i am woman.

I am woman.

I am woman despite the clothes I wear or the hairstyles I fashion.

I am woman despite the tone of my voice or the makeup or lack of that adorns my face.

I am woman, whether my body is hairy or bald.

I am woman even if my laugh bellows through the room.

I am woman even when rage courses through me.

I am woman despite what others want to call me.

I am woman even if my nails have dirt underneath them and I smell of the earth.

I am woman whether my house is spotless or not.

I am woman whether I love to cook and clean or not.

I am woman.

And I always will be woman.

My womanhood is not dependent on a label or an identity. It is what eminates from the depths of my womb.

I am woman in the same way the water flows and the fire burns. Womanhood does not have to be validated or explained. It is a natural occurance on earth.

There is not more or less woman.

Womanhood cannot be bought, imitated or surgically recreated. Its not a costume or idenitity to put on whenever one pleases.

It is in our blood, in our dna.

Even women who have been born with a womb and later have had it removed are still women.

I see this in the mothers and grandmothers in my life that have had a hysterectomy. They did not magically lose their womanhood just because their physical womb has gone. They are as woman as ever.

Womanhood is sacred.

For the women, girls, mothers, daughters, granddaughters, I see you, I hold you.