Thursday, March 08, 2012

Women



Some items on my fantasy wishlist.. today I'm in a 'Carrie-Bradshaw-Loud-Summer' sort of mood, which may explain the shocking pink lipstick and amazing parrot patterned Altuzarra shirt. And the 'Do It Better' shirt from Acne which is totally 90's Bradshaw-esque and a little nod to INTERNATIONAL WOMAN'S DAY! 

On a side note,  yesterday in my Women & Politics class my Professor called one of my classmates out on using the word 'girls' instead of 'women.' It made me think about which word I would use to describe myself. I'm almost 21 and yet I realise that I've never called myself a 'woman'. This is partly because I find myself in that in-between stage of life, as a university student who is not yet financially independent, and therefore feel odd about using the word 'adult' to describe myself. And I suppose I aligned 'woman' and 'adult' as two words that don't yet 'apply' to me. But my Professor's comment made me think because 'girl' doesn't feel right either because there is no doubt that 21 constitutes an adult and using any word other than woman implies a certain subconscious lack of confidence in my own self.

There are debates amongst women about the reclamation of the C-word (and whether doing so is actually something that empowers) but it strikes me that Woman, a word that has so much more of an everyday relevance should be used by women in their early twenties without worrying about whether this somehow automatically categorises them as 'a fully capable adult'. God knows I don't feel like a fully capable adult, but that shouldn't diminish the fact that I am also a woman. I have to say, I can't stand my Professor but I'm glad she provided me with this food for though. 

4 comments:

leilani.e said...

Ha! This always drives me nuts, and it's only something I was made aware of - like you - in a grammar/style class a few years ago. I'm a journalist (OK, graduating in two months, so almost). A 'girl' in Canadian Press (CP) style is defined as a female under 16. And before anyone says that's too rigid, CP (or AP in the States) is looser than more 'correct' English grammar guides and errs on the side of colloquialisms. The intent being clarity and concision. 16 = girl. It's infantilizing and inaccurate to describe a woman with that term.

Unknown said...

Oh boy, I'm 24 and don't know if I'll ever feel like a fully capable adult! How would your Professor categorize me?

Loved your fantasy wishlist, by the way. Best wishlist I've seen in a while. :D

Anonymous said...

LOVE everything here!

and i still refer to myself as a 'girl' and im 24, in my head i am not techniquely a 'women' until i am near 30, or engaged, or married, or have a kid. everything before that falls into the 'young adult' phase for me!

Fashion Tidbits said...

Love your collages! So eclectic