THE ONES WHO ARE FEMALE
The accuracy of representation is important for individuals
to claim, believe in, and function in an identity of their own. To find
belonging in themselves as they are, to understand that they are enough.
What does it mean to be female? What do you
think it means to be feminine? The full swell of a chest? The roundness of
hips? Bone structures the framework of delicate features? Long cascading hair? The
character of voice? The smoothness of skin? Manner of walking, dressing,
talking? Genitalia?
For centuries, humans have progressively
grown into states that have expanded our mental capabilities. We exist by way
of our experiences, experiences that teach us new things, opens us up to new
possibilities and reaches deep into the core of our elements and interprets them
in ways that pushes us to evolve.
For all of the struggle we have gone
through and all the processes we have been a part of, we are here. The
twenty-first century, two-thousand and nineteen, and we are still a part of a
process, a process of change, of inclusion, of proper representation, of true
justice, of humanity trying to be its most conscious and involved in the
essence of its own existence. We are here to understand the accuracy of
language in identity, in the choice to belong to a word, to choose to be part
of a word. To let a word represent you without having/trying to explain
yourself. So who are the ones that are female? Who are the ones that are
feminine?
What does it explain to you when you hear
it? What do you tell when you choose it, or does it choose you?
To the English language, it is the
generalization of femaleness, femaleness that chooses you by genitalia.
To the English language it is delicateness
and beauty, softness and meekness.
To the English language it is a standard.
Although delicateness and prettiness,
softness and meekness are all such beautiful human attributes, not all females
are born with these makings, and then it makes us wonder about the exclusion.
Should there then be a name for females who are without these makings? And what
about males with these makings? Do they then qualify as females by way of this
generalization?
This quandary spilled over and touched
humans in ways that birthed the ideals of beauty and femaleness and maleness (without
saying), the exclusion of those outside the ideals and the exaltation of those
with optimal possession created a system of oppression by default. One that
hung in the heavy phrases of “your chest is too sparse for a female… hips too
narrow… face too square…feet and hands too big…hair too inadequate…voice too
deep…walking too tactless…clothing too loose…careers too tasking, too bold, too
unfeminine!” phrases heavy in attack against humans who are plunged into the
hole of confusion about their identity, of not being enough in their birthed
states.
Then follows the modern culture of lying
under the lift and fall of a knife in the hands of a surgeon, to address their
confusion, to fit into the ideal, to be enough to be feminine or not. But still
judgement follows.
In the face of all this, would we then not
simply choose to call an attribute what it was? To allow ourselves understand
that femaleness and maleness comes in varying makes. That a hand was simply
just delicate and not feminine, a voice simply just deep and not masculine. The accuracy of representation is important for individuals
to claim, believe in and function in an identity of their own. To find
belonging in themselves as they are, to understand that they are enough.
The world today is more mentally conscious
by the population than it has ever been, more empathetic to our differences and it is such a beautiful thing to
continue to understand that change is instrumental for progress and to try to
always realize that we live to do better, to be better.
To know that the ones who are female are
female because they simply are who they are. And it is enough.
I constantly go
through the experience of being compared to the standard of femaleness. Always
been told not to hide my body under too much fabric, to wear more pretty shoes,
to walk with more lightness to my feet… but I am grateful to have been raised
by a family that allowed me to wear my femaleness in the way it spoke to me.
A hi nya, with
love, x E
Creative
Directing || Ene Ijato
Captured
by || Pod imagery
Photographs
edited by || Ene Ijato
Styling
|| Ene Ijato
Makeup
|| Ene Ijato
In
Frame ||Sadiya Baba, Hilina, Ene Ijato,
2 comments
This is nice. My mother doesn't like to be referred to as just female in sentences. like; " you females have a certain sense of reasoning" you feel? like she's a woman, a human female and being referred to as just female, makes her so offended. and yep, comments like eg. above too.😸
ReplyDeleteI share your mother’s sentiments, being reduced to a generalization is indeed offensive... lol I think she and I would get along pretty well. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteEager to hear your thoughts!