When a woman?

[cowprintrabbit]

:06: At what age did you feel comfortable referring to youself as a woman? (I mean rather than a girl, not biologically...)

I was just posting somewhere else on SB, and got stuck - girl seems pretentious at 26, but I don't feel like I can call myself a woman yet; that implies adulthood.

Are you officially an adult at 30? 40? What do you call yourself before then?

 

[scbababe]

:06: At what age did you feel comfortable referring to youself as a woman? (I mean rather than a girl, not biologically...)
I was just posting somewhere else on SB, and got stuck - girl seems pretentious at 26, but I don't feel like I can call myself a woman yet; that implies adulthood.
Are you officially an adult at 30? 40? What do you call yourself before then?

I think maturity plays a big role, you can be a mature teen and be a childish adult! Womanhood can hit when you least expect it! For example some women feel it when they become mothers.. and some are just getting the hang of it at 40!

Just enjoy each day as if you were a child and when you find yourself appreciating those days from a distance then you'll know!

 

[divemistress]

Finally, at age 43, I can call myself a woman. I couldn't at 42. It has to do with self-acceptance, being comfortable with myself, who and what I am. It's taken a long time, but I'm finally getting there. Praise be.

May you arrive at that place decade before I!

DM

 

[Zoe83]

I agree its all about maturity and self discovery. I am 21 and nowhere near calling myself a woman, too many things to do, see and experience to come before then..

 

[underwater daphne]

i won't let anyone call me girl, unless it's totally in the context. it lacks respect. boys become a man as soon as a bit of stubble starts growing or at the latest when they turn 18 and have to go to the army (in switzerland).
maybe when women call themselves woman it makes them feel old, or they expect too much of themselves, thinking they have to conform to what society thinks a woman should be. a woman shouldn't be playing boys games (diving, not wearing make up daily, not worry about getting your hands dirty, know how to use a hammer or screwdriver, etc), whereas a girl can, right?

i'm 25 next month and all woman!

 

[Kat]

I almost always call the male gender guys. Never boys or men.

I 'officially' became a women when I had my first child.

Even though I am a women, I like to be called a girl.

On a rating scale, for me:
1. Girl
2. Miss
3. Women
4. Lady
5. B-word
6. Madame/Ma'am
7. Filly
8. Missy
9. C-word

 

[SmokingMirror]

i won't let anyone call me girl, unless it's totally in the context. it lacks respect.

Even though I am a women, I like to be called a girl.

These are interestingly conflicting viewpoints, the difference being, of course, the perceived connotation of the word.

I appreciate this is a thread primarily aimed at women, but, as a male, I'm genuinely interested in the various ways in which different cultures and different genders view this form of self-identification.

Here in the UK, for example, the term girl is generally applied to any female under - or at - the age of puberty, afterwhich it is considered polite to use the term women. That said, the term girl is also often employed as an insult, and is used by many men as a derogatory euphemism for child when speaking to - or referring to - a women. The same exists in reverse, of course, with many women using the term boy with the same connotation.

Just out of curiosity, do any of the posters here consider their usage of the self-identifying label 'woman', to equate with some identifiable accomplishment (whether that accomplishment be either a tangible one, such as in the case of giving birth; or an intangible one, in the case of simply feeling you've acquired enough experience and/or wisdom to feel justified in using the term)?

 

[Kat]

I get the impression that being called a girl in countries other than the U.S. is an insult.

My friends & I use it & combinations of it, all the time. Such as girlfriend, girls night out, girl talk, babygirl, this girl at work...etc.
No disrespect is intended or implied.
We only call someone a women if they are elderly.

 

[Hank49]

:06: At what age did you feel comfortable referring to youself as a woman? (I mean rather than a girl, not biologically...)

I was just posting somewhere else on SB, and got stuck - girl seems pretentious at 26, but I don't feel like I can call myself a woman yet; that implies adulthood.

Are you officially an adult at 30? 40? What do you call yourself before then?

If you put an age to the word, there are too many variables and it can never be defined. I would say it's when a female person becomes sexually mature. Nature is making you an adult, ready for procreation...whether you like it or not.

 

[SmokingMirror]

My friends & I use it & combinations of it, all the time.

But that's not quite the same as "being called a girl in countries other than the U.S. is an insult." is it?

The crux of my post was chiefly regarding the difference in implication when used by the different sexes, which may or may not also be further defined by country of origin.

Is it, for example, your experience - either direct or indirect - that some US men refer to somebody as a girl in order to insult or to escalate an insult?

We only call someone a women if they are elderly.

So what you're essentially saying is that there is an identifiable difference between the two terms of self-identification, and that that difference - for you - is when you become elderly?

I would say it's when a female person becomes sexually mature. Nature is making you an adult, ready for procreation...whether you like it or not.

That's as biology, and, by extension, the law defines it, yes. But that's not quite what's being discussed here. Biology dictated I became a man at around age 13; the law of my country, at 16. Did I feel a man at either age? Certainly not.