So, how would you explain what it is like to be a biological female?

[TopBitchoftheWitches]

Just that really....

I dont have to think I am a woman I just know I am. Anyone who has to think about being female is missing the point.

Exactly, you just are,and you know you are.

It's just what I am, I suppose I felt like a woman when I got my period, when I got pregnant, gave birth, breastfed etc because my husband can't do those things and then the division between us became obvious.
Other times when I feel like a woman is when I hear, read or experience things done by men to women that give me feelings sickness, fear, powerlessness, vulnerability and deep anger.

It's just what I am, I suppose I felt like a woman when I got my period, when I got pregnant, gave birth, breastfed etc because my husband can't do those things and then the division between us became obvious.

See,with me it's always been there - even pre periods etc, you just know you're female. You just are. It's you.

That’s hard given the variability between females.

I would start with the things we have in common which would be periods etc. Even then every female will probably describe things differently.

I feel like me, a human, a person with emotions and feelings, needs and wants.
I feel hunger and thirst, pain and cold.Anger and contentment,sadness, joy, boredom frustration, love and hope.

The things that mark me out as female are all due to my biology.
Periods, childbirth, breastfeeding,constrictive bras, smear tests, c section scar, mammograms and last week,surgical prolapse repair due to difficult chid births.Varicose veins in my vaginal walls, again, due to childbirth - who knew?
Things that I have had done to me because I am female, sexual assault, derogatory verbal abuse, domestic violence.
Growing up , hearing- girls can't, women shouldn't,you must be frigid/a lesbian. That's for boys, men only.
You will be judged your whole life and found wanting if you display your true human nature because if you are female, confident = aggressive,angry=hysterical,questioning the status quo= being a bitch.
Pissed off= unreasonable .Slapper, cunt, bitch,whore ,if you don't have a pens.

Be what you want to be as long as you conform to what the patriarchy has deemed suitable for you, enough for you, and don't worry about things that you don't understand because you are female.
And now my fucking female brain is fucking angry.And no, it's not my period.

PENIS not pens.
Ffs

you just know you're female. You just are. It's you.

That’s not what I feel and nor is it what I’m getting from most posts on this thread. I knew I was female because I was told that’s what my body parts made me. That is all. I experienced a great disconnect with the concept of ‘femaleness’ that society tried to impose upon me, which made me, like many, question whether I really ‘fit’ femaleness. But of course I do. I just don’t fit the bullshit society has tried to impose on me as a person because of it.

The original question being 'what is it like?' is difficult to answer without having experienced anything else. A flippant response would be 'not as good as being a man' but I wouldn't change it.

I am me. I am aware that certain things I have experienced are down to biology - periods, pregnancy, breastfeeding; and others are due to society - 'looks', clothing expectations, job expectations. This is why I don't quite understand men believing they are women - they'll never experience the biological and the societal is fundamentally made up.

Being a woman gives me the ability to 'bond' with other women on the basis of some of these things knowing they are things only women will understand, but frankly there is currently too much emphasis on it in a world where equality was starting to win.

Ah, so it is all connected with reproduction? Fortunately my unused reproductive system has never given me any trouble, just a minor nuisance. Clearly the child free don't count here.

I dont have to think I am a woman I just know I am. Anyone who has to think about being female is missing the point.

I think I am totally missing the point. I have never got this deep seated sense of gender inside. I'm just me. I don't understand anyone, whatever their gender at birth, who seems to have this massive internal sense of WOMAN.

I think if I woke up in a man's body tomorrow I'd think "huh. Cool" but it wouldn't change me. I'd still be me. Also, this thread is really quite brutal to women who aren't able to have children for whatever reason.

Not at all Special.You count too, of course. You were born a woman. You might not have reproduced but you will have had other experiences both biologically and socially.

It has to be down to our biological make up - not least as it's the only objective empirical way to distinguish the differences between us and men, and those differences manifest in ways which give us a different life experience, whether menstruation, breastfeeding, pregnancy, menopause.

Something I was reminded about, on this topic - although it happened years ago.

A relative had a double mastectomy after breast cancer and had reconstructive surgery with implants. She told me that even though she'd got boobs back (and they were bloody great perky boobs too) she felt less of a woman because they were "like a cartoon version of boobs".

Not because they were comedy big or owt - but, for example, (absolutely genuine example here) - when she came in from being very cold her boobs took longer to warm up than the rest of her - it reminded her that they weren't "real" boobs - the real warm squishy boobs, part of her fabric, and which fed her babies. Her old boobs were part of her experience being a biological woman - just having bumps in your chest isn't the same thing at all.

NauticalDisaster
The only way to be female is through biology.

Yes!!!!!

think if I woke up in a man's body tomorrow I'd think "huh. Cool" but it wouldn't change me. I'd still be me. Also, this thread is really quite brutal to women who aren't able to have children for whatever reason

This. I didn’t feel “more female” before children than i do now. In fact i found it quite insulting that many other women seemed to think i’d joined some special club- one even told me outright that i had- that made me “more female”. I can’t stand the way people seem to think i should be “fulfilled” now i’m a parent. As if I wasn’t good enough or worth enough pre children. It’s 18m of my life spent pregnant, why is it somehow more of an achievement as a woman than the 10 years in further education or 30 years spent building a career.

