Being a Woman

I teach about gender a lot in my classes--what it means to be female or male, how society views the sexes, how we view each other, etc.--and it always gives rise to some f my favorite conversations.

Here are a couple gems I've found over the past few months that speak to where we were and, hopefully, where we're headed in terms of understanding what it means to be a woman.

Eve Ensler, Embrace Your Inner Girl, 2007 TED Talk

Despite the above, though, I don't need society to tell me about being a woman, I don't need television or magazines to sell me an image or an idea of what it means to be a woman because I know, as sure as breathing, what that means for me.

Being a woman means being compassionate, hopeful, loving.  Being a woman means high heels and lip gloss and pencil skirts and push-up bras.  Being a woman means lingerie no one knows I'm wearing but me, pedicures, hearing a song that makes me cry, loving someone so much I can barely breathe if they are in pain.  Being a woman means loving God, myself and--should I be lucky enough to have it again someday--my spouse with passionate devotion, total encouragement, and unconditional love.