Night to His Day post

What makes a woman? Is it the way she wears her hair or how her makeup is applied? Is it the clothes she wears on her body and does that body shape determine just how womanly she is? Is it how she walks or talks or her chronological age? I have struggled with this concept of womanhood for as long as I can remember. I always wondered what would make me a woman. Would my first kiss do it? No. The day I lost my virginity? Not even close. If anything it made me feel like property and not my own. Would having a kid or getting married do it? Moving out? I just could not grasp the idea and with every situation I could not find the answer. Women all have different journeys and that itself makes it hard to find the answer. These last couple years and more recently the last couple of months I have been on a journey of self discovery. When I read the article for class, Simone de Beauvoir is quoted saying, " one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman; it is civilization as a whole that produces this creature...which is described as feminine," it hit me. What makes a woman and what makes a WOMAN are two different creations! As a little girl all the things I thought would make me a woman such as my style, makeup, walk, and talk were what society taught me in terms of being a woman. As a 23 year old woman today I have learned that being a woman is being created. I have become a woman based on what I have been through, the people I have met and  have lost, the experiences enjoyed and the experiences regretted, the tears, the pain, and the joy; I am a woman because I have become a woman. I am a woman because I continue to become a better woman. I am a woman because I don't let society "make" me but because I let society guide me in a positive direction. I am a woman because that's what I choose to be.  I often wonder about what do other women think or other men. What is being a woman to them? What is being a man? Really.....how do we get there?