Here in Stansbury, we have a long history of celebrating women. Given that we lost so many of our young men in the bus accident back in the 60's, it's often been up to our women to hold the fort and keep things moving along. But then again, isn't that always the truth of things most everywhere? But men take women for granted much of the time or, worse, spend too much of their time focused on women for all the wrong reasons. But we love our men in Stansbury and they are generally the good sort who just need nudging every time and again to make sure they do the right things even when it's so darned hard sometimes to do.
We'd like to give our chronicler, Natasha Troop, a chance to say a few words (as if she could ever just say a few words!) about what being a woman means to her.
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I will just try to say a few words because my Stansbury chronicles are the work of the day and if I don't finish the second chapter of Autumn, people might get angry at me.
So a few words...
I've come to my womanhood later in life than most. For much of my life, I could only dream or imagine what it was like to be a woman because I never thought that it was something I could ever be. I never thought I could free myself from the cage I was born into to the point that I made that cage so secure that I did not dare to think about it anymore. I'll admit that when I did think about it, it was without the constraints that bind women in our society. I romanticized being a woman to a great degree because it was just a dream and if you're going to make one for yourself, it should be better than reality to some degree.
I've come to my womanhood as I've stripped away what it was to be a man. The gender roles and attitudes, the social games and expectations. I've learned how to be a woman from those whom I admired and respected, from those who if I had to grow up all over again, I'd want to be like. Because in some respects, I've had to grow up all over again. I've had to readjust to a world where things work differently and it certainly has not been an easy process and it continues still and probably will for as long as I walk this Earth.
I celebrate my womanhood each and every day. I celebrate the freedom that I have to be a woman. I celebrate the science that has allowed me to correct the mistakes of my physiology. I celebrate the company of other women who accept me, embrace me and mentor me. I celebrate being myself.
