What does "woman" mean in a post-gender world?

amiyesiam · 05-27-2010, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heart

First off -- much of the world is anything but post-gender, so although I am a proponant of a global persepctive, in this thread I suppose we'd have to look at the "post-gender world" with a somewhat narrower focus.

Honestly I don't want to live in a post gender world. Post gender means after gender (like post ww2 means after ww2) What would we be if there were no gender? I don't want to live in a world where we are all the same, how boring. I like the big, confusing, wonderful, beautiful rainbow of all of us no matter how fucked up it can be.

Do you use the term "woman" as part of your identity?

It is what 99% of humanity would call me looking at me. Am I a woman Yes I am.

What does it mean to you to use/not use the term "woman?"

not much, perhaps because I don't have angst about "me" I don't worry/think about this type of stuff.

Does tension/discomfort exist for you in using the term "woman" together with butch, femme, queer, or any of your other identity definers? If so, why?

No

If you do not use the term "woman" how did you come to the decision not to?

n/a

How is "woman" different from "female" (and I don't mean in the academic sense, but in the lived experience sense).

In the lived sense of my life there isn't any difference

What does "woman" mean?

not man

What does "woman" not mean?

man

There are many other questions that could be asked, and by all means ask them.

I fully understand that there are people whose need to question their own gender ect is driven from a deep disparity between how they appear and who they are. I fully understand there are more than 2 genders. I also understand that there are people for whom it all matches up. More importantly we all should be accepted as we are and as we grow and evolve.

Personally I like to look at things from a different angle.
We are here on this planet
We are all human
We all have the same needs for love, acceptance, and community.
We all feel that this web site is a place we want to be
We are all different yet so alike
deconstructing things can help us understand each other better
But we need to reconstruct things when we are done
To reaffirm our connections
our support for each other

Heart · 05-27-2010, 05:36 AM

Clarification: This thread and the question it poses rose out of other threads/discussions in the gender/labels/identities forum, particularly a discussion about pronouns that evolved in the "men with boobs" thread.

Thanks to all who have answered.

Heart · 05-27-2010, 07:48 AM

Do you use the term "woman" as part of your identity?

Yes, unequivocally. My gender is woman (not femme).

What does it mean to you to use/not use the term "woman?"

I have always identified as/with women, but that identification has morphed, grown, changed, and deepened over the years as my own awareness and activism on behalf of women as a group has grown.

Does tension/discomfort exist for you in using the term "woman" together with butch, femme, queer, or any of your other identity definers? If so, why?

I do experience some tensions, yes. The term woman is weighted with assumptions that can feel rigid and limiting to me. Some of what woman conjures are things I am not always comfortable identifying with, even when they are things that are part of me -- submission, yielding, softness, motherhood, for example. Traditional notions of womanhood are rooted in the kind of sexism and misogyny that results in oppression and huge amounts of violence towards women. The very word “womanhood” can make me cringe because of the narrow oppressive ground/roles upon which it tries to force women to stand; and punishes them if they stray. Being a woman can be dangerous, scary.

If you do not use the term "woman" how did you come to the decision not to?

I never considered not using the term woman. But I do use it very consciously now. I use it in part because it feels natural to me, it is me; but I also use it because I want to claim it, I want to demonstrate that woman can mean queer, old, disabled, single, etc. Woman can be not-mother, not-soft, not-yielding, not-submissive, etc. Woman can be feminine in traditional and non-traditional ways. Woman can also be butch, lesbian, masculine, etc.
How is "woman" different from "female" (and I don't mean in the academic sense, but in the lived experience sense).

I don’t resonate with the word female. It sounds biologically based to me, and although biology is an aspect of gender and identity, and may be analogous to woman in some cases, I actually see/feel distinctions. To me, female feels narrow and concrete, woman feels related to history, to cultural, social, and political contexts that are important to me. Solidarity with diverse women throughout the world who do not have the option to parse their identities is important to me.

What does "woman" mean?

