So What Does it Mean to be a Woman?

Following in Julian's thoughts, I think she touches on some key questions that I frequently find myself asking. What am I supposed to be doing with my life? Where am I going? Will I ever get married? Why do I even care about men? The world tells me that I should be able to do it all on my own. I don't need a man-I don't need anyone other than myself, because I am a woman and women can accomplish the greatest of feats. Take some popular examples. I mean, just google Cosmo magazine, and see what comes up. It tells me that as a woman, I should be concerned with a few things. Primarily, myself and sex. I should be sexually satisfied at all times. Then, to achieve this goal, I should surround myself by make-up, beautiful (or scant) clothing, because for maximal sexual satifaction, I unfortunately need the use of another person, preferably male. Basically, I should emulate Carrie Bradshaw, and I will find happiness, right??

Well, I have to ask myself, is Carrie Bradshaw the woman par excellence? I find myself looking at that, asking why I would want to imitate it, and coming to the final question--so what does it mean to be a woman? I don't find any answers to my questions at all! Being a woman is so complicated!! I need to have the perfect job, the perfect man, the perfect shoes (clearly the perfect shoes), the perfect house, the perfect life. But somehow, I just don't find it. So what am I doing wrong?

That really is the purpose of our blog here -- we want to find our way. We want to find out the answers to these questions and we want to tell others about it and hear what others think! Much of our inspiration will come from the tremendous wealth of Christian witness. We know that there must be some way to fufill our vocation as women, and we are trying to figure out what that is. I will sign off with a quote that perhaps captures the spirit a little bit better than what I've written. It comes from Edith Stein (or Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, in her native German, Teresia Benedikta vom Kreuz). She writes, "The deepest feminine yearning is to achieve a loving union which, in its development, validates this maturation and simultaneously stimulates and furthers the desire for perfection in others."