VEGANGELICA

I like being female for social and physical reasons. Yes, here comes an essay:

The social reasons: women in the developed, Western world seem to have fewer social constraints placed on them than men do. Men seem to be encouraged to avoid certain professions, repress emotions, cut their hair short and look more alike, and accept genital mutilation of their baby boys' penises (in the U.S., at least). Oh yeah, and men are supposed to accept being drafted.

Meanwhile, I can wear pants or dresses, have my hair long or short, be a nurse or a surgeon, and be practical and logical or emotional and sensitive without any social stigma attached, and avoid fighting in immoral wars. One negative for women is the social pressure to shave their body hair, but I don't cave into that.

The physical reasons: being female makes possible a greater variety of potential life experiences, ones that men can never have: menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, lactation, and all the emotional changes associated with them. (Actually, men can lactate, but it takes a lot of suckling!). In comparison, what do men have to look forward to physically as they age, other than getting pot bellies and going bald?

Yes, menstruation is a nuisance, but the emotional changes I experience with it are interesting...I get very moved by life. And pregnancy, which is like being the hero on the set of the movie Aliens (Go, Sigourney!!!), was one wild, wonderful trip! Plus, the process of giving birth was a meaningful challenge. Breastfeeding and the oxytocin rush and close physical bond with a child are also a beautiful experience...the most fulfilling of any I've had in life.

An added bonus: since I generally find women more sexually attractive than men, I like having breasts. It's nice to have soft, silky, comforting parts of your body right there all the time! Plus, women can have easy, no-mess orgasms. And women DON'T have to shave any part of their body, or wear any make-up at all. I don't! To top it all off, women have longer life spans then men. The only thing I've envied about men is that I'd like to have greater upper body strength.

Why would masturbating seem more frustrating if you were a woman? I don't find it frustrating at all!

About urinating: sitting down for men works really well...it gets more urine in the toilet. Funny that people think it is unmanly. Do they think sitting down to urinate is unmanly just because they feel to be "real men" they have to be different than women when they urinate!?

Not all women do this, mojo. I must admit, though, that one reason I've never felt particularly close to the typical cultural image of "woman" is that there do seem to be quite a few women who are very interested in changing their appearance, which seems a shallow and sad pursuit to me. I feel it is demeaning that people (i.e. culture) tell women that how their bodies are naturally isn't okay, and so they should do all these things to themselves to be "acceptable."

I would never change something about myself that I like just to try to attract someone...which I think is the main reason (with fear being at the root of it) that some women shave and wear make-up, etc. And if a woman or man claims that women are doing it to "make themselves look better"...well, that implies that they weren't good enough beforehand...so, again, it seems demeaning toward women.

Agreed on the whole machismo thing and the rest of what you say here. However, the kindest, gentlest people I know right now are actually men...so I know they are out there!

If people can take on each other's (gender) differences, then these "differences" really couldn't have been differences in the first place, could they have been? And some people *are* asexual hermaphrodites.

You don't have to shave, Tea. If people say to you that women shouldn't have body hair, then you can say: "That's completely illogical: obviously, if so many women shave, then women DO have body hair."

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