Will it ever be possible for a woman to exist on her own terms, or will cultural reinforcement beat that notion down?
What is a “woman”? Is there an adequate answer in the first place? There is a somewhat belittling definition: Tota mulier in utero – “a woman is a womb”. And French writer Simone de Beauvoir wrote a 700-page-long book on feminism which humorously notes that “in speaking of certain women, connoisseurs declare that they are not women, although they are equipped with a uterus like the rest.”
The issue is ancient, no doubt. Now the modern female is defined even more confusingly. Most seek to prove that one sex is inferior, equal or superior to the other, but one thing is certain – women have always been defined in relation to men, to varying extents. Thus, to emancipate women from these notional confines is perhaps what feminism is all about.
