What does it mean to be a woman? What does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to be any gender, or no gender at all?
In my case at least, the answer to 'What does it mean to be a woman?' is simple. The answer is that it doesn't 'mean' anything at all – it's simply who I am.
I can't dissect and pick apart my identity the way that many academic texts in the past have attempted to do so for me – as I said, it's simply who I am, and it can't be separated from anything I do or say.
It's not up for debate. It's a cast-iron fact. The inherent non-falsifiable nature of gender doesn't make it any less real.
Yes, gender is a social construct. So is language. So is money. So are automatic foot massagers. Being a social construct doesn't make it any less real, or any less important to my personhood.
I am a woman. I am a woman because it is the only way that I can describe who I am. I am not a man. I am not any other gender. I am a woman, and nothing less.
I am a woman on my own terms, and not those of anyone else.
I am myself – myself is who I am. I can be no more than myself, and I'll be damned if I ever try to be anything less.
