[ardentfemme]

I've been thinking about the concept of womanhood a lot lately. The term "woman" has always resonated deeply with me - as a femme, womanhood has come naturally to me. But, certainly, my femness is as related to femininity as it is to womanhood.

I'm interested in this distinction in particular because I have seen butches and masc-of-center women being denigrated for expressing their womanhood outside of the confines of traditional femininity. Surely, their womanhood is no less valid than mine.

Of course, there are masculine folks out there who have little to no relationship with womanhood or for whom the label "woman" feels restrictive instead of expansive. Their experiences are just as valid.

So, I would love to hear from folks all across the gender spectrum:

How would you define womanhood? Do you have a relationship to womanhood? If so, how do you navigate that relationship?

I want to be trans-inclusive, so that would mean definitions that aren’t purely anatomical, i.e. “having a uterus.”

I also want to delve deeper than “womanhood means doing girly things/stereotypical femininity.”
Is there a difference between femininity and womanhood at all, for that matter?

Can the locus of womanhood be identified? Do you think it’s largely culturally conditioned? Is it just political – a category intended to Otherize and oppress? Or is it an inherent, intrinsic quality?

i love that about us
how capable we are of feeling
how unafraid we are of breaking
and tend to our wounds with grace
just being a woman
calling myself
a woman
makes me utterly whole
- Rupi Kaur