Thread by @LaraAdamsMille1

I’ve been playing with a thought experiment.

“A _________ is anyone who says they are one.”

We know that “woman” has become an acceptable word to complete this sentence. Many say the same for “lesbian.”

What other significant labels do we award people so casually?

I couldn’t come up with many. Most social labels have SOME required criteria.

It still astonishes me how little importance is being assigned the category “woman.”

I mean, it was only quite recently that I felt I could claim the label “writer.” I write, so I get that one.

I’m a mother because I have children.

I have a degree and a license that entitle me to my professional label.

But I’m a woman... because I say I am?

My siblings make me a sister.

My house makes me a homeowner.

My citizenship makes me American.

But my own word is what makes me a woman?

Of all the terms we could drain of meaning, we pick “woman.”

It occurs to me that the answers people have suggested all relate to belief systems and feelings. This suggests that “woman” is now being used to describe a belief system.

But what belief system? The belief that you’re a woman.

This is eminently circular. And yet -

- It’s not as circular as it seems. There ARE specific beliefs that create the “I believe I’m a woman” position. We just aren’t supposed to describe them because, first of all, it looks bad. The various “woman” beliefs are embarrassingly sexist when spoken out loud.

(Mind you, this is an exploration of the gender-based definition of “woman.” I actually do know what a woman is, and so do you.)

So, I’m a woman because I believe I’m one, & my body has nothing to do with it, right?

My body makes me a person who happens to menstruate, give birth, and be objectified by men, who are larger & stronger than me.

Me along w half the world- a group for which there is no name.

This half-the-world-like-me group shares these experiences. We don’t all experience all of them, but men don’t experience any of them. We have this cluster of important biological concerns, plus every human living has been gestated by one of us.

Shouldn’t there be a name for us?

When the label “woman” describes nothing but the will of the wearer, anything designated for women becomes the property of everyone.

And, without “woman” as a biological descriptive, my connection to every other being who lives in a body like mine is severed. We’re cast adrift.

Has language ever been weaponized this way before? This is different than just vilifying or slandering a group. This is dissolution of the group via destruction of a label.

Is there any historical precendence for this?