Woman: Definition

Definition: woman: an adult female human being.

Definition: womanhood: the condition of being a woman.

Webster’s Dictionary, my friends, has it completely wrong.

Being a woman is not a “condition.” It almost sounds like something contagious, doesn’t it? Like a delicate sickness or disease that manifests itself overnight or when you’re not looking. And “an adult female human being” is a rather scientific explanation, isn’t it?

At best, these are poor definitions sorely lacking in explanation of what it truly means to be a woman.

At what point does a female human being become a woman? Society has instigated many milestones that signify a young girl’s passage into womanhood: the first menstrual cycle, losing one’s virginity, graduation from high school or college, a first job, marriage and other events, I’m sure, this well-meaning world pinpoints as symbols of womanhood.

Truth is, there is no one significant act or age or point in time that magically transforms a girl into a woman. A woman is defined by a succession of single acts, a bevy of decisions, a lifetime of experiences and every single age, each of which contribute to her character and sense of self.

A woman is a work in progress: a lifelong process guided, not by textbooks or manuals or standards set forth by a misogynistic society, but by intuition and instinct. A woman can redefine herself, reinvent herself or rediscover her authentic self time and again and will hardly make the same discovery twice in the process.

A woman is defined by her sense of responsibility, her depth of integrity, her acceptance of her own self-worth and self love: defined by her capabilities, her desire for new discoveries, her ability for flexibility, and her loving embrace of change along with her stoic determination to stand for what she believes in and her refusal to fall for the shallow platitudes this world would thrust upon her.

A woman at the age of fifty can still giggle outrageously at silly jokes or bad puns. She can still slide down the slide or swing on the swingset on a playground and not, in the least, once compromise her sensuality, her sexuality or her sexiness. She can marvel at a flock of geese, a sunset; delight in surprises or cry over disappointments.

And the mark of a truly wonderful woman – a woman who has come a long way, a woman in her own right – is how she handles those disappointments, rather than allow those disappointments to handle her.

A woman doesn’t need a man – or anyone else – to define who she is. She doesn’t need a companion to rock her world because a great woman can rock her own world, honey!

A woman can walk long strides or take baby steps, but a woman who never takes her eyes off her goals will eventually reach that place where she’s headed – that place of inner peace and serenity and the life that was meant for her. And she will have earned every single moment of her serenity and prosperity.

A woman’s spirit can run, fly, and sing with the courage of her convictions! She will never run out of breath, ideas, emotions, courage, laughter or tears, because it is a woman’s purpose that she is capable of offering these things to this life. It is the gift bestowed upon her by the great Celestial Creator and it is her gift she bestows upon this world that she is here and has so much to offer.

Yet a woman is humble, knowing how precious life is and using the one she has to make the lives of others better. And in her humility is a beauty indefinable with words.

The definition of a woman? Don’t bother looking in the dictionary.

Look.

In the mirror.