The Meaning of Being a Woman

“One is not born, but rather becomes a woman.” (Simone de Beauvoir quote from the Second Sex, 1949, printed on Vintage Erotica Portrait of Topless Women)

A well said quote if we can believe that we become who we are intended to be as women. Just days ago I was walking into the grocery store and saw a young man looking at me. Interestingly enough my reaction which was amused caught me off guard because I wanted to tell him I could be his mother……. “Excuse me myself said to me??” “I’m a sexy mother.”

So I walked in with this amazing conversation I was having with myself and the funny thing is the young man had no idea what he created in my head.

I can remember when I turned 40 I couldn’t wait to be 40!

I thought bugles would blare and the Angels would sing but to my surprise nothing happened. I really thought I was this flower that had finally bloomed and I was ready to jump the fence because I knew the grass was greener on the other side of 40. Well I’m here to tell you it’s the same color of green and both sides look the same. Damn the fence!

But being in my 40’s is full of surprises…….

First of all the wise soul in me is at constant odds with the life experiences that rule my life. I mean, here I am this wise soul and my life experiences are constantly at odds with my wise soul. A good example of this is the time I agreed to dance at a nightclub here in town. The wise soul said, “Don’t do it!” And my life experiences said, “Shut up!”

Off I went to this nightclub I have never been to before. There I was dancing for a bunch of women who invited everybody at the club to join us. Before I knew it half way through my show I was being groped, touched in inappropriate places and pinched not to mention I had a mob around me that would not let me leave the stage. Not a body guard insight and I was on my own. The wise soul was saying “I told you so” but my life experiences were too busy trying to get me out of the mess I was in to listen.

The following year I was invited again to dance for the same group of women and guess what….the wise soul told the life experiences to “Shut up”.

“Graze on my lips; and if those hills be dry, stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie.”

William Shakespeare

There’s a saying that goes “The true man wants two things: danger and play. For that reason he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything.”

I have not ever thought of myself as dangerous but at the same time I must admit it feels invigorating to know that there is a possibility that I might be dangerous.

“So what kind of danger am I?” I asked my wise soul. Not a peep out of her. So I asked again and again silence.

Yes, of course there was a reason why she could not or would not answer; she does not have the connection to the physical body like my life experiences. Perhaps she has memories but not the emotional aspect of feeling the body. So it occurred to me what kind of danger we may be talking about.

There is danger in high heels, a blouse with one or two buttons undone or the infamous walk in high heels. Curves on a woman can be dangerous especially if she walks with confidence because when a woman has confidence she knows what she is doing.

Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did but she did it backwards and in high heels.

“When women go wrong, men go right after them.”

Mae West

This is an interesting statement because I have often wondered about the wanton woman who goes astray.

Is there a mystique to a woman that goes wrong?

How do we really go wrong? Does going wrong mean casual affairs or does it mean defiance to societies restraints put on women?

Years ago when I was 19 I dated a man much older than myself who told me that when I reached my 40’s I would be trouble. Of course at the time I didn’t know what he meant. Now I know what he meant. A woman in her 40’s has life experiences to guide her and her body is fully matured and when you have the two combined, yes this is can be trouble.

“It is not enough to conquer; one must know how to seduce.”

Philosopher Voltaire

Some women search for pleasure and yet when they find it they measure it. I know some women friends who are like this and they are never satisfied.

Perhaps this is why women don’t fully understand men.

Maybe men are satisfied with each lover because they drink their lovers with a thirst and without measure.

Looking at the differences has made me think about being a woman in today’s day and age.

So now I drink without measuring and the main thing I learned is that sexual awareness in your 40’s just means that you know the grass isn’t greener you just remember to water the grass more.