Preface

I am not officially trained for this.

I have not taken any courses in Sociology, or even Women's Studies for that matter. I have, however, read a fair amount, which qualifies me for exactly nothing. I do have a number of lifelong thoughts and questions regarding women, and this is an effort to branch out in my self-study of my angst-riddled gender.

So, to get things going, I pose the question: is there really something innately female? Something that spans the generations, that every woman understands? I am inclined to think not.

Before you come after me with pitchforks and torches, allow me to provide a personal anecdote.

Senior year in high school, while studying "Their Eyes Were Watching God," a guest speaker was invited to my class to speak about the women's experience. She painted a lovely picture of an eternal sisterhood which transcended spacetime-- that women reading the book today can relate to the women in the novel, by virtue of their womanhood.

I pointed out that I have no more idea what it was like to live as a woman in Belle Glade in the beginning of the 1900's than to live as a wizard in a castle. My position has remained unchanged since then.

Yes, there are universal female things: breasts, periods. But even these are co-opted by the environment. Certain native cultures celebrated a teenage girl's first period, and depending upon the current fashions, large breasts have not been objects of desire. So, aside from the biology of being female, is there a specific female experience?

Susie Orbach states that "Each woman carries within her the experiental knowledge of cultural practices," with an extended thesis that women share ownership of their bodies with their cultural environment. Even though this is merely superficial, much of a woman's life is dictated by her environment.

Which brings us to the original question. I will try to answer this question as this blog evolves, but I do not make any grand promises.

Thank you.