Defining Woman

[everyadventure]

What defines "woman"
amongst the confusion
of silicone and masectomies?
Even menstruation can be cured
by a shot of Depo

and the inconvenience of children
remedied with a pill
and later, daycare.

What does it mean to be "woman"
when someone hides testicles
beneath a sundress in XXL
and a coat of lipstick in China Red?

Pat, Jordan, Terry, and Taylor
could be anyone,
anyone at all,

as though womanhood
is now a choice.

[PrinceMyshkin]

And in some sense, this provocative poem might make one wonder: Wasn't "womanhood" to some extent always a choice? Except that in the past the choice would have had to be made in defiance of one or another institution whereas now it's more a matter of personal preference.

[JamesC]

It is a reflection on modern day society, and the personal preference procreation as become.

Very provocative but shouldn’t all poetry?

[Delta40]

women are a medicalized wonder. I love this sketch!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a1pYyt8NTU&feature=fvst

[Buh4Bee]

I like the questions in this poem. It makes me think about the fact that anyone can be a woman or look like a woman, but to really experience womanhood is deeper than plastic surgery. Sometimes having the experience of "mommy" is not as easy or as pleasurable as it is idealized. The thing is is that womanhood happens and not always as a woman dreams it to be when she is a little girl.

[everyadventure]

@Prince: well, it wasn't something society as a whole saw as a "choice." Now cross-dressing, homosexuality, and trans-gender surgery are no longer considered unusual.
@delta, thanks for the link, that was GREAT!
@jersea, your comments were very insightful and I enjoyed reading them

To be clear, this wasn't a rant on people's chosen lifestyles; rather, it was a reflection on myself: what makes me "woman?" Is it breasts and ovaries? A pretty dress and lipstick? Being a mommy? Is "womanhood" even definable...?

[Jerrybaldy]

It is definable, ability to give birth and to make no sense. x