It’s a vast landscape of possibilities, potential, communities, images, visions, wisdom, roles, resistance, courage and power.

What does "woman" not mean?

It does not mean vagina. It does not mean mainstream notions of femininity. It does not mean mother, victim, catty bitch, manipulative, bimbo, bottom, or any expected, coerced, stereotyped role of womanhood. A woman may be these things, but these things are not, ipso facto, what a woman is.

I have noticed that I am not the only one who feels that using the term “woman” connects me to a history, exists in a context that has to do with culture and politics. While woman can simply be a fact, it is also, for me, a politicized identity.

By post-gender, I meant a world in which there is no longer any reason to politicize a gender identity. And no, we do not live in that world. Not when it comes to women.

I will be post-gender in the post-patricarhy.

05-27-2010, 05:36 AM	#2
Heart Member How Do You Identify?: Femme Relationship Status: rainbows! Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: NY Posts: 466 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 303 Thanked 2,522 Times in 409 Posts Rep Power: 12032610	Clarification: This thread and the question it poses rose out of other threads/discussions in the gender/labels/identities forum, particularly a discussion about pronouns that evolved in the "men with boobs" thread. Thanks to all who have answered.

05-27-2010, 07:48 AM	#3
Heart Member How Do You Identify?: Femme Relationship Status: rainbows! Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: NY Posts: 466 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 303 Thanked 2,522 Times in 409 Posts Rep Power: 12032610	Do you use the term "woman" as part of your identity? Yes, unequivocally. My gender is woman (not femme). What does it mean to you to use/not use the term "woman?" I have always identified as/with women, but that identification has morphed, grown, changed, and deepened over the years as my own awareness and activism on behalf of women as a group has grown. Does tension/discomfort exist for you in using the term "woman" together with butch, femme, queer, or any of your other identity definers? If so, why? I do experience some tensions, yes. The term woman is weighted with assumptions that can feel rigid and limiting to me. Some of what woman conjures are things I am not always comfortable identifying with, even when they are things that are part of me -- submission, yielding, softness, motherhood, for example. Traditional notions of womanhood are rooted in the kind of sexism and misogyny that results in oppression and huge amounts of violence towards women. The very word “womanhood” can make me cringe because of the narrow oppressive ground/roles upon which it tries to force women to stand; and punishes them if they stray. Being a woman can be dangerous, scary. If you do not use the term "woman" how did you come to the decision not to? I never considered not using the term woman. But I do use it very consciously now. I use it in part because it feels natural to me, it is me; but I also use it because I want to claim it, I want to demonstrate that woman can mean queer, old, disabled, single, etc. Woman can be not-mother, not-soft, not-yielding, not-submissive, etc. Woman can be feminine in traditional and non-traditional ways. Woman can also be butch, lesbian, masculine, etc. How is "woman" different from "female" (and I don't mean in the academic sense, but in the lived experience sense). I don’t resonate with the word female. It sounds biologically based to me, and although biology is an aspect of gender and identity, and may be analogous to woman in some cases, I actually see/feel distinctions. To me, female feels narrow and concrete, woman feels related to history, to cultural, social, and political contexts that are important to me. Solidarity with diverse women throughout the world who do not have the option to parse their identities is important to me. What does "woman" mean? It’s a vast landscape of possibilities, potential, communities, images, visions, wisdom, roles, resistance, courage and power. What does "woman" not mean? It does not mean vagina. It does not mean mainstream notions of femininity. It does not mean mother, victim, catty bitch, manipulative, bimbo, bottom, or any expected, coerced, stereotyped role of womanhood. A woman may be these things, but these things are not, ipso facto, what a woman is. I have noticed that I am not the only one who feels that using the term “woman” connects me to a history, exists in a context that has to do with culture and politics. While woman can simply be a fact, it is also, for me, a politicized identity. By post-gender, I meant a world in which there is no longer any reason to politicize a gender identity. And no, we do not live in that world. Not when it comes to women. I will be post-gender in the post-patricarhy.