I also find the “bond with other women” thing strange. I bond with people because i like them, and if we share interests, not because of their genitalia.

I’m me. I am not defined by a small part of my anatomy.

My older brother had more freedom to play out and go further – at time thought it was age but found my freedoms were further curtailed as I got older not less same with younger sister.

I had periods at 11 in primary school and sized C cup breast – boy and men known and unknown will say really nasty sexual stuff to you and will think nothing of grabbing or physically getting in your way which can be very frightening to experience but is just a joke to them.

If you say anything men and women and fellow girls will imply it’s your fault as you “must have done something to attract their attention”.

Finding field work part of my degree course was a pain as a woman – 10-12 hour days with no loos in sight is easier for men to deal with.

Heavy periods and accompanying pain are dismissed by both male and female GP, my monthly pain was so bad I didn’t realise I was in labour till near 10 cm dilated as everyone said Braxton hicks were like period pains so assume it as that.

Loss of libido depression and anxiety with hormonal contraceptives are in my imagination even when there are long term studies finding these issues in significant numbers of other women.

I’ve been paid less because I’m a woman and denied training on same basis and had to deal with constant surprise a woman can do such a job plus promotion have been harder to come by.

Third pg was sent to male consultant there was a female medical student who job was apparently to roll her eyes and huff when ever I tried to talk. I was talked over and ignore depite this being my medical treatment.

DH sat there gob smacked when the male consultant told me I was stupid and silly woman to insist that our pervious child was two years old and not 8 like his notes apparently said . They stopped arguing with me when he finally spoke up to agree with me.

I above is because I am a biological female – I’m not any of it has to do with “feelings” at least not mine.

This. I didn’t feel “more female” before children than i do now.

I don't think I do either. There is more criticism more external pressure and expectations of conforming to gendered societal roles. It changed my focus and goals in life but I don’t feel it’s made me more female.

I've never felt part of some supportive sisterhood. Though I've found many other mothers friendly and helpful I've also found it's usually other women who are more vocal in their criticisms of what I do as a parent.

For me feeling like I was a 'woman' biologically came with menstruation - something - as other posters have mentioned that is very visceral. I bleed a lot, I have painful and long lasting periods. I have experienced childbirth which is exclusive to biological women - but not integral - I don't believe you have to have a child to be a woman. I have produced milk and feed 3 babies/ young children - that made me feel both burdened and empowered.

I have always tried to resist stereotyping based on gender - I think gender is a social construct and people should be able to express how they feel 'inside' without fear - but there are certain biological realities that define a sex which are separate from your gender identity. Some simple like the obvious external genitalia and some complex like the way a woman and a man may exhibit different symptoms when having a heart attack.

From a lunar cyclical perspective, the menstrual cycle and mid-cycle mittelschmerz to the neural remodeling after pregnancy are the unforgiving reminders of being she

I think if I woke up in a man's body tomorrow I'd think "huh. Cool" but it wouldn't change me.

This is a bit of a moot point because it will never happen.

I don't 'feel like a woman on the inside'. I know I am a woman because of the material reality that comes with having a female body. And it wouldn't matter if that female body had reproduced or not or was capable of reproducing, although for me, it does form part of that material reality because mine has.

Sorry I haven't articulated that very well.

About 3.5 billion women on the planet - I don't think you can generalise that we all feel one particular way just because we're female. Biology is what makes us women. How we feel is what makes us individuals.

Oh it just means wearing cute clothes and shoes and fetishising over them. It means wearing makeup, sometimes over my beard if I feel like it, and pouting into instagram multiple times a day. It means getting enraged if there's any suggestion that my beard and balls mean I'm not a real woman. It means dictating what a woman is to the rest of the world. It means putting down those who are nothing more than cis or terf. It means demanding that I be accepted as a woman, just because I say so. It means that any lesbians who don't want me because of my Y chromosomes and their own sexual preferences are nothing but nasty prejudiced old hags. It means that I can choose to use female spaces and all the women in there should be glad of the opportunity to share them with me.

Oh wait a second, it means precisely none of the above! So why is the small minority who thinks it does so much more vocal than everyone else?

Being a biological woman is something that you are. How you experience it will depend on so many diverse factors, from genetics to money to where you live. But there will be some things that every woman has in common. And nobody who wasn't born a woman can understand them.

MrsRyanGosling15 Sun 04-Feb-18 22:03:34
My DS had to interview me as part of his homework today. It is all about males/females/ expectations etc. I had to finish the sentence 'the best thing about being a girl is........' I literally can't come up with an answer!

Such a sad post to read. I have a little girl and I think she is amazing. She is into everything, keeps everyone engaged and on their toes. She chooses her pink/purple clothes and is classically 'feminine', unlike me, but she has a choice. She is proud of herself. Confident. Strong-minded. Funny. Super clever. Affectionate. Just like any little girl should be.

'the best thing about being a girl is...' expressing all your desires without filtering.

It's only later that society has more to say. As an adult 'girl', the best things about being female is the ability to give birth and to be central to family life.

PMS, periods, having the experience of growing boobs, and getting hairs where it was originally smooth ....

Bloody peri menopause at the moment.

If I woke up in a man's body tomorrow I'd have gender dysphoria.