On Being a Woman

In reading "Girl" in-class this week, I couldn't help but think of how the mother's demands of her daughter reflects the impossible demands society asks of women: women are to fit the beauty standard, but not care about their appearances to the point where they "tempt" men; women are to be have jobs, but in order to be of true value to society they must bear children; women are to be independent and self-sustaining, but not too comfortable on their own to the point where they don't need a man; the list goes on.

I wish being a women wouldn't mean so much more than being a man. As in, I wish that our every action, word, and thought didn't carry meaning in a way than those same things do in a man.

This made me think of an article we read last year in 11 AP English in which it discussed how men can go through life "unmarked." Even though nothing in life is ever truly unmarked, because we are humans and thoughts and feelings will always arise in response to a stimulus — even if it's unconscious — and women have always been marked to a greater extent than men are because our every movement implicates something greater than us, greater than the message we actually want to pass on.

All of this has taught me that being here is enough. Because in a world insistent on challenging the validity of our existence, existing is resistance. Because our existence is a constant battle in itself. Because we are so much stronger than what we may give ourselves credit for.💌