Woman

"What is a woman?" is a film documentary released by The Daily Wire's host, Matt Walsh back in 2022.

I haven't watched it yet.

People from all walks of life were challenged to answer this one question:

What is a woman?

In light of the current political milieu, I've challenged myself to also attempt to answer that question.  

Having listened to and read a great deal of material on the matter it appears that sex and gender are not necessarily linked. A woman, from a biological sex perspective is a human being bearing the XX chromosome combination.

Males have the XY chromosome combination while intersex individuals have varying combinations of X and Y. There is, however, no third sex which presents itself through a totally new and previously undiscovered "Z" chromosome. Perhaps they left this letter last and unused, just in case! Anyway for the time being it's still X and Y.

Gender is basically "appearance".

Secondary sex characteristics besides the obvious, defining genitalia at birth, are things that help shape gender and the presentation thereof.

So, a woman is the combination of XX chromosomes, bearing the typical female genitalia (the vagina) and reproductive organs (uterus, ovaries and Fallopian tubes) together with the corresponding secondary sex characteristics which typically develop during puberty. Those characteristics are bodily and pubic hair, enlarged breasts, wider hips and smaller bone mass.  

The existence of typically female reproductive organs comes with secondary side effects such as monthly menstruation, different hormonal level fluctuations, pregnancy and child birth.

Individuals born with the unadulterated XY or XX chromosomal combinations do not share the same reproductive capabilities.

Science can modify the presentation of gender but cannot alter reproductive capabilities at this stage.

In short, an XX woman is built differently to a XY man, both outwardly as well as inwardly. 

What is a woman as a gender?

Differences in interests and relational approaches (hobbies, communication and libido); differences in physical appearance and dress codes (facial features); differences in mental computational approaches (analyses).

Perhaps it's best before transitioning to the appearance of a woman to ask a number of them how they have experienced their own existence. Trying first to comprehend the essence of a woman, before imposing on it.

The real question psychologically, which embraces those individuals who feel left out, is:

How is a woman?

Here I can only answer on my own behalf as follows:

I've felt like I'd been walking in the shadow of my father for the first 24 years of my life: Analytical, chiseled strength, dedicated and ruthlessly ambitious. A silent sufferer and confident risk taker.

Then, from around the age of 25, I began to see my mother. I saw her youth and beauty. Long, dark hair, green eyes, high cheekbones and small chin. Beautiful, curvy legs and ample breasts. I saw her meticulous beauty routine no matter the weight that rested on her shoulders. She wore sensual skirts and dresses and joyful tops. I saw her cooking, cleaning, raising daughters, healing wounds and making fun of everything around her. She had always been the light in the dark. 

I'd always wanted to be as beautiful and funny as her.

Until I had my own daughters, I never felt like a woman...I felt like a girl, sometimes pretending to be a boy, and liking it! 

The tipping point for me from girl to woman came through suffering. 

How I am as  a woman today, is far beyond the suffering of my transition. It is a combination of the analytical detachment of my father, and the humorous sensuality of my mother. Physically, I'm missing a few basic components of female biology but that's sometimes the price paid through a transition. I had them to begin with and that pain remains. If I stand naked in front the mirror, I see a typical female shape (smooth, curvy, feminine), and I like it. I also see some scars I've worked hard to hide, that I still don't like. 

"It's still beautiful!" He remarked, running his finger along the contour.

That is a woman.