This was a far more difficult question to answer than I anticipated, and I can’t promise that I won’t wind up putting my foot in my mouth somewhere within the next few paragraphs
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I'm glad you were able to glean some value from my comments! (And no, I had no idea there was a character limit! I call discrimination against wordy people
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You ask such interesting questions, Rachel, it makes me feel like kind of an idiot for having no answers! I have a hard time with the word "woman" too. Part of it, for me, is that I honestly don't feel like an adult yet. But I don't know if my hesitance to use the word "woman" will end when and if I do start to feel like a grown-up. I've had a similar struggle as a teacher. When I was just an assistant in Austria, I could tell my students to just call me Leah, and that was fine. But teaching Saudi students this semester, I had to become "Miss Leah," which felt awkward and wrong. I've gotten used to it now, and will probably feel okay introducing myself as such next semester, but it's still weird
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Haha! It's interesting to me that there are entire courses and majors and scholars for studying questions of identity...and yet, so many people go their whole lives without thinking about it or coming to a conclusion for themselves.
I see what you mean about the association between "woman" and "adult." As I mentioned above, I don't usually have trouble considering myself an adult (although I sometimes feel awkward about having authority or wish I didn't have certain responsibilities/decisions). But there's definitely still this pressure about what we "should" be achieving and how.
I like the phrase "a place between." I also like the idea of "claiming" the word "woman." Womanhood has long been defined by institutions (particularly religions, and then through the state), but as it's a word all about people, we people should claim it for ourselves. The question is...do I want it? I mean, do I want to use the word "woman" and challenge people's definition of that word? Or do I want another word?
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I see what you mean about the association between "woman" and "adult." As I mentioned above, I don't usually have trouble considering myself an adult (although I sometimes feel awkward about having authority or wish I didn't have certain responsibilities/decisions). But there's definitely still this pressure about what we "should" be achieving and how.
I like the phrase "a place between." I also like the idea of "claiming" the word "woman." Womanhood has long been defined by institutions (particularly religions, and then through the state), but as it's a word all about people, we people should claim it for ourselves. The question is...do I want it? I mean, do I want to use the word "woman" and challenge people's definition of that word? Or do I want another word?
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