven’t been able to answer yet. I just know that the term “woman” has never felt right when applied to me.
To the original poster, congratulations on knowing what you are. I mean that sincerely. Rock on with your womanly self!
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March 26th, 2010 at 6:53 pm |
Even on my most male-identified days I’ve NEVER considered myself a “man” either. I just don’t like the word; it doesn’t feel right for me. I’ve got a completely masculine body (even a beard!) and at times a completely masculine personality, but “man” just doesn’t seem like a word I’d choose to apply to myself.
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March 26th, 2010 at 9:25 pm |
@M/Mark–right there with you! And to the original poster, I have so much respect for you. I too wish I could always look at myself in the mirror and say, “Oh yes, I am a WOMAN.”